Eleventh Sunday of Ordinary Time

Ignatian Spirituality: Set the World Ablaze

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Eleventh Sunday of Ordinary Time

June 14, 2015

Ezekiel 17:22-24; Psalm 92; 2 Corinthians 5:6-10; Mark 4:26, 22-34

            Most of our lives are about scattering seeds and knowing we have contributed our part to God’s mystery of life. We are too anxious to see the results, especially when we know we cannot control the results. We have to be content with the good work we do and allow God to take care of the rest.

            Many parents and grandparents worry about the faith of their adult children who decide no longer to attend mass. These parents express great sadness because they have done all the right things in bringing up the children in a loving, religious household, and they lament that the children know how important faith is to their parents, but no longer value the role of faith in their lives. Tensions build when a child wants to marry outside the church or have no urgency to baptize the child. They lament that grandchildren are brought up without a faith tradition.

            All we can do is plant those seeds and patiently trust God. We live in mysteries that we take for granted. For all the scientific research we can do about living beings, we have to step back and admire the mystery surrounding it. All of creation, from the glory of the expanding universe to the conception of a child, perplexes our minds that God can create such wondrous beings. Our best response is one of wonder.

            We never know when one of our seeds that inspire another person are planted. It often comes about in those casual, natural ways in which we are our own selves. It may be a throw away statement we make or a simple gesture of helping another person that we are not even aware we are doing. The seeds are goodness takes root in another person’s consciousness at the right time and it take hold. From there on, it grows without our knowledge.

            If the kingdom of God is likened to a mustard seed, then it is imperative for us to plant as many seeds of goodness and kindness as we can.  Our actions may be insignificant because it is our normal way of being, but its potential is immeasurable.

Themes for this Week’s Masses

First Reading: 

Monday: (2 Corinthians 6) Do not receive the grace of God in vein for now is the acceptable time. Minister well so you will be blameless and live in joy that attests to the Holy Spirit.

Tuesday: (2 Corinthians 8) The Macedonians, through grace, have endured great affliction, but carry on with joy and generosity of heart – proving the Lord works within them.

Wednesday: (2 Corinthians 9) Whoever sows sparingly will reap sparingly. No one has ever become poor by giving all one as to the poor.

Thursday: (2 Corinthians 11) Paul warns the Macedonians that they are too readily to accommodate the preaching of others and they risk perverting the message of Christ crucified. Paul appeals to them because he has great love for them.   

Friday (2 Corinthians 11) Paul declares that he is all things to all people so they can hear the message of Christ. Pauls’ boasting is of the Lord and he will boast of his weakness.   

Saturday (2 Corinthians 12) Paul was given a thorn in the flesh to keep him from being proud. Therefore, he boasts of his weakness and was to accept God’s grace as sufficient.

Gospel: 

Monday: (Matthew 5) Jesus says “An eye for an eye” is insufficient. He says we must go further to love our neighbor.

Tuesday: (Matthew 5) Love of neighbor is also insufficient. One must love one’s enemies because they are brothers and sisters under the Lord.

Wednesday (Matthew 6) Regarding prayer, Jesus asks that people use humility. There’s no need to advertise one’s prayer. One has to pray in secret where God is the only one who sees.

Thursday (Matthew 6) Jesus teaches his disciples how to pray: Our Father who art in heaven.

Friday (Matthew 6) Do not store up for yourselves treasures in heaven. The lamp is the eye to the soul.

Saturday (Matthew 6) No one can serve two masters. Do not worry about the events of the day. God provides for everything.

Saints of the Week

June 19: Romuald, abbot (950-1027), was born into a family of dukes from Ravenna and became known for founding the Camaldolese Benedictine order that combined the solitary life of hermits into a monastic community life. He founded other hermitages and monasteries throughout Italy.

This Week in Jesuit History

·      Jun 14, 1596. By his brief Romanus Pontifex, Pope Clement VIII forbade to members of the Society of Jesus the use or privilege of the Bulla Cruciata as to the choice of confessors and the obtaining of absolution from reserved cases.

·      Jun 15, 1871. P W Couzins, a female law student, graduated from Saint Louis University Law School, the first law school in the country to admit women.

·      Jun 16, 1675. St Margaret Mary Alacoque received her great revelation about devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

·      Jun 17, 1900. The martyrdom at Wuyi, China, of Blesseds Modeste Andlauer and Remy Asore, slain during the Boxer Rebellion.

·      Jun 18, 1804. Fr. John Roothan, a future general of the Society, left his native Holland at the age of seventeen to join the Society in White Russia.

·      Jun 19, 1558. The opening of the First General Congregation, nearly two years after the death of Ignatius. It was summoned by Fr. Lainez, the Vicar General. Some trouble arose from the fact that Fr. Bobadilla thought himself entitled to some share in the governance. Pope Paul IV ordered that the Institute of the Society should be strictly adhered to.

·      Jun 20, 1626. The martyrdom in Nagasaki, Japan, of Blesseds Francis Pacheco, John Baptist Zola, Vincent Caun, Balthasar De Torres, Michael Tozo, Gaspar Sadamatzu, John Kinsaco, Paul Xinsuki, and Peter Rinscei.