June 14, 2017

June 14

June 14, 2017:  Wednesday, 10th week, Ordinary Time

  • 'J' tie bar (10th letter, like י):  "Not the smallest letter will pass from the law..."; Jesus is fulfillment of Law and Prophets (gospel); the 'letter' brings death,... (1st reading)

  • 'Dove' pin:  ...but the Spirit gives life (1st reading)

  • 'Stone' tie pin:  The ministry of the Spirit will be more glorious than the ministry of death carved on stone  (1st reading)

  • 'Phone' tie bar:  They 'called' on the Lord, and he answered (psalm)

  • Tie with 'clouds':  The Lord spoke from the pillar of cloud (psalm)
  • 'Tablet' pin:  I came to fulfill, not abolish, the law...  (gospel) ['clouds' tie trumped 'commandments' tie]

Listen


For Psalm 99
Pope Francis and...
General Audience:  The source of Christian hope is God’s unconditional love, revealed for us in the coming of the Son and the gift of the Holy Spirit.  None of us can live without love.  Happiness comes from the experience of knowing love, freely given and received.
So much unhappiness comes from the feeling of not being loved.  Faith teaches us that God loves us with an infinite love, not for our merit but out of his goodness.  Even when we stray, God seeks us out, like the father in the prodigal son parable, offers us forgiveness and restores us to his embrace.
“While we still were sinners, Christ died for us,” so that we might become our Father's beloved children.  Through Jesus' resurrection and the grace of the Spirit, we become sharers in God’s life of love.  May we all find in God’s embrace the promise of life and freedom.

  • Synod 2018 site just launched; stay tuned for languages besides Italian.
Yodh (animate)
Read
  • 2 Cor 3:4-11  We have confidence through Christ toward God, who's qualified us as ministers of a new covenant, one of the spirit who gives life.  The ministry of the Spirit will be glorious....
  • Ps 99:5-9  "Holy is the Lord our God."  Extol and worship the Lord.  Many called upon him, he answered, and they heard the law he gave.
  • Mt 5:17-19  “I came to fulfill, not abolish, the law and prophets; not the smallest part will pass from the law.  Whoever breaks the least commandment will be called least in the Kingdom, but whoever obeys and teaches the commandments will be called great.”
Reflect
  • Yodh (Yud), the "smallest letter" of the Hebrew alphabet, is the first letter of God's Name; its top spur is "the smallest part of a letter" (Mt 5:18).  Not the smallest letter or part will disappear from the Word.  God uses the small to demonstrate his power.  More
  • Creighton:  The words “glory” and 'holiness' have the same root; true glory reflects God's holiness.  Today's 1st reading connects holiness with God’s being.  Moses came down from the mountain so filled with glory that no one could look at him; he was so radiant after having seen God face to face that he had to wear a veil.  Glory = God-like.  If God's law written in stone is glorious, how much more glorious Christ's living presence!  The baptized share in that presence and so bear that glory; our inner life is radiant with God’s Spirit.  Our ministry is radiant, as is the whole Christian Community.  How do we share in Jesus' mission?  What enables us to be more radiant?  If I pray to see the glory of serving Christ, my radiance will attract others to the Good News.  No wonder Pope Francis insists that we live in joy and hope, so we may bring others to love and forgiveness.  When we know our own glory is unimportant, we give room for God’s glory to be revealed.
  • One Bread, One Body:  "Call-ified":  It's more important to be 'call'-ified than qualified for a ministry; if God calls us, he'll provide the necessary wisdom and gifts.  Knowing God called us and is providing what we need inspires confidence.  We see ourselves as God's co-workers; any problems arising are more his to resolve than ours.  Instead of worrying or stressing out, we pray then listen.  Confident in God, we do our best. Though God and others test us, we rejoice in the One who called us.
    Tetragrammaton (YHWH)
    starting with Yodh
    (remember Hebrew is right-to-left)
  • Passionist:  When Paul writes, “The letter brings death but the Spirit life,” he's saying that while the ten commandments lead us to Christ, it's ultimately the Holy Spirit who brings us all to the life Christ intended.  Paul is overwhelmed with the excitement of following Christ.  Paul was once so dedicated to the old law and the old covenant that he hunted down and killed Jesus' followers, but now, having encountered Christ and experienced conversion, he's filled with the thrill of being a disciple and eager to share this.  He knew the difference the new law and the Spirit could make even in hard times.  Paul’s excitement wasn't short-lived; transformed by Christ in the Spirit, he was a new man forever.  In today's gospel Jesus addresses the relationship between the old law and the prophets and the new law his teaching proclaimed.  He doesn't deny the law or prophets but has come to fulfill them.  Am I alive in the Spirit, eager to live the faith I've been given?  Will my life reveal what a joy it is to follow Christ and live in the Spirit?
    St. Joseph the Hymnographer
  • DailyScripture.net:  "Great are those who teach and obey the commandments":  Jesus' loved and meditated on God's law.  "The law" referred to the 10 commandments, the Pentateuch/Torah, or God's whole teaching to his people; Jews also used it to describe the oral law to which scribes added more than God intended.  Jesus made it clear God's commandments must be fulfilled.  God's law of grace, love, and freedom flows from his love, goodness, and holiness.  Jesus taught reverence for God, the Lord's Day, parents, life, property, oneself, and others.  Respect for God's commandments teaches us love of God and neighbor.  God gives us grace to love, forgive, think, and act like him.  We must love his commandments and hate wrongdoing.  The Spirit writes God's law on our hearts, gives us wisdom and understanding, helps us in our weakness, strengthens us in temptation, and transforms us into the likeness of Christ....
    • Lidwina, ice-skating when she fell and broke a rib, suffered MS, had gift of prayer and contemplation
    • Davnet, virgin and foundress, linked with Dymphna?
    • St. Joseph the Hymnographer, monk, monastery founder, liturgical poet, "sweet-voiced nightingale of the Church," Sicilian, captured by pirates, sold as slave, priests' confessor, inspired 1st missionaries to Russia, known for "gift of discernment."  Recognize any of his hymns?
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)