July 1, 2016: St. Junipero Serra, Priest / Friday, 13th week, Ordinary Time
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| See 14 connections with today? Legend below |
- In the land there is a hunger/ Lynch: sheet music (1st reading)
- Thy word/ Grant (psalm, 1st reading)
- For the faithful who have answered/ Dunstan: lyrics (gospel)
- Seek ye first/ Lafferty (psalm response)
- What you hear in the dark/ Schutte (Communion antiphon)
- All that is hidden/ Farrell (Communion antiphon)
The weakening of the family threatens individual growth, community values, and moral progress. The exclusive and indissoluble union between a man and a woman has a plenary role to play in society as a stable commitment that bears fruit in new life. Many family situations can offer some stability, but you can't equate de facto or same-sex unions with marriage. No temporary union, or one closed to the transmission of life, can ensure the future of society. But who's helping to strengthen marriages today?
Arranged marriages, polygamy, living together before marriage, and cohabitation without intent to marry are widespread, and legal acceptance of alternatives to marriage makes traditional marriage seem old-fashioned and outdated. Models based almost exclusively on the autonomy of the individual will are being adopted. We need to rediscover and renew marriage. The strength of the family lies in its capacity to love and to teach how to love. A family can always grow, beginning with love. (II:52-53)
- Am 8:4-6, 9-12 You who trample upon the poor say, “When can we sell our grain and display the wheat? We'll diminish the measuring containers, add to the weights, and cheat with our scales! We'll buy the poor and sell even the wheat's refuse!” God: "I'll make the sun set at noon, turn your feasts to mourning and your songs into lamentations, cover you with sackcloth and make you bald, make you mourn, and bring your day to a bitter end. I'll send famine, not of bread but my word." You'll search for the word of the Lord but not find it.
- Ps 119:2, 10, 20, 30, 40, 131 "One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God." Blessed all who seek and follow God. I long for your precepts; let me not stray, and give me life.
- Mt 9:9-13 Jesus said to Matthew, “Follow me,” and he got up and followed. Pharisees, seeing tax collectors and sinners sitting with Jesus: “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus: “The well don't need a doctor; the sick do. I didn't come to call the righteous but sinners.”
- Creighton: Amos knew the burden of making a living, the dignity of labor, and the pride of work well done. He thunders against wage theft, rigged scales, and squeezing the poor. In his vision, material injustice creates a spiritual crisis money can't resolve. Amos was derided and expelled. To cultivate a passion for justice we must see the world: factories, farmworkers, picket lines, payday lenders.... We must place ourselves on the side of the poor and act. Without mercy, the passion for justice can consume us; without striving for justice, mercy grows complacent....
- One Bread, One Body: "Famished": Our selfishness and injustice sets us up for a famine for hearing God. Sin contributes to a society closed to God's word. A famine of God's Word leads to spiritual anorexia, vision loss, and demoralized people. The Word of God brings life, light, strength, nourishment, vision, wisdom, courage, and victory, and persecution to those who spread it. Jesus commands, "Feed my sheep."
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| St. Junipero Serra |
- Passionist: Today's readings proclaim the Bible’s commitment to the poor and marginated. The 1st reading is from >700 years B.C. but eerily contemporary. Amos excoriates those who "trample on the needy and destroy the poor" and has grim predictions for them. Those who seem to flourish at the expense of the poor will experience a spiritual famine. They may prosper economically but will wither as human beings, losing their spiritual sensitivity and peace. / Jesus calls Matthew, and Matthew leaves his tax booth and becomes a disciple. Jesus seals his friendship with him by dining in his house, along with other "tax collectors and sinners," earning religious authorities' disapproval. The readings reaffirm the church’s commitment to justice—care for those in need or on the margins. The gospel reminds us it's not just avoiding exploitation or using our resources to help the needy; we're to be with the poor, respecting them, accompanying them, learning from them....
- DailyScripture.net: "Mercy, not sacrifice": Matthew wasn't religious, learned, popular, or saintly. He lived a life of wealth and ease in a corrupt profession. But Jesus called him, and he became an apostle to bring God's treasures to the poor. "Why didn't Jesus call Matthew when he called Peter, John, and the rest? He came to each when he knew that they'd respond.... He who knows our inmost hearts and secrets knows when each of us is ready to respond" (John Chrysostom). Jesus sought out those in greatest need. A true physician seeking healing of the whole person, he came to care for us and restore us to life. The 'orthodox' neglected the people who needed care, but Jesus came to call sinners. Jesus quoted, "I desire mercy, not sacrifice," Thank God for his mercy, and show mercy to others...
- Today's saints, from Universalis
- St. Junipero Serra, Franciscan priest, California missionary: canonization homily, StJunipero.org, CatholicHotDish
- St. Oliver Plunkett, bishop, martyr; see Catholic Encyclopedia.
- Bl. Nazju Falzon, lawyer, catechist, helped poor
Dress legend
- 'Wheat' pin: When can we sell our grain? (1st reading); "One doesn't live by bread alone..." (psalm)
- 'Baseball in mitt' tie pin: "Go 'out' to all the world" (psalm)
- 'Heart' tie bar: I seek You with all my heart (psalm)
- 'Sheep' tie bar: Amos was a shepherd (1st reading)
- 'Ruler' tie bar: We'll cheat with our measures... (1st reading)
- 'Scales' pin: ...and scales (1st reading)
- Silver-colored accessories: We'll buy the lowly man for silver... (1st reading)
- Sandals (not shown): ...and the poor man for a pair of sandals (1st reading)
- Balding head (not shown): I'll make every head bald (1st reading)
- 'Musical note' tie pin: I'll turn your songs into lamentations (1st reading)
- 'Silverware' tie bar: Jesus was at table in Matthew's house (gospel)
- 'Coin' button: “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors?” (gospel)
- 'Doctor's office' tie: “Sick people need a doctor" (gospel)
- 'Phone' tie bar: "I came to 'call' sinners" (gospel)
- Green shirt: Ordinary Time season; look beyond the ordinary
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