June 9, 2014

June 9

June 9, 2014:  Monday, 10th Week, Ordinary Time

Readings
  • 1 Kgs 17:1-6  Elijah to Ahab:  “There shall be no dew or rain except at my word.”  Lord to Elijah:  “Leave here, hide, drink of the stream, and you'll be fed.”  He did, and so it was.
  • Ps 121:1bc-8  "Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth."  The Lord, beside you, never sleeps; he'll guard you from all evil, now and forever.
    Wordle: Readings 6-9-14
  • Mt 5:1-12  Jesus went up and began to teach:  “Blessed are the poor in spirit, mourners, the meek, those hungry for justice, the merciful, the clean of heart, and peacemakers; the Kingdom belongs to them, and they'll be comforted, inherit the land, be satisfied, be shown mercy, see God, and be called God's children.  Blessed are those persecuted for righteousness' sake; theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are you when they insult and persecute you and utter evil against you falsely.  Rejoice and be glad; your reward will be great in heaven.”
Pope Francis
  • Homily:  The Beatitudes spell out a program for Christian life, a Christian's "ID card."  Blessed are the...
    • Poor in spirit:  A rich, self-satisfied heart has no place for God.
    • Mourners:  The world says happiness is best and wants to ignore disease, pain, and suffering. Only one who sees things as they are, and who mourns, will be happy, comforted by Jesus.
    • Meek in this world of wars, arguments, and hatred.  Jesus says: peace and meekness, not war or hatred.  If people think you're not clever, let them, but you'll inherit the Earth.
    • Ones who hunger and thirst for righteousness:  It is so easy to become part of the corrupt and referred to “that daily approach of ‘do ut des’. Everything is business”. How much injustice does that approach cause – he noted – and how many people suffer because of injustice. And Jesus says: “Blessed are they who fight against injustice.
    • Merciful, those who forgive and understand other's mistakes and don't seek revenge.  We've all been forgiven!
    • Pure of heart, whose heart is simple, without dirt, and knows how to love with purity.
    • Peacemakers:  It's so common to be war-makers or misunderstanding-perpetrators!  Gossipers are enemies of peace.
    • Ones persecuted for righteousness' sake:  So many have been and continue to be persecuted for having fought for justice.
Jesus gives us more in Matthew 25: “I was hungry and you gave me food, thirsty and you gave me drink, ill and you cared for me,  in prison and you visited me.”  With the Beatitudes and Matthew 25 we can live holy, Christian lives.  Christianity is practical, to be practiced.
  • Invocation for peace:  [Text; from Presidents Peres and Abbas]  Pope Francis:  Our world is bequeathed to us but also on loan from our children; they're weary, worn out by conflicts and yearning for peace, and they plead with us to set out on the path of dialogue and peace.  Many have been victims of violence; we must ensure their sacrifice is not in vain.  Peacemaking calls for courage, strength, and tenacity:  to say yes to encounter and no to conflict, yes to dialogue and no to violence, yes to negotiations and no to hostilities, yes to respect for agreements and no to provocation, yes to sincerity and no to duplicity.  We must break the spiral of hatred and violence by the word “brother.”  To say it, we have to acknowledge one another as children of one Father.
Lord, come to our aid!  Guide our steps in the way of peace.  Give us courage to take concrete steps.  You call us to live as brothers and sisters.  Give us the strength to be instruments of peace, seeing everyone as brother or sister.  Keep our hope alive, so we may choose dialogue and reconciliation.  Defuse the violence of our tongues and hands.  Renew us, so that the word which brings us together will be “brother” and we may live in Shalom, Peace, Salaam!
Music
Reflections
    • One Bread One Body:  Elijah threatened Israel by prophesying and controlling drought, showing them fertility god Baal was powerless; God protected Elijah at a remote stream.  Living in prophetic obedience to God requires radical trust.  Do I trust God enough to speak up?
      • DailyScripture.net:  We can live happy/blessed lives by living the beatitudes, signs of contradiction.  "No one can live without joy.  That is why a person deprived of spiritual joy goes after carnal pleasures." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica II-II, art. 4, ad. 2)
      • Passionist:  Let's open and use the gifts of the Holy Spirit we read about yesterday.
      Apparel
      • "Sun" tie:  no dew or rain (1st reading); Holy Spirit's fire (yesterday)
      • "Eyeball" tie pin:  "I lift up my eyes toward the mountains" (psalm)
      • "Hand" tie pin:  "The Lord is at your right hand." (psalm)
      • "Hearts" suspenders:  "The clean of heart will see God" (gospel)
      • "Peace sign" tie bar:  "Peacemakers will be called God's children." (gospel); Sunday Invocation for Peace; "Peace!... Receive the Holy Spirit." (Sunday gospel)
      • "Dove" pin: Holy Spirit/Pentecost (Sunday)
      • "Key" tie pin: "when the doors were locked, Jesus came:..." (Sunday 1st reading)
      • Green shirt:  Ordinary Time is back (season)  (Remember when this season was called "after Pentecost"?)
      Dress your life!
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