July 2, 2015

July 2

July 2, 2015:  Thursday, 13th week, Ordinary Time

  • 'Wood block' tie pin:  Abraham took wood for the sacrifice.  (1st reading)
  • 'Sheep' tie bar:  "Where's the sheep for the offering?"  (1st reading)
  • 'Angel' pin:  The Lord’s messenger called to Abraham:  "Stop!"
  • 'Star' tie pin:  "I'll make your descendants as countless as the stars of the sky" (1st reading)
  • Silver- and gold-colored accessories:  "Their idols are silver and gold..." (psalm)
  • 'Eyeball' pin:  "They have eyes but don't see"  (psalm)
  • 'Boat' tie bar:  Jesus crossed in a boat... (gospel)
  • 'Doctor's office' tie:  ...and [forgave then] healed a paralytic (gospel)
  • Green shirt:  Ordinary Time season
  • Gn 22:1b-19  God put Abraham to the test, asking him to sacrifice his son Isaac.  Abraham and Isaac went up with wood.  Abraham tied him up, but as he took the knife to slaughter him, God's messenger told him to stop:  "I know now how devoted you are to God.  Because you didn't withhold your son from me, I'll bless you abundantly with countless descendants..."

  • Ps 115:1-6, 8-9  "I will walk in the presence of the Lord, in the land of the living."  Lord, not to us but to your name give glory because of your kindness and truth.  You do whatever you will, but idols neither speak, see, hear, nor smell.  Israel trusts in the Lord, their help and shield.

  • Mt 9:1-8 [hear/see it proclaimed by Msgr. Brennan]  People brought Jesus a paralytic on a stretcher.  Jesus:  “Your sins are forgiven.”  Scribes:  “He's blaspheming.”  Jesus:  "Why harbor such evil thoughts?  Is it easier to say that, or ‘Rise and walk’?  So you'll know the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins” [to paralytic:] “Rise and go.”  He rose and went home.  The crowds were awestruck and glorified God...
Reflect
    • Msgr. Brennan homily podcast:  Trust in God pays off; look at Abraham and the folks who brought the paralytic to Jesus.  (I don't know why the last words were cut off; they're "who calls us to life.")
    • The Akedah and Romans 8:31-39 (1st reading-inspired):  see p. 2 of the exegesis I posted here, drawing from Segal and Dunn.  [I had to work this in not because I wrote it but because the Romans passage means so much to me.]
      Read St. John Chrysostom
      on the paralytic's healing
      The Sacrifice of Isaac/ Rembrandt
    • Creighton:  God gave Isaac to Abraham when neither Abraham nor Sarah were in childbearing years; God promised Abraham numerous descendents through him.  God asks Abraham to give him back, Abraham interpreted that as [destructive] sacrifice but was willing to do whatever God asked.  Isaac's sparing tells us “there is no violence in God” (Sandra Schneiders):   God gives; God doesn't destroy.  As God gave Isaac back to Abraham, God gives Jesus back to us who rejected and tried to destroy him.  God so loved the world that he not only gave us his son but even gave him back to us after we rejected and killed him.  The sparing of Isaac tells us God didn't want Jesus’ death.  1 John 4:7 says God is love, but 'love' is best translated as 'self-giving.'   God is relentless, forgiving self-giving.
    • Passionist:  How hard it can be to obey God when it seems he's asking something unreasonable!  May we be faithful like Abraham was....
    • DailyScripture.net:  Jesus did the unthinkable with the cripple brought to him in first forgiving his sins; the scribes regarded it as blasphemy because only God could forgive sins, so Jesus was claiming divine authority.  Jesus not only proved that his authority came from God but also showed the power of God's love by healing the cripple physically.  Do I allow the Lord to heal my mind, body, and soul?
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