The Fourteenth
Sunday in Ordinary Time
July 7, 2019
Isaiah 6:10-14; Psalm 66; Galatians 6:14-18; Luke 10:1-12, 17-20
After selecting Twelve Disciples
who will be his closest associates, Jesus sends out thirty-six pairs of disciples
to preach that the kingdom of God is near. Jesus knows that to be in ministry, having
a partner is essential because ministry is demanding and has many pitfalls. We
need to support one another, to help process our interactions with a friend,
and to keep each other safe. Ministry is done within the context of a community
because we are always part of a larger reality.
Jesus was creating a new family
with God as its father, and he preached that God could be accessed wherever two
people were gathered in his name. The Kingdom was open to all who believed that
Jesus was God’s chosen messenger and in his message of radical counter-cultural
love. Jesus wanted us to be mindful that at our very root our commonalities are
stronger than our distinctions. When we focus on what we have in common, we see
that we all love, laugh, suffer, and want reconciled relationships with our
loved ones and with God.
Our faith is not private and is
manifested in our wider community. When we bring our mindfulness into communities,
these societies create change when they harness the energies of the group. Jesus
and the disciples knew this. The disciples were bringing to the villages an
attractive way of life that was represented in their behaviors and thinking.
They helped the society move towards a transformed way of seeing, and this new
sight, this new understanding comes before our actions are changed. Societies
have more power to deal with larger issues because of the multiplicity of gifts
the individuals bring to it. A community can be much more generous than a
single individual, and Jesus understood this dimension of social life. As
ministers, we have to see ourselves as part of a larger community, and that the
community is part of us.
It all begins with the thoughts
we create. We write, we speak, our bodies communicate as we express our
thoughts. We can produce beautiful thoughts, speech, and actions that produce
more love, compassion and harmony. Likewise, we can produce more suffering and
violence. What do we want to leave as our legacy? We express with our bodies,
words, thoughts, intentions, and actions. We are what we do. Every thought we
produce, each attitude we create brings about a fruit. Being in community with
each other calls us to be a better person than we would be all on our own. We are
creating all the time, and if I did something yesterday that was not right, I
have the ability to change it today. Beautiful thoughts produce beautiful
actions.
The gift of being sent out in pairs
or groups means that we can enjoy the relationships around us. We are not responsible
for the whole enterprise but only a small part of it. The right types of
communication we have in groups have great power – to heal the past, to enjoy
the present, and to prepare the ground for a good future. Being a disciple isn’t
always about laboring hard to do the Lord’s work. It is about taking time to
celebrate, to rejoice, to play and have fun with those we are sent. Jesus took
time to rejoice with his friends. We have to make sure we always take time to play
and enjoy our time with the Lord, and with his friends.
Scripture for Daily Mass
First
Reading:
Monday: (Genesis 28) Jacob departed from Beer-sheba and
proceeded toward Haran. When he came upon a certain shrine, as the sun had
already set, he stopped there for the night. Then he had a dream: a stairway
rested on the ground, with its top reaching to the heavens.
Tuesday: (Genesis 32) Jacob was left there alone. Then
some man wrestled with him until the break of dawn. When the man saw that he
could not prevail over him, he struck Jacob's hip at its socket, so that the
hip socket was wrenched as they wrestled. The man then said, "Let me go,
for it is daybreak." But Jacob said, "I will not let you go until you
bless me."
Wednesday: (Genesis 41) When the famine had spread
throughout the land, Joseph opened all the cities that had grain and rationed
it to the Egyptians, since the famine had gripped the land of Egypt. In fact,
all the world came to Joseph to obtain rations of grain.
Thursday: (Genesis 44) Then you told your servants, 'Bring
him down to me that my eyes may look on him. Unless your youngest brother comes
back with you, you shall not come into my presence again.' When we returned to
your servant our father, we reported to him the words of my lord.
Friday (Genesis 46) There God, speaking to Israel in a
vision by night, called, "Jacob! Jacob!" He answered, "Here I
am." Then he said: "I am God, the God of your father. Do not be
afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you a great nation.
Saturday (Genesis 49) Jacob gave his sons this charge: "Since
I am about to be taken to my people, bury me with my fathers in the cave that
lies in the field of Ephron the Hittite, the cave in the field of Machpelah, facing
on Mamre, in the land of Canaan, the field that Abraham bought from Ephron the
Hittite for a burial ground.
Gospel:
Monday: (Matthew 9) "My daughter has just died. But
come, lay your hand on her, and she will live." Jesus rose and followed
him, and so did his disciples. A woman suffering hemorrhages for twelve years
came up behind him and touched the tassel on his cloak.
Tuesday: (Matthew 9) A demoniac who could not speak was
brought to Jesus, and when the demon was driven out the mute man spoke. The
crowds were amazed and said, "Nothing like this has ever been seen in
Israel."
Wednesday (Matthew 10) Jesus sent out these Twelve after
instructing them thus, "Do not go into pagan territory or enter a
Samaritan town. Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go,
make this proclamation: 'The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.'"
Thursday (Matthew 10) "As you go, make this
proclamation: 'The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.' Cure the sick, raise the
dead, cleanse the lepers, drive out demons. Without cost you have received;
without cost you are to give.
Friday (Matthew 10) When they hand you over, do not worry
about how you are to speak or what you are to say. You will be given at that
moment what you are to say. For it will not be you who speak but the Spirit of
your Father speaking through you.
Saturday (Matthew 10) "No disciple is above his
teacher, no slave above his master. It is enough for the disciple that he
become like his teacher, for the slave that he become like his master. If they
have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more those of his
household!
Saints of the Week
July 9: Augustine Zhao Rong, priest and companions, Chinese martyrs (1648-1930)
were 120 Chinese martyrs that included priests, children, parents, catechists
and common laborers. Christians were persecuted throughout Chinese history.
Augustine Zhao Rong was a diocesan priest who was brought to the faith after
the example of the French missionary bishop Dufresse. Zhao Rong was arrested in
1815 and died in prison.
July 11: Benedict, Abbot (480-547), was educated in Rome, but left after a
few years to take on a life of solitude. He became a monk at Subiaco and lived
alone, but his lifestyle developed followers so he built 12 monasteries for
them. He left to found a monastery at Monte Cassino where he wrote his Rule
that became a standard for Western monasticism. He adopted the practices of the
austere Desert Fathers for community life and emphasized moderation, humility,
obedience, prayer, and manual labor.
July 13: Henry, king (972-1024) was a descendent of Charlemagne who became
king of Germany and the Holy Roman Emperor. His wife had no offspring. He
merged the church's affairs with the secular government and built the cathedral
in the newly erected diocese of Bamberg. He was a just ruler who paid close
attention to his prayer.
This Week in Jesuit History
·
Jul
7, 1867. The beatification of the 205 Japanese Martyrs, 33 of them members of
the Society of Jesus.
·
Jul
8, 1767. D'Aubeterre wrote to De Choiseul: "It is impossible to obtain the
Suppression from the Pope [Clement XIII]; it must be wrested from him by
occupying papal territory."
·
Jul
9, 1763. The Society is expelled from New Orleans and Louisiana at the bidding
of the French government.
·
Jul
10, 1881. Fr. Frederick Garesche' wrote from Sequin, Texas, to his Superior:
"The cowboys who had not deigned at first to lift their hat to the priest
or missionary; who had come to the mission as to a camp meeting, for the fun of
the thing, gave in, and their smiles and awkward salutes showed that they had
hearts under their rude exterior."
·
Jul
11, 1809. After Pius VII had been dragged into exile by General Radet, Fr.
Alphonsus Muzzarrelli SJ, his confessor, was arrested in Rome and imprisoned at
Civita Vecchia.
·
Jul
12, 1594. In the French Parliament Antoine Arnauld, the Jansenist, made a
violent attack on the Society, charging it with rebellious feelings toward King
Henry IV and with advocating the doctrine of regicide.
·
Jul
13, 1556. Ignatius, gravely ill, handed over the daily governance of the
Society to Juan de Polanco and Cristobal de Madrid.
Another good homily John!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Lynda. I appreciate your kind words. Happy Canada Day.
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