Daily Scripture

Scripture:

Genesis 44:18-21, 23b-29; 45:1-5
Matthew 10:7-15

Reflection:

Our first reading continues to share the story in Genesis of Joseph and his brothers. That story is familiar to most of us if for no other reason than having viewed the musical “Joseph and His Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat.” Sharing the story of Joseph, his father Jacob, who makes a beautiful coat for him, and his brothers, who plot his demise, the musical was a huge success beginning in the early 70s. It is the ultimate family saga, relevant in our modern day. I remember how my parents loved the most famous song from the production, “Any Dream Will Do,” and often sang it in our home.

Today, the text tells of the epic reunion between Joseph and his brothers, who sold him into slavery years before. They do not recognize him, but Joseph knows who they are and dramatically reveals himself to them. Can you imagine their shock? The text says they were “so dumbfounded” (v.3). Afraid Joseph might retaliate for their crime against him, they were distressed. Yet, Joseph does no such thing. Instead, he sees the hand of God at work even in their crime because he is now in a position to save their lives and many others. He used his gift of “dreams” to foretell the future for God’s purpose. His brothers had nothing but evil intentions when they sold him yet, God takes even this terrible betrayal to bring about good.

In our Gospel from St. Matthew, Jesus instructs his disciples to proclaim, “The Kingdom of heaven is at hand” (v.7). This verse is first found in chapter 4:17 as Jesus began his ministry in Galilee following his temptation in the desert. Now he instructs his disciples to make that same proclamation, and from the previous chapters, we know what that signifies as Jesus “cured the sick, raised the dead..” 

Judgment is a motif of Matthew’s writing, and this is represented here by Jesus’ instructions to “shake the dust” from their feet wherever they were not received (vs 14-15). When returning home from Gentile (pagan) territory, Jews would shake off the dust to avoid bringing contaminated soil on their shoes.  Similarly, those who do not receive the word of God are no better than pagans.

I wonder, in daily life, tending to our duties and overcoming challenges or struggles of any kind, do we forget this proclamation? Does “the kingdom of heaven” seem far away in that ancient land where Jesus once walked? Do we fall victim to our circumstances, or fail to dream, thereby missing God’s presence among us? Within this context, we easily dismiss the radical messages in these verses and race along in our hurried-up lives.

Instead, what if the living word of God broke through into our consciousness, inviting us to slow down and take a breath? Then we may savor the miracle of Joseph’s life and his ability to see the work of God as active and dynamic. In choosing to keep his focus on God’s blessing, reconciliation with his brothers was possible. His actions challenge us to contemplate this same presence in our own lives.

As a world community when we realize this sacred presence, might it be possible to cure the sick and cleanse the leper? When we take time to receive the peace of Christ, like the disciples, we will proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Gentle Jesus, let this reception of your peace begin today with me. Amen.

Jean Bowler is a retreatant at Mater Dolorosa Passionist Retreat Center in Sierra Madre, California, and a member of the Office of Mission Effectiveness Board of Holy Cross Province.

Scripture:

Genesis 32:23-33
Matthew 9:32-38

Reflection:

Jacob sent his wives, 11 children and others of his party with all his possessions, across the Jabbok River.  He stood alone on the other side of that river, alone in the deepest darkness of night.

In dread, he awaited the arrival of his twin brother Esau, who despised him for his deceptions.  Jacob knew that Esau was approaching with his army to seek revenge on him.

All his life, Jacob has been a man imbued with conflict.  Jacob and Esau were twin brothers.  Esau, however, was born first.  Jacob was born moments later, grasping at Esau’s heel as though attempting to pull him back, allowing Jacob to emerge first from their mother’s womb.  That is why he was named Jacob.  In the Hebrew, Yaakov, or Jacob, means the back of the foot, the heel.  It also means the one who deceives, the trickster.  That was Jacob.

The infant Jacob grabbed at Esau’s heel because it is the first-born becomes the heir to the father’s properties, possessions, wealth, and would eventually become the head of the extended family’s tribe.

Jacob’s grasping of Esau’s heel defined his life.  His modus operandi was always to grab the heel, to sneak from behind to deceive and get his way.  When Esau reached the age of maturity, his father, the aging, and nearly blind Isaac, was ready to give him his blessing as head of the tribe.  However, Jacob, with his mother’s help, deceived Isaac into believing Jacob was Esau. 

As a result, Jacob received his father’s blessing, and causing a bitter enmity with Esau.

Jacob now stood alone in his midnight hour, dreading the approaching Esau and his army.

Then, something strange happens.  “Jacob was left there alone.  Then some man wrestled with him until the break of dawn.”  Literally, the Hebrew reads that some “ish” wrestled with him until the break of dawn. 

This word, Ish, has at least two meanings.  Ish can mean man.  In fact, the Book of Genesis refers to Jacob as “ish.”  But Ish can mean Angel of God.

The question we are left with then is which meaning are we supposed to ascribe to the phrase “some man,” some Ish?  Is it some mysterious man?  Or is it the Angel of God?

Perhaps the answer is both.

As Jacob stood alone in his spiritual darkness, all the deception and trickery Jacob had inflicted on his brother, and others throughout his life now returned to haunt him like a nightmare. 

He wrestled with that nightmare, with his conscience, and there were no wives, no children, no wealth to distract him.

Jacob wrestled with Ish, the man, that man, himself.  Who was he?  What was his true identity?  All his life, Jacob was no more than a false image of his twin brother Esau. 

All his life, Jacob wanted to be first, like Esau.  He could do this only by deceiving others and by deceiving himself.

Jacob wrestled with Ish, the Angel of God.  In the end, it was with God with whom Jacob had to contend with, wrestle with.

Have you ever found yourself utterly alone in your own darkness?  With whom have you wrestled?

Is it with Ish, yourself with whom you are wrestling?  Many of us do a lot of wrestling with Ish. 

I have. 

In my faith, my doubts, my questions, my fears, I have felt alone, standing on one side of the river, while my family of faith stands at the far side of the river.

In my darkness, I have wrestled with my physical limitations, which are really nothing more than the natural progression of age.  And yet, I have struggled with this stage of my life.

Have you been there?  Are you there now, perhaps in your illness, your grief at the loss of a loved one, in your marital difficulties?  We each wrestle with Ish in our own way

Sounds rather gloomy, doesn’t it?  Where then does hope lie on this side of the river?

Jacob and Ish hold the key to that question.

You see, even though today’s narrative says Jacob “prevailed” over Ish, it doesn’t mean Jacob defeated God.  No.  Nor did God defeat Jacob.  Winning and losing was never the point of this struggle.  The point was that Jacob refused to stop struggling.  Jacob did not quit.  He did not run away.  Nor did God.

Therein lies the hope for us.  These struggles and challenges will certainly come our way.  We will have to wrestle with Ish.  However, it is in that place of our struggle that Ish, God encounters us, wrestles with us.  God will never quit on us.  Nor should we quit on God – or ourselves.

And there is the Good News.  At the break of dawn, Jacob, as he had done by trickery years before, now begged for a blessing.  Jacob received several blessings.

–God, Ish, gave Jacob a new name, a new beginning, a new man: His name was now Israel, one who wrestles with God.

–And Jacob, that is Israel, walked out of his darkness and into the dawn with a limp.

Our struggle with God and ourselves, however, comes at a cost.  We walk away with a limp.  It is the limp – physical or spiritual, or both, that life will inevitably inflict on us.

And yet, that is the best news.  That limp, your limp and mine is the unmistakable sign that God has transformed us to be more authentically ourselves, more like God.

Deacon Manuel Valencia is on the staff at Mater Dolorosa Passionist Retreat Center, Sierra Madre, California.

Scripture:

Genesis 28:10-22a
Matthew 9:18-26

Reflection:

As a child, did an adult entrusted with your care violate that trust in harmful ways? As an adult, have you ever trusted someone and then been betrayed? I suspect most people could answer “Yes” to one or both questions. I know I’ve had my trust shattered several times in my life. People, no matter how good they seem or even how well-intentioned, aren’t always trustworthy, and such betrayals can cause us to doubt whether there’s anyone we can trust. That skepticism often carries over into lack of trust in God.

The scriptures recognize the dilemma. Jacob has a visionary dream in which God promises to protect him, bring him back to his land, and multiply his descendants, assuring Jacob that he will do all that he says. Jacob is understandably ecstatic about this dream, and he dedicates the spot where it happened. And yet, Jacob states that IF this happens and IF that happens and IF another thing happens, then (and presumably only then) the Lord shall be his God. That doesn’t sound like he trusted God much!

Contrast that with the Gospel story of the official who asked Jesus to lay his hands on his dead daughter so she could live. Think about how outrageous that request sounded to bystanders! But his trust in Jesus was so high that he risked looking like a fool, even when the crowds at his house ridiculed them as they arrived. The official persisted, and Jesus amazed them all by raising the girl. Can you imagine the joy the official felt?

On the journey to the official’s house, a hemorrhaging woman believed that she could merely touch Jesus’ cloak to be healed. Remember that in her day, a menstruating or bleeding woman was unclean. She was banned from public gatherings, and touching a man was utterly taboo. She risked being arrested, beaten, or worse. Her trust and courage were rewarded, and she could hold her head high for the first time in 12 years. What an affirmation!

I am slowly learning greater trust. I’ve come to see that people will let me down, but God never will. Oh, I may not get what I ask for, but I will receive strength, wisdom, courage, and all I need to handle whatever life throws at me. I have a rock on which I stand, an unfailing source of life and love that is available to me always. Sometimes it seems I have a long way to go. Other times, my trust in God helps me step more confidently into life, willing to take risks, knowing I will be caught when I fall and loved always.

Where do you land on the trust spectrum? Do you demand that God prove things to you first before you risk trusting? Are you willing to place your trust in God come what may, even if it seems foolish? Or are you somewhere in between? Despite how tempted we all are to imitate Jacob and go for certainty, perhaps we can pray and work to risk the kind of trust held by the official and the woman. That seems like a pretty solid bet, don’t you think?

Amy Florian is a teacher and consultant working in Chicago.  For many years she has partnered with the Passionists.  Visit Amy’s website: http://www.corgenius.com/.

Scripture:

Zechariah 9:9-10
Romans 8:9, 11-13
Matthew 11:25-30

Reflection:

Jesus’ prayer sums up the gospel of Matthew and connects Jesus’ Beatitudes and the final teaching of his hidden presence revealed at the final judgement. The Beatitudes reveal the Father’s love given to the ‘little ones’, and as the end of Our Lord’s ministry nears the little ones who follow Jesus will know and reveal Jesus hidden presence.

As Passionists we seek Our Lord’s love made known in the Paschal Mystery and we share this mystery in our ministries. The prayer of Jesus that Matthew gives us thanks the Father the giver of hope in the revelation of love in Jesus, and for the call to love and serve him in the crucified, that is to take up our Cross and walk with Our Lord.

To you.…the poor in spirit and the single-hearted, the sorrowing, the hungering for holiness, and those persecuted for holiness sake, the peacemakers and the merciful, and to all who are persecuted and slandered because of me, Blessed, happy are you.

And to you who when…. I was hungry you gave food, thirsty and I was given drink, away from home and you welcomed me, naked and I was clothed, ill or in prison and you visited me…. When? When you did it for the least of my brothers and sisters you did it for me.

I remember a friend who has since died who ministered with me and would later marry and raise a family. He was gifted with compassion. He put people first. His work with a non-profit who ministered to the homeless seemed a good fit. He became an administrator and would work for two companies. Unfortunately, he was not an administrator. He gravitated naturally to practically caring for the poor. He was fired from both jobs. Not surprisingly the straw that broke the camel’s back in one job was washing the feet of a man who the aides were neglecting. He became unemployed shortly before retirement, and then due to his age found himself unemployable. He was ‘persecuted’ for his holiness, and a peacemaker when his wife declared war on those who fired him! He did not neglect Jesus ill or abandoned. My friend saw Jesus ill and abandoned and cared for him, he revealed the disguised Jesus in his good works.

I worked in Atlanta, GA many years ago now, and knew a parishioner gifted with a rich prayer life. She told me of her bus ride across Georgia to be be with her dying brother. in a small rural town, she was put off the bus to accommodate a white man. Her brother died before she arrived. This woman was poor in spirit. She felt privileged having the gift of Jesus. She gave to drink those thirsty for the strength to forgive. I was away from home, and she welcomed me into her world of seeing Christ even in such an action that caused irreparable pain, and she made Christ visible.

Have you seen ‘little ones’, those who follow Jesus who reveals the Father’s love as Matthew tells us, and in their love make Christ visible to us? Where have you encountered brothers and sisters who took up their cross to follow Jesus from Beatitudes to the revealing of his presence in their love as well as in the persons whom they loved? These are two stories I still ponder. What are yours?  

Fr. William Murphy, CP is a member of Immaculate Conception Community in Jamaica, New York.