A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday Liturgy

A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday & Weekday Liturgy

BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (Series 20, n. 34)

16^th Week in Ordinary Time: July 17-23, 2022

(The pastoral tool BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD: A LECTIO DIVINA APPROACH TO THE SUNDAY & WEEKDAY LITURGY includes a prayerful study of the Sunday liturgy from various perspectives. For the Lectio Divina on the liturgy of the past week: July 10-16, 2022 please go to ARCHIVES Series 20 and click on “Week 15 Ordinary Time”.

Below is a LECTIO DIVINA APPROACH TO THE SUNDAY - WEEKDAY LITURGY:

July 17-23, 2022.)

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July 17, 2022: SIXTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

“JESUS SAVIOR: He Comes to Us”

BIBLE READINGS

Gn 18:1-10a // Col 1:24-28 // Lk 10:38-40

I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO

A. Gospel Reading (Lk 10:38-40): “Martha welcomed him. Mary has chosen the better part.”

One thing I have in common with our Italian-born Sr. Mary Adele, now deceased, is a love for pasta. One day as we were enjoying a plate of spaghetti cooked “al dente”, topped with rich tomato sauce and tasty Parmesan cheese, she narrated a modern version of today’s Gospel story (cf. Lk 10:38-42)

Jesus entered a village where a woman named Martha welcomed him. Her sister Mary sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him. Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and wailed, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me.” The Lord said to her in reply, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. A plate of pasta and a glass of wine will do.”

Jesus, in the course of his paschal journey to Jerusalem, stops to rest in the home of Martha and Mary, who receive him with hospitality. He is the Good Samaritan par excellence and the ultimate neighbor deserving the care of loving friends. Martha’s type of hospitality, however, is fretful and her intense concern misdirected. Hence, Martha’s misguided hospitality provokes a good-natured reproach from Jesus. He cautions her not to be anxious. Martha’s meticulous concern for the “details of hospitality” distracts her from what is essential: his life-giving Word.

The liturgical scholar, Adrian Nocent comments: “Receiving Christ requires, first and foremost, hearing him and having the soul of a disciple. The Christian is not forced to choose between acting and contemplating. The point is rather that he must first of all listen and receive Christ with interior peace and simplicity. Any reproach of Martha is for her anxiety, not for her zealous activity in receiving Jesus. One thing is necessary. What is this one thing? In the context of the proclamation of the Gospel, and given the attitude of Mary who listens to the Lord, the one thing needed is evidently God’s word. Everything else is secondary when compared to this listening to God’s word.”

In the context of the total paschal event in which Jesus becomes the Bread broken and shared for the life of the world, we can perceive that the true Host in Luke’s story is Jesus Christ himself. He breaks the bread of the living Word for Mary, whose spiritual hunger is being satisfied as she peacefully sits beside the Lord at his feet, listening to him speak. Generous and hospitable, the true Lord of the banquet gently invites the hardworking Martha to sort out her priorities and examine her manifold concerns. Jesus invites her to set aside the anxieties of a fretful hostess bent on preparing a perfect meal. Rather, he challenges Martha to render the utmost hospitality that a disciple could offer, the one that her dear sister, Mary, has lavished upon him. Indeed, Mary of Bethany, an image of a true disciple, chooses the better part, which is to listen to the saving word of God in order to act upon it.

B. First Reading (Gen 18:1-10a): “Lord, do not go on past your servant.

Sr. Mary Jesusa and I were companions in the novitiate. After first profession we were assigned to the vocation ministry. It was our duty to follow up young ladies who showed interest in religious life and our Congregation. One damp, rainy day we boarded a bus and headed for Gumaca, a Philippine town on the Pacific coast, to interview an applicant who was residing there. The bus had already gone a considerable distance when the bus conductor started to collect the passengers’ fare and give them their tickets. I was shocked to know that Sr. Mary Jesusa did not bring sufficient money to pay for the trip. She emptied her wallet, but the fare was still lacking four pesos. The bus conductor kindly let go of the insufficient fare and allowed us to travel to our destination. Without even a cent, we arrived in Gumaca at about 2:00 P.M., after a seven-hour trip. The scenery was breathtaking. The coastal town of Gumaca, bordered by the immense Pacific Ocean and dotted with plantations of tall, fruit laden coconut trees, was a veritable tropical paradise. We sought hospitality from the parish priest who unhesitatingly offered us a nourishing meal. He also requested lodging for us at the convent of the Sisters running the parochial school. After meeting and interviewing the applicant, we attended the Bible Study that the priest was conducting in his parish, participated mostly by low-income housewives. Sr. Mary Jesusa and I were glad to break the Bread of the Word with them. We shared our faith experience as well as our “adventure” that day. Some of them were deeply touched by what we shared. We thanked the priest and the parish community for their hospitality. After the Mass the following day, the women who were with us at the Bible Study bid us goodbye. Many of them handed us small amounts of money to help pay for our return trip. A poor widow, whose son was in jail, insisted that we should take her contribution. We were greatly touched by the generosity and sacrifice of that hospitable community. They had shown receptivity not only to the Word of God, but also hospitality to those in need of help. Indeed, their charitable action was based on listening and responding to the life-giving Word they had heard.

The Old Testament reading (Gen 18:1-10a) speaks of the exquisite hospitality of patriarch Abraham and the warmth and kindness that a nomadic world could give to their guests. The Lord with his two companions appears to Abraham at Mamre as he sits in the entrance of his tent, while the day is growing hot. Abraham offers to wash the feet of his three guests and refresh them. His household prepares a luscious fare of food and drink for the mysterious guests. Abraham’s hospitality to the “three men” by the oak of Mamre manifests a deeper and more astounding “hospitality” – his receptivity and obedience to the Word of the Lord who has commanded him to leave behind his country, relatives and father’s home and set out for an unknown land, promising to make of him a great nation (cf. Gn 12:2). In the context of the feast offered by the hospitable Abraham, God intends to fulfill his promise. To Abraham who waits on them at table the Lord says, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah will then have a son” (Gen 18:10a). Indeed, Abraham’s hospitality to Yahweh and his faithful acceptance of his Word make possible the fulfillment of the divine promise and the covenant plan to make him a great nation.

C. Second Reading (Col 1:24-28): “The mystery hidden from ages has now been manifested to his holy ones.”

In light of the Second Reading (Col 1:24-28), we may consider hospitality from a profound perspective: as God’s benevolent stance on our behalf. We are called to be hospitable persons because God is primordially hospitable. He is our gracious Lord – generous and kind, welcoming and open-hearted. God, who visited Abraham and set on course salvation history, offered us the utmost hospitality when he spoke the word of God, Jesus Christ, the mystery hidden for ages but now revealed to his holy ones. Like Paul, we are called to respond to this loving divine initiative by welcoming the word of God into our life. We are summoned to proclaim and witness to all peoples, nations and cultures the rich and glorious message of our redemption in Christ.

Harold Buetow comments: “Today’s portion of the glorious letter to the Colossians reveals the special and unique insight that the kind of generosity given in hospitality finds its heroic fulfillment in suffering for others. But how can the letter’s author claim that he was completing what’s lacking in Christ’s suffering (v. 24)? Was Jesus’ sacrifice somehow insufficient? No, but by God’s own will the Redeemer’s work of salvation is not yet complete: Jesus wants his followers to continue his work by sharing in his afflictions, thus building up his body in every age. We need to realize that we can do something for the salvation of the entire world. That is the root of the communion of saints. It is Jesus who teaches today’s lessons: that the one thing necessary in our lives is love, that we can show it in both action and contemplation, that it expresses itself in outgoing hospitality. Throughout, little things mean a lot.”

An example of a Christian disciple who responded fully to the saving initiative of the gracious and hospitable God is the great Jesuit missionary to China, Fr. Matteo Ricci. According to Pope Benedict XVI, Fr. Ricci is “a unique case of a felicitous synthesis between the proclamation of the Gospel and the dialogue with the culture of the people to whom he brought it”. Fr. Ricci’s hospitable stance and spirit of openness helped him to become one of the most sterling figures in the Church’s ministry of evangelization. The following excellent article, which deals with Matteo Ricci’s cross-cultural mission to China, helps us to perceive the sacrifice, generosity and creativity that the proclamation of the mystery of Christ entails (cf. Jeremy Clark, “When West Met East” in America, May 10, 2010, p. 13-16).

May 11 marks the 400^th anniversary of the death in Beijing of the legendary Matteo Ricci (1552-1610). The Italian-born Jesuit priest arrived in Macau in 1582, moved to the city of Zhaoqing in the southern province of Guangdong the following year and spent the remaining 27 years of his life in China actively engaged in cross-cultural exchange. So successful was Ricci in immersing himself and the Gospel fully into Chinese culture, that he is almost as well known in China as he is in the rest of the world. In China he is known as Li Madou, which was both his Chinese name and ultimately his identity as the wise man from the West. For the many elsewhere who remember him, Ricci stands as a pioneer of sophisticated and sympathetic East-West engagement. (…)

Ricci’s amazing linguistic abilities fast made the fate of the mission synonymous with his exploits. His endeavors in the early years became the main means by which the church spread throughout the country. Ricci focused on reaching the imperial capital and moved ever northward, opening communities in Shaozhou in late 1589, Nonchang in 1595 and Beijing in 1601. The Jesuits also established a presence in Shanghai in 1608. Ricci’s activities, varied and impressive, testify to his genius. Once he mastered enough spoken and written Chinese to communicate freely (no easy task even today), he tried his hand at whatever could help him develop relationships with the scholar officials. Early on, the Jesuits thought such connections were the most prudent and effective means of promoting and protecting the young church. In pursuit of his evangelical goal, Ricci produced works in the field of horology, hydraulics, optics, observational astronomy, surveying, music, geography and geometry. And this list does not exhaust his exploits.

Among other things, Ricci became famous in China for a large-scale world map that he first constructed in 1584 (which has been on view during 2010 at the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.); a book on friendship, written in 1595, which drew freely on a classic by the scholar Epictetus; and a treatise on mnemonics written in 1596. Ricci impressed dinner and conversation companions with his phenomenal memory, recalling after a single reviewing everything from lines of high poetry to manufactured doggerel. In China, where people took pride in their ability to quote readily from Chinese classics, a memory method that made such things easier was highly valued.

Ricci worked with one of the leaders of the early Chinese Christians, the Ming dynasty statesman Xu Guangqi (1562-1633), and together they translated Euclidean geometry into Chinese. This task was made all the more difficult because concepts like parallel lines and acute angles, for example, had no Chinese words. Ever creative, Ricci and his companion simply invented terms for them. So apt were their choices that contemporary Chinese mathematicians still consider these words unsurpassable.

Ricci was a true Renaissance man, representing the breadth of the humanistic learning undertaken by Jesuits at their colleges throughout Europe at that time. He was a man of the cloth as well, who regularly engaged in translating language dictionaries for the use of other missionaries and composing prayer books, apologetic works and catechisms for the Chinese neophytes. Arguably, the most well known of Ricci’s books about Christianity was The True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven. While his books became widely read, their most important contribution was the encouragement they gave everyone from scholars to simple peasants to engage in conversations about the Gospel and Jesus, the Lord of Heaven.

Following Valignano’s directives, Ricci and his Jesuit companions wore Chinese clothing, wrote and spoke Chinese, ate Chinese food and lived in Chinese houses (often they bought houses cheaply because they were thought to be “haunted”). Rarely did one or other of them return to Europe. They became Chinese in all things in order to win China for Christ. Although the early years of the mission were marked by difficulty and struggle, Ricci and his companions laid a sure foundation. By the time of Ricci’s death, there were perhaps 2,500 Christians in China. On his deathbed Ricci said, “I am leaving you before an open door which leads to great merits, but not without great effort and many dangers.”

Over the centuries Ricci’s work has been described as an ascent to Beijing, and apostolate through books, an early instance of inculturation and an example of cross-cultural exchange. His remarkable feats of scholarship were achieved in the face of shipwreck, home invasion, violence, persecution and daily travails of being a stranger in a strange land (especially in the early years). Perhaps the best way to think about Ricci’s decades in China, and to hold together his joy of scholarship and his capacity to endure the thousand sacrifices of living far from all that was once dear to him, is to see his ministry as one of friendship.

For all Ricci’s academic and personal talents, his pre-eminent, enduring gift was a capacity to delight in the company of others … Ricci is considered a giant on whose shoulders subsequent generations stand. In many ways this is right and just, given his inspirational role in promoting both the cause of Chinese culture and Chinese Catholicism. A more appropriate image, however, is to picture Ricci seated at a round table, sharing the hospitality of his friends, sipping tea, and talking of many things in order to talk of one thing: God present among us from East to West.

II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO

Are we hospitable? Why or why not? In what ways are we Martha? In what ways are we Mary? Is our Christian discipleship characterized by receptivity and true listening to the word of God which leads us to love and serve our neighbor?

III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO

O Jesus, you are our divine guest

We welcome you in our heart.

We offer you the love and comfort you found

in the home of your two pious disciples, Martha and Mary.

O Jesus, you are also our divine host.

You prepare for us the banquet of your living Word.

As your loving and welcoming disciples,

we partake of this banquet.

And as we feast on the bread of the Word,

we are strengthened in our charitable works

as “Good Samaritans” in today’s world.

We love you; we thank you;

we adore you now and forever.

Amen.

IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO

The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the week. Please memorize it.

“Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.” (Lk 10:42)

V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO

Pray that the Word of God may find a welcoming home in every one’s heart. Pray that the bearers of the Word may courageously proclaim it even if met with opposition and lack of hospitality. Be hospitable to the persons around you, especially those who have been rejected and feel unloved and unwelcome. To help us delve more deeply into our vocation to be hospitable to the Word of God, make an effort to spend some moments of quiet prayer before the Blessed Sacrament.

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July 18, 2022: MONDAY – WEEKDAY (16); SAINT CAMILLUS DE LELLIS, Priest (USA)

“JESUS SAVIOR: He Gives the Sign of Jonah … He Calls Us to Conversion”

BIBLE READINGS

Mi 6:1-4, 6-8 // Mt 12:38-42

I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO

A. Gospel Reading (Mt 12:38-42): “At the judgment the queen of the south will arise with this generation and condemn it.”

The Gospel (Mt 12:38-42) tells us that the scribes and Pharisees demand to see a “sign” from Jesus – a flashy miracle that will convince them he is truly the Messiah. The “sign” they want is one that fits their notion of a triumphant political Son of David. Jesus has given enough signs in his public ministry, both in word and deed. But their prejudice prevents them from recognizing Jesus as the Messiah. He obliges by giving them the ultimate sign: Jonah in the belly of the whale three days and three nights. The mind-baffling “sign of Jonah” refers to the paschal event of his death and resurrection. Failure to accept this sign is unfortunate and merits condemnation. The people of Nineveh, who responded with repentance to Jonah’s proclamation, and the Queen of the South, who yearned to hear the wisdom of Solomon, stand in sharp contrast to their unbelief. Indeed, Jesus is “something greater” than Jonah or Solomon. More than Jonah who preaches repentance, Jesus is our peace and reconciliation. More than Solomon and his wisdom, Jesus is the incarnate wisdom of God. He is the fullness of truth - the absolute revelation of the heavenly Father’s love.

Jesus continues to offer the “sign of Jonah”, and those who are sensitive to grace can perceive it. The paschal sign of his death and resurrection enfolds us. We are called to an intimate participation in it. The following story circulated on the Internet gives insight into this.

A sick man turned to his doctor as he was preparing to leave the examination room and said, “Doctor, I am afraid to die. Tell me what lies on the other side.” Very quietly the doctor said, “I don’t know.” “You don’t know? You’re a Christian man and don’t know what’s on the other side?” The doctor was holding the handle of the door. On the other side came a sound of scratching and whining. And as he opened the door, a dog sprang into the room and leaped on him with an eager show of gladness. Turning to the patient, the doctor said “Did you notice my dog? He’s never been in this room before. He didn’t know what was inside. He knew nothing except that his master was here. And when the door opened, he sprang in without fear. I know little of what is on the other side of death. But I do know one thing … I know my Master is there and that is enough.”

B. First Reading (Mi 6:1-4, 6-8): “You have been told, O man, what the Lord requires of you.”

One of the most touching songs that I learned to sing when I entered the convent is the “Reproaches”, sung at the veneration of the Cross during the celebration of the Lord’s passion on Good Friday. Composed by the Benedictine Fathers of the Abbey of Our Lady of Montserrat in Manila, the music, which has an indigenous tone, is haunting. The refrain of the song is incisive: “My people, what have I done to you or in what have I grieved you. Answer me.” This refrain is taken from the prophet Micah and we hear it proclaimed in today’s Old Testament reading.

Today’s reading (Mi 6:1-4, 6-8) begins with a summons. The Lord invites the mountains and hills, and the foundations of the earth to witness the case he raises against Israel. In the indictment we glimpse God’s personal agony over Israel’s apostasy. The Lord reproaches his people and challenges them to answer in what way God has wronged them. God continues his reproach by enumerating the mighty saving acts he carried out on Israel’s behalf: from the Exodus to the conquest of the Promised Land.

Israel, the defendant, is culpable and does not refute the accusation. Feeling guilty, the people ask God what they can do to appease him: burnt offerings, peace offerings, or even human sacrifice. But God rejects their empty ritual sacrifices and reiterates what the Lord requires of them: “to do the right and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with God”. Indeed, the culpable people are required to do what is just, to show constant love, and to live in humble fellowship with God.

II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO

1. What is our response to the “sign of Jonah” that Jesus continues to offer us in our daily life?

2. Do we give heed to God’s exhortation: “to do the right and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with God”?

III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO

Lord Jesus Christ,

we thank you for the paschal “sign of Jonah”.

Please give us the grace to respond in faith

to this “mystery” and revelation of love.

Teach us to make a quest for you,

the eternal wisdom that leads to eternal life.

Loving Lord, help us to do what is required of us:

“to do the right and to love goodness,

and to walk humbly with God”.

We love you and praise you,

now and forever.

Amen.

IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO

The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the week. Please memorize it.

“No sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah the prophet.” (Mt 12:39) // “Only to do the right and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God.” (Mi 6:8)

V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO

Be receptive to the “sign of Jonah” that surrounds us in daily life. By consciously participating in the paschal sacrifice of Christ, let the people around you realize that the “sign of Jonah” is a sign of salvation. // Every day make an effort to do the right and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with God.

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July 19, 2022: TUESDAY –WEEKDAY (16)

“JESUS SAVIOR: His Family Obeys the Will of God … He Casts Our Sins into the Depths of the Sea”

BIBLE READINGS

Mi 7:14-15, 18-20 // Mt 12:46-50

I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO

A. Gospel Reading (Mt 12:46-50): “Stretching out his hands toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers.”

The Gospel (Mt 12:46-50) tells us that Jesus continues to suffer unbelief and rejection. The hostility of the Jewish religious leaders is mounting. The mother and relatives of Jesus are deeply concerned. They want to speak to him. They probably intend to take him away from danger. But Jesus makes use of the presence of his mother and kinsmen to define the true nature of his family. The true family of Jesus is constituted by those who follow the will of God – of which Mary is the model. Jesus does not reject the bond of blood kinship, but his commitment to the reign of God leads him to affirm the new and higher bond of spiritual kinship. Those who, in faith, submit to the will of God the Father are brothers and sisters and mothers to Jesus. They are true members of God’s family.

The following story, circulated on the Internet, shows how Mother Teresa of Calcutta testifies to how we can live in today’s world as true members of God’s family.

Jim Castle was tired when he boarded his plane in Cincinnati, Ohio, that night in 1981. The 45-year-old management consultant had put on a week-long series of business meetings and seminars, and now he sank gratefully into his seat, ready for the flight home to Kansas City, Kansas. As more passengers entered, the place hummed with conversation, mixed with the sound of bags being stowed. Then, suddenly, people fell silent. The quiet moved slowly up the aisle like an invisible wake behind a boat. Jim craned his head to see what was happening and his mouth dropped open. Walking up the aisle were two nuns clad in simple white habits bordered in blue. He recognized the familiar face of one at once, the wrinkled skin, and the eyes warmly intent. This was a face he’d seen in newscasts and on the cover of TIME. The two nuns halted, and Jim realized that his seat companion was going to be Mother Teresa!

As the last few passengers settled in, Mother Teresa and her companion pulled out rosaries. Each decade of the beads was a different color, Jim noticed. “The decades represented various areas of the world”, Mother Teresa told him later and added, “I pray for the poor and dying on each continent.”

The airplane taxied to the runway and the two women began to pray, their voices a low murmur. Though Jim considered himself not a very religious Catholic who went to church mostly out of habit, inexplicably he found himself joining in. By the time they murmured the final prayer, the plane had reached cruising altitude. Mother Teresa turned toward him. For the first time in his life, Jim understood what people meant when they spoke of a person possessing an “aura”. As she gazed at him, a sense of peace filled him; he could no more see it than he could see the wind but he felt it, just as surely as he felt a warm summer breeze. “Young man”, she inquired, “do you say the rosary often?” “No, not really”, he admitted. She took his hands, while her eyes probed his. Then she smiled. “Well, you will now.” And she dropped her rosary into his palm.

An hour later, Jim entered the Kansas City airport where he was met by his wife, Ruth. “What in the world?” Ruth asked when she noticed the rosary in his hand. They kissed and Jim described his encounter. Driving home, he said “I feel as if I met a true sister of God.”

Nine months later, Jim and Ruth visited Connie, a friend of theirs for several years. Connie confessed that she’d been told she had ovarian cancer. “The doctor says it’s a tough case”, said Connie, “but I’m going to fight it. I won’t give up.” Jim clasped her hand. Then, after reaching into his pocket, he gently twined Mother Teresa’s rosary around her fingers. He told her the story and said, “Keep it with you, Connie. It may help.” Although Connie wasn’t Catholic, her hand closed willingly around the small plastic beads. “Thank you”, she whispered. “I hope I can return it.”

More than a year passed before Jim saw Connie again. This time her face was glowing. She hurried toward him and handed him the rosary. “I carried it with me all year”, she said. “I’ve had surgery and have been on chemotherapy, too. Last month, the doctors did second-look surgery, and the tumor’s gone. Completely!” Her eyes met Jim’s. “I knew it was time to give the rosary back.”

B. First Reading (Mi 7:14-15, 18-20): “He will cast into the depths of the sea all our sins.”

Today’s Old Testament reading (Mi 7:14-15, 18-20) contains a prayer to God for the restoration of the good old days. The Lord is invoked to shepherd his chosen people in the fertile land of Carmel and to feed them in the rich pastures of Bashan and Gilead. They plead: “Work miracles for us, Lord, as you did in the days when you brought us out of Egypt.” To reinforce their prayer, the people declare God’s incomparable mercy and steadfast love. The emphasis on God’s incomparability is Micah’s signature: “Who is like Yahweh?” (mi-ka-yahu). Indeed, God’s loving mercy is unique and his constant love unsurpassable. The chastised people thus pray: “You will be merciful to us once again. You will trample our sins underfoot and send them to the bottom of the sea.” Recalling the covenant promise, the people trust that the Lord who has pledged his “faithfulness” (emet) and “grace” (hesed) to the Israel of old will not revoke them.

God’s forgiving love which has been lavishly bestowed upon us needs to be shared and “given” (cf. Corrie ten Boom, “Love Your Enemy” in Chicken Soup for Christian Soul, ed. Jack Canfield, et. al., Deerfield Beach: Health Communications, Inc., 1997, p. 2-5).

It was in a church in Munich that I saw him – a balding, heavyset man in a gray overcoat, a brown felt hat clutched between his hands. People were filing out of the basement room where I had just spoken, moving along the rows of wooden chairs to the door at the rear. It was 1947 and I had come from Holland to defeated Germany with the message that God forgives.

It was the truth they needed most to hear in that bitter, bombed-out land, and I gave them my favorite mental picture. Maybe because the sea is never far from a Hollander’s mind, I liked to think that that’s where forgiven sins were thrown. “When we confess our sins”, I said, “God casts them into the deepest ocean, gone forever. And even though I cannot find a scripture for it, I believe God then places a sign out there that says, ‘NO FISHING ALLOWED’.”

The solemn faces stared back at me, not quite daring to believe. There were never questions after a talk in Germany in 1947. People stood up in silence, in silence collected their wraps, in silence left the room.

And that’s when I saw him, working his way forward against the others. One moment I saw the overcoat and the brown hat; the next, a blue uniform and a visored cap with its skull and crossbones. It came back with a rush: the huge room with its harsh overhead lights; the pathetic pile of dresses and shoes in the center of the floor; the shame of walking naked past this man. I could see my sister’s frail form ahead of me, ribs sharp beneath the parchment skin. Betsie, how thin you were!

The place was Ravensbruck and the man who was making his way forward had been a guard – one of the most cruel guards. Now he was in front of me, hand thrust out: “A fine message, Fraulein! How good it is to know that, as you say, all our sins are at the bottom of the sea!”

And I, who had spoken so glibly of forgiveness, fumbled in my pocketbook rather than take that hand. He would not remember me, of course – how could he remember one prisoner among those thousands of women? But I remember him and the leather crop swinging from his belt. I was face-to-face with one of my captors and my blood seemed to freeze.

“You mentioned Ravensbruck in your talk”, he was saying. “I was a guard there.” No, he did not remember me. “But since that time”, he went on, “I have become a Christian. I know that God has forgiven me for the cruel things I did there, but I would like to hear it from your lips as well. Fraulein” – again the hand came out – “will you forgive me?”

And I stood there – I whose sins had again and again needed to be forgiven – and I could not forgive. (…) And I still stood there with the coldness clutching my heart. But forgiveness is not an emotion – I knew that too. Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart. Jesus, help me! I prayed silently. I can lift my hand. I can do that much. You supply the feeling.

And so woodenly, mechanically, I thrust my hand into the one stretched out to me. And as I did, an incredible thing took place. The current started in my shoulder, raced down my arm and sprang into our joined hands. And then this healing warmth seemed to flood my whole being, bringing tears to my eyes.

“I forgive you, brother!” I cried. “With all my heart.”

II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO

1. Do we truly belong to the family of God by our faith response and obedience to the Father’s will? By our work and deeds, do we strive to be a mother, brother or sister to Jesus present in today’s poor and needy?

2. Do we believe that God will cast into the depths of the sea all our sins? Are we willing to share his forgiving love with other?

III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO

Loving Jesus,

you are the beloved son of God.

Baptized into the community of faith,

we become members of God’s family.

Help us to live our baptismal consecration

and obediently follow the Father’s saving will

that we may truly be a part of the divine family.

Give us the grace to be a mother, brother or sister

to the poor and needy in today’s world

that we may merit your gift of spiritual kinship.

You live and reign, forever and ever.

Amen.

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O merciful God,

you delight in clemency.

Forgive our disobedience and offenses.

Please cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.

We give you glory and praise

for your forgiving love,

now and forever.

Amen.

IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO

The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the day. Please memorize it.

“For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother.” (Mt 12:50) //“You will cast into the depths of the sea all our sins.” (Mi 7:19)

V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO

By your witness of charity and service to the people around you, let them know that you truly belong to the community of faith and that you are a brother, sister, or mother to Jesus. // Pray for persons who have hurt you, and whom you find difficult to forgive. Make an effort to bring God’s forgiving love and the good news of Christ’s resurrection to them.

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July 20, 2022: WEDNESDAY – WEEKDAY (16); SAINT APOLLINARIS, Bishop. Martyr

“JESUS SAVIOR: He Sows the Seed of God’s Word … He Appoints Us Prophets to the Nations”

BIBLE READINGS

Jer 1:1, 4-10 // Mt 13:1-9

I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO

A. Gospel Reading (Mt 13:1-9): “The seed produced grain a hundredfold.”

In today’s Gospel reading (Mt 13:1-23), the impressive image of the fruitful seed that yields a hundredfold underlines the mighty power of God’s saving plan. The Word of God, prefigured in the “seed” sown liberally by the sower, is Jesus Christ whose favorable saving action on our behalf is total and efficacious. The fruitfulness of the seed of the Word, however, involves not only the graciousness of the divine initiative but also the receptivity and personal response of the recipient.

The authors of the Days of the Lord, vol. 4, comment: “The word attests to God’s faithfulness, long patience, and assiduous labor for the unfolding of salvation offered to all humankind. This word comes from God, who created human beings free, and who made with them a covenant of love. Efficacious, indescribably fecund, this word demands from human beings a willing response made of openness, conversion, and ever- renewed trust in him who speaks it … Thanks to the generous manner in which it is sown, we see the extraordinary fecundity of a single seed encountering a bit of good soil; it gives fruit a hundred or sixty or thirty fold. Are these different yields due to chance or luck? Absolutely not, for it is in the human heart that the word is sown … If the word is not fruitful, it is due to the listeners’ poor disposition. The urgent appeal to each one’s responsibility must be welcomed with immense hope.”

The following gives insight into the dynamics of the sowing of the Word and the reaping of a fruitful harvest (cf. Harold Hostetler‘s April 15 Reflection in Daily Guideposts 2010, p. 120).

When I was a boy getting ready for school each morning, I often found my mother sitting at the kitchen table, reading her Bible. After seeing my father off to work in a Pennsylvania coal mine, she turned to the Good Book before making breakfast for her three children. I can still visualize her bowing her head over her well-worn King James Bible, eyes closed, chin resting on a half-clenched hand, probably praying for each of us.

It took twenty years from the time I left home before I gave my heart to Jesus, but when I did, the first thing I wanted to do was read the Bible. In nearly four decades since that eye-opening moment I’ve read God’s Word from cover to cover almost every year, in more than a dozen different translations. My favorite is the New International Version, maybe because I spent a year working for the International Bible Society during the time it was producing the NIV Study Bible and I was able to contribute some thoughts for its footnotes.

And today, as I finish yet another reading of Psalm 119, I can’t help but remember one of the reasons I feel do drawn to the Good Book.

Thanks, Mom.

B. First Reading (Jer 1:1, 4-10): “A prophet to the nations I appointed you.”

We start today the semi-continuous reading of the book of Jeremiah. The prophet Jeremiah prophesied from 626 B.C., during the time of King Josiah of Judah, until the fall of Jerusalem in 587 B.C. and the Babylonian exile. During his ministry he warned of the disaster that would come upon God’s people because of their idolatry and sin. But he also foretold the eventual return of the people from exile and the restoration of the nation. Jeremiah was a sensitive man who deeply loved his people and, therefore, hated pronouncing judgment against them. But the word of the Lord was like a fire in his heart that could not be contained. He had no choice but to speak the word of God – whether for judgment or for consolation.

Today’s reading (Jer 1:1, 4-10) narrates the call of Jeremiah, destined from birth to be God’s prophet. That God “knows”, “dedicates” and “appoints” Jeremiah to be a “prophet to the nations” indicates that Jeremiah has a role to play not only in the history of Israel, but also in the history of the gentile nations as well. Aware of the difficulties of the prophetic office and attempting to escape the commission, Jeremiah declares that he does not know how to speak; he is too young. God overrides his objection and assures him of his help and presence. God then touches Jeremiah’s mouth to show that the prophet’s word is truly the word of God. Jeremiah is called “to root up and to tear down … to build and to plant”, that is, he will be an instrument of God’s judgment as well as consolation.

The following modern-day story becomes more meaningful against the backdrop of young Jeremiah’s call to serve God’s saving plan (cf. Paula Ciniwas, “The Baby Who Would Not Die” (as told to Rob Staples) in Amazing Grace for Survivors, ed. Jeff Cavins, West Chester: Ascension Press, 2008, p. 216-217).

In my hometown of Sighisoara. Romania, lives a woman named Magdalena … When Magdalena became pregnant with her fourth child, a fierce battle erupted in the extended family. The grandparents and other family members wanted the child to be aborted because there was no enough money coming in to feed and clothe the children they already had. Magdalena’s mother-in-law said, “She had no skills to enable her to earn income; all she can do is to have babies.” Magdalena desperately wanted to keep the child, but finally, with deep sorrow, she relented to keep peace in the family. (…)

On the table, during the procedure, she lost a lot of blood and fainted. The unskilled abortionist became frightened and ran away for fear she would go to prison if caught. Magdalena’s friend came into the room and took her to a hospital and to a doctor who knew the family. Learning that no one in the extended family wanted the child and that Magdalena had agreed to an abortion to keep peace, he agreed to do it in spite of his fear of what might happen if anyone found out. He tried different procedures, including shots, to make the baby come.

After two days in the hospital, Magdalena became very weak. Finally, the doctor said to her, “This baby will not die; she wants to live.” But because he did not know what the abortionist had done, he told her the baby might be physically handicapped, with no fingers or toes or possibly missing an arm or leg, and it might be mentally retarded.

The family decided to keep the baby.

A faithful member of the Orthodox Church, Magdalena believed in God. She made a covenant with God that if he let the baby be born healthy, she would give the child back to him to use in any way he chose. The tiny girl, born a month prematurely and weighing little more than four pounds, was kept in an incubator for two weeks. But as she grew, she was obviously quite normal. (…)

The girl is now twenty years old. Magdalene had named her little girl Paula. I am that Paula. Magdalena is my mother. I am now a student preparing for a life of Christian service.

II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO

1. Are we thankful for the goodness and generosity of Jesus the Sower, who casts the seed of the Kingdom everywhere and brings the Good News to all? Do we endeavor to be the rich, welcoming soil that will make the seed of the Kingdom grow and bear abundant fruit?

2. Do we thank the Lord for the beauty of our Christian vocation? Do we realize that we too have been chosen by Christ to be prophets to the nations?

III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO

Lord Jesus,

you have sown the seed of the living Word.

Let it find a fertile ground.

You have called us to broadcast the saving Word.

We trust in the power of your Word.

Let the sown seed produce a hundred-fold.

Make us faithful prophets

and servants of the Word.

You live and reign, forever and ever.

Amen.

IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO

The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the day. Please memorize it.

“Some seed fell on rich soil.” (Mt 13:8) // “A prophet to the nations, I appointed you.” (Jer 1:5)

V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO

To help appreciate more deeply the generous kindness of Jesus, the Sower of God’s Kingdom, make an effort to spend some moments of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. // Pray for ministers of the Word that they may have the grace to touch people with the healing power of God’s love.

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July 21, 2022: THURSDAY – WEEKDAY (16); SAINT LAWRENCE OF BRINDISI,

Priest, Doctor of the Church

“JESUS SAVIOR: He Speaks in Parables … He Teaches Us to Choose the Source of Living Waters”

BIBLE READINGS

Jer 2:1-3, 7-8, 12-13 // Mt 13:10-17

I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO

A. Gospel Reading (Mt 13:10-17): “Because knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven has been granted to you, but to them t has not been granted.”

In the Gospel (Mt 13:10-17) we see that Jesus uses stories to communicate the kingdom values. He speaks to people in parables to reveal the mysteries of the reign of God. The Gospel message demands a positive response and necessitates openness of heart. The parables and stories are meant to be meditated upon and “interiorized”. Teaching in parables is a compassionate act of the Divine Master to reach out to those in need of salvation. The simple and childlike are able to glean the life-giving wisdom of Jesus’ parables. Those who have deliberately closed their heart to Jesus are untouched by the power of the parables. Since their heart is gross, they look but do not see; they hear but do not understand. They are oblivious to the saving message and are not moved to conversion and transformation. Their lack of understanding results from their prejudice that Jesus does not meet their criteria of the Messiah.

The following story illustrates that to glean the life-giving meaning of stories and parables, the heart must be at work (cf. Anthony de Mello, The Song of the Bird, New York: Image Books, 1984, p. 1).

A disciple once complained, “You tell us stories, but you never reveal the meaning to us.”

Said the master, “How would you like it if someone offered you fruit and masticated it before giving it to you?”

No one can find the meaning for you. Not even the master.

B. First Reading (Jer 2:1-3, 7-8, 12-13): “They have forsaken me, the source of living waters’ they have dug themselves broken cisterns.”

In today’s Old Testament reading (Jer 2:1-3, 7-8, 12-13), Jeremiah begins his ministry as a prophet. The Lord God asks him to proclaim to Israel a message of accusation, which becomes poignant against the background of God’s care for his people: “Israel, you belonged to me alone; you were my sacred possession. I sent suffering and disaster on everyone who hurt you.” God has brought them into a fertile land to enjoy its harvests and riches, but the chosen people are ungrateful. They have forgotten the great things God did for them from the Exodus to the conquest of the Promised Land. God thus accuses them of a twofold crime: they have abandoned God and have worshipped useless idols. They have turned away from God, “the source of living waters” and dug themselves “cisterns, broken cisterns that hold no water”. Infidelity and idolatry are Israel’s detestable crimes against the true God of Israel. It is shocking that Israel chooses the “broken cisterns” of death-dealing idolatry and rejects God, the font of eternal life.

The following article gives insight into the pathos of being forsaken (cf. Dr. Ray Guarendi, “I Failed Parenthood” in Catholic Digest, June/July/August 2014, p. 13-15).

Recently a mother of three children, ages 28, 23, and 15, told me that her oldest child has left the Church. The middle is lukewarm about religion, and the jury is still out on the youngest. She said that she and her husband tried hard to teach and live the Faith, but they both feel like failures. (…)

Young adults are moving away from the Church in swelling numbers. The soul-misshaping forces of our secular society – media, television, movies, music, celebrities, academics, advertising – are everywhere and relentless. Even when homes try to lock the ugliness out, it can seep in like a vapor and form the way someone inside thinks, feels, and believes – often quite counter to what the home is teaching.

Of course, not all young people are so influenced. God’s grace, one’s free will and personality, circumstances – all interact to help a child hold tight to the Faith. Nonetheless, many fine parents are feeling: at the least, a profound disappointment, but more often failure at not passing on to their offspring a sense of God and his presence. (…)

Many, if not most, parents did little or nothing “wrong”. They imparted the Faith as best they knew. Not having God’s omniscience, they lived and taught as limited humans. (…)

At parent presentations, I often ask the audience to answer a series of questions with a simple “yes” or “no”. Is there s God? Yes. Was Christ God? Yes. Could he perform miracles? Yes. Did he have a perfect understanding of human nature? Yes. Slowly and deliberately, I then ask: Could he get most people to follow him? At this, a pensive silence drifts through the group before it answers: No. My last question: “If the God-man himself didn’t convert most, why do we think we can do better?” (…)

He told you to raise them in the Faith, and you have done so. Now it is their life and their free choice to believe. To repeat Mother Teresa, God asks us to be faithful, not successful.

Though you have no assurance that all your devoted years will add up to a religious young adult, you do have other assurances. One, the more faithful a parent, the more likely the kids will follow. And two, of those who leave or outright reject the Faith, some will one day return, often more believing than ever. They were given truth to return to.

For now, you may have given yourself a D-, but the semester is far from over.

II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO

1. Do we make a personal effort to deepen our faith by prayerful reflection on the word of God? Do we continue to value the life-giving meaning of Jesus’ parables?

2. Do we prefer the “source of living waters” or do we choose to dig ourselves “cisterns, broken cisterns that hold no water”?

III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO

Jesus Lord,

you spoke in parables

to reveal to us the mysteries of the kingdom

and to manifest the state of our heart.

Help us to be receptive to your word.

Give us the grace and wisdom we need

to delve into the meaning of your parables.

Let your life-giving message transform us.

Help us to prefer the “source of living waters”

and never choose to dig ourselves

“cisterns, broken cisterns that hold no water”

You live and reign, forever and ever.

Amen.

IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO

The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the day. Please memorize it.

“Knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been granted to you.” (Mt 13:11) // “They have forsaken me, the source of living waters.” (Jer 2: 13)

V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO

Pay particular attention to Jesus’ parables, especially when they are proclaimed in the liturgical assembly. Make a special effort to glean their message for you and the community. Learn to savor and tell stories. // Be deeply aware that the liturgy is the “font and summit” of Christian life and make special effort to participate consciously, actively and fruitfully in the Church’s liturgy.

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July 22, 2022: FRIDAY – SAINT MARY MAGDALENE

“JESUS SAVIOR: He Makes Us Messengers of His Resurrection”

BIBLE READINGS

Sg 3:1-4a or 2 Cor 5:14-17 // Jn 20:1-2, 11-18

I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO

Today we celebrate the Feast of Saint Mary Magdalene. The Gospel reading (Jn 20:1-2, 11-18) presents her as the first witness of the resurrection and as the first one commissioned by Jesus to proclaim the Easter message to his disciples. Mary Magdalene, who ministered to Jesus in his public ministry and stood by him at his crucifixion, is now depicted as weeping by the tomb and seeking for the dead body of Jesus whom she thought had been taken away. She fails to recognize the Risen Lord who appears to her, but like one of his sheep, she recognizes him when she hears him calling her name. Mary clings to him, but Jesus makes her understand that he must not be hindered from completing the full extent of his glorification. The Risen Lord assures her that from now on he and his disciples are inseparable. Through his glorification, they have become children of the one Father and God, begotten by his own blood, shed on the cross. Jesus commissions her to bear the good news of the Easter event – though she is a woman. Mary Magdalene, therefore, has the honor of being the “apostle to the apostles”.

In his apostolic letter, Mulieris Dignitatem (“On the Dignity and Vocation of Women”), Saint John Paul II wrote: “The Gospel of John also emphasizes the special role of Mary Magdalene. She is the first to meet the Risen Christ … Hence she came to be called the apostle to the apostles. Mary Magdalene was the first eyewitness of the Risen Christ and for this reason she was also the first to bear witness to him before the apostles. This event, in a sense, crowns all that has been said previously about Christ entrusting divine truths to women as well as men.” Indeed, Mary Magdalene becomes a significant part of the “new creation” that springs forth in the Easter morn. The glorification of Christ ushers in a “Christological creation” in which there is no difference between Jews and Gentiles, between slaves and free men, between men and women (cf. Gal 3:28).

Tradition and fancy have developed regarding the ministry of Mary Magdalene, a privileged witness of Christ’s resurrection. The following Wikipedia article, circulated on the Internet, gives an example.

For centuries, it has been the custom of many Christians to share dyed and painted eggs, particularly on Easter Sunday, to represent new life, and Christ bursting forth from the tomb. Among Easter Orthodox Christians this sharing is accompanied by the proclamation "Christ is risen!”

One tradition concerning Mary Magdalene says that, following the death and resurrection of Jesus, she used her position to gain an invitation to a banquet given by the Roman Emperor Tiberius. When she met him, she held a plain egg in her hand and exclaimed, "Christ is risen!" The Emperor laughed, and said that Christ rising from the dead was as likely as the egg in her hand turning red while she held it. Before he finished speaking, the egg in her hand turned a bright red, and she continued proclaiming the Gospel to the entire imperial house.

Another version of this story can be found in popular belief, mostly in Greece. It is believed that after the Crucifixion, Mary Magdalene and the Virgin Mary put a basket full of eggs at the foot of the cross. There, the eggs were painted red by the blood of the Christ. Then, Mary Magdalene brought them to Tiberius Caesar.

II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO

Like Mary Magdalene are we willing to stand by the cross of Christ and at the tomb of his resurrection? Are we willing to proclaim the joyful news of his resurrection?

III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO

(Cf. Opening Prayer, Mass: Memorial of Saint Mary Magdalene)

Father,

your Son first entrusted to Mary Magdalene

the joyful news of his resurrection.

By her prayers and example

may we proclaim Christ as our living Lord

and one day see him in glory,

for he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, forever and ever.

Amen.

IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO

The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the day. Please memorize it.

“Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord’.” (Jn 20:18)

V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO

Make an effort to bring God’s forgiving love and the good news of Christ’s resurrection to them.

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July 23, 2022: SATURDAY – WEEKDAY (16); SAINT BRIDGET, Religious; BVM ON SATURDAY

“JESUS SAVIOR: He Will Separate the Weeds from the Wheat … He Calls Us to True Worship”

BIBLE READINGS

Jer 7:1-11 // Mt 13:24-30

I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO

A. Gospel Reading (Mt 13:24-30): “Let them grow together until harvest.”

In today’s Gospel (Mt 13:24-30) we hear the parable of the weeds among the wheat. It underlines that those who endeavor to live faithfully in this world are surrounded by those who do not. But Jesus, the sower of the good seed and the Lord of the harvest, wants us to trust that the wheat can withstand the weeds and even be stronger for it. The parable also tells us about the patience of God, who is compassionate. He allows the weeds to grow with the wheat until harvest time, when the weeds will be separated and burned and the wheat stored and treasured in the barn. He does not easily condemn, but rather, is kindly disposed to give us a chance to prove our true worth. The society in general and the Church in particular have a “mixed bag” quality. They contain side by side the best and the worst as well as the sinners and the saints. The Jesuit bible scholar Fr. Nil Guillemette comments: “Let us not forget, too, that the mixture of good and bad is not only in society at large and in the Church in particular; it is also in our own hearts. We ourselves are a mixture of weeds and wheat. By admitting this to ourselves, we can become less judgmental and more compassionate about our neighbors’ weeds.”

The following stories about “streaky people” are funny, but give us idea of the need to be less judgmental and more compassionate in dealing with the people around us (cf. Anthony de Mello, The Song of the Bird, New York: Image Books, 1984, p. 129).

A preacher put this question to a class of children: “If all the good people were white and all the bad people were black, what color would you be?”

Little Mary Jane replied, “Reverend, I’d be streaky!”

So would the preacher. So would the mahatmas, popes, and saints.

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A man was looking for a good church to attend and he happened to enter one in which the congregation and the preacher were reading from their prayer book. They were saying, “We have left undone those things which we ought to have done, and we have done those things which we ought not to have done.”

The man dropped into a seat and sighed with relief as he said to himself, “Thank goodness, I’ve found my crowd at last.”

Attempts to hide your streakiness will sometimes be successful, always dishonest.

B. First Reading (Jer 7:1-11): “Has this house which bears my name become in your eyes a den of thieves?”

Today’s Old Testament reading (Jer 7:1-11) is a part of Jeremiah’s Temple Sermon, dated early in the reign of King Jehoiakim of Judah (609-598 B.C.). Commanded by the Lord to stand near the temple gate, Jeremiah calls to the people: “Hear the word of the Lord!” and speaks to them God’s message of condemnation. The prophet upbraids the Jews for their presumption that they are secure notwithstanding their crimes. They claim: “We are safe! This is the Lord’s temple, this is the Lord’s temple, this is the Lord’s temple.” Naively trusting in the temple as the guarantee of God’s protection, they commit crimes with impunity. They steal, murder, commit adultery, seek other gods, etc. But God’s protection is conditional on covenant fidelity, not on the physical temple itself. Indeed, the Lord God hates their false worship and their hypocritical conviction that they can turn the temple into a “den of thieves” and still escape punishment. Jeremiah thus exhorts them: “Change the way you are living and stop doing the things you are doing!”

The following story gives insight into the ugliness of crimes committed by “religious” people in “the temple of the Lord” and into the healing warmth of charity and true worship (cf. Carmen Creamer, “One Bad Apple” in 101 Inspirational Stories of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, ed. Patricia Proctor, Spokane: Franciscan Monastery of Saint Clare, 2006, p. 65).

I have had many wonderful experiences when going to confession: however, my first time was not great at all.

It happened in the city of Caico, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. Padre Deoclides, a priest of the Diocese of Caico, came to the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary to listen to our confessions. While each of us was in the confessional, he touched each of us little girls in a very inappropriate manner. I can never forget that first experience.

It was traumatic, but with God at my side, I continued to pray and went back to confession the following month. I remained a Roman Catholic, faithfully devoted to the Church, except for two years after finishing college in 1964. In 1966, I met my husband, an American, who was in Brazil on duty. I learned that he was a convert Catholic, and with him I started going back to the Church I love.

We were married in the Church and have had a wonderful marriage for forty years. My husband passed away this year, and if it weren’t for my faith and the wonderful people in my Church, I don’t know what would have happened. All of our children came home for their dad’s last days and were amazed at my church community. They saw how fortunate I was to have two wonderful priests and a great nun to support me with love and compassion through those days of grief.

II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO

1. Do we try not to be judgmental, but to be patient and compassionate with the weeds and the wheat that grow side by side within our world, our Church and ourselves?

2. Is our ritual worship a true expression of our covenant fidelity and obedience to God?

III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO

Jesus Lord,

you are patient and kind.

You let the weeds grow with the wheat until harvest time.

Help us to manifest the beautiful qualities of the good wheat.

Judge us favorably and bring us home.

Gather us into the barn of your kingdom

that we may render fitting worship to God

with all the saints in heaven.

We love and serve you,

now and forever.

Amen.

IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO

The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the week. Please memorize it.

“Gather the wheat into my barn.” (Mt 13:30) // “Reform your ways and your deeds.” (Jer 7:3)

V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO

Be patient with the foibles of the people around you. In your dealings with them, manifest the good qualities that will inspire them to be better persons. Let your ritual worship be a true expression of the inner worship you render to God. // Pray for the victims of the false “ministers of Christ”.

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