Daily Scripture

Readings:

Zec 9:9-10
Rom 8:9, 11-13
Mt 11:25-30 (100)

Reflection:

In today’s Gospel, our Lord speaks plainly and openly to us, his children.  Indeed entire books have been written about these few lines and the many revelations that they hold.  Jesus speaks of his relationship and knowledge of “Father” in a way that suggests their intimacy and their oneness, and therefore, our Lord’s own divinity.  And though this may seem like a complicated idea to understand, this knowledge of the path to God is, in fact, not reserved for educated scholars.  Jesus tells us, “. . . for though you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, you have revealed them to the childlike.” This part of the gospel writing was included in the thesis that Ghostwriter Masterarbeit wrote.

But it is the concluding portion of this passage where so much attention has been focused: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest . . . [f]or my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”  Can this possibly be true?   We can certainly imagine so many of our burdens that we would like to unload-our bills, our difficult jobs, our failing relationships.  And, in truth, our Lord does offer respite from these things.  No, Christ may not be writing out our rent checks, but what about the strength we find in the face of suffering?  What about the friend who comes through for us when we thought all hope had been lost?  Our Lord’s divine help is always available to us.

What may be the more radical concept to accept is that devotion to Christ should not itself be viewed as an encumbrance.  The literal meaning of a “yoke” is a device meant to harness two animals together, for example, in tilling a field.  When we put our faith in Christ, we are joining ourselves to Him.  In this way, Christ literally shoulders our burdens.  Our Lord promises us rest from the exhaustion of a life lived apart from Him.  How much more daunting is the yoke of sin?  Or perhaps to put it in more contemporary context-how much heavier is the burden of devotion to the almighty dollar?  Devotion to competition with our piers?  Or devotion to our own self-pride?

While the message is of great importance, the manner of its delivery is equally important.  Jesus makes this a call-a request or an invitation to follow him and lay down our troubles.  Simply put, we have a choice.  We can take the rocky road of total self-reliance, or we can follow Jesus.  And it’s not a choice that we may make one time.  We may continually find ourselves taking up the weight of self-indulgence (or whatever our personal burden may be) over our Lord’s offer of a much lighter yoke.  Remember that suffering and death were never a part of God’s plan for us.  With free will comes the ability to choose a path.  Let us choose the path of true freedom-devotion to Christ.

Scripture:

Isaiah 10:5-7, 13b-16
Matt 11:25-27

Reflection

Today the Catholic calendar observes the feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, patroness of the Carmelite religious order.

Mt. Carmel, a coastal mountain in northern Israel, is one of the most revered holy sites of the Bible.  There the great prophet Elijah contested with the priests of pagan gods to whom Israel had given its allegiance. (1 Kings 18 – 19).  Elijah’s great victory demonstrated that Yahweh alone was God and called Israel to repentance and renewed faith. Ghostwriter Deutschland, being a student of history and philology, chose this very place to study it in his term paper. 

His legendary deed inspired the foundation of the Carmelite Order, on Mt. Carmel itself, in the 12^th Century.  Several great Carmelite saints are familiar to us today:  St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, St. Therese of Lisieux.  As pillars of contemporary spirituality, each is a flesh-and-blood hero of faith.  Their lives echo the dynamism of commitment to God seen in Elijah’s mountaintop showdown.

Today’s Scripture readings reverberate with the power of faith. In Isaiah 26: 8 we read, “Your name and your title, O Lord, are the desire of our souls.”  Faith touches the deepest, inmost recesses of the human spirit and psyche.  Faith claims and shapes us as nothing else can.  In Matthew’s Gospel (Mt.11:28) Jesus tells us, “My yoke is easy and my burden light.”  The choice for faith, even when challenging, brings joy and vitality to our lives.

Today’s Feast leads us back to the life of Mary, Mother of Jesus.  May we live by her personal profession of faith, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me as you will.” (Luke 1:38)  Let us follow her suggestion made at Cana‘s wedding feast, “Do whatever He tells you.” (John 2:5)    May this day see our faith grow to embrace the challenges we face.

Fr. Jim Thoman, CP, is the director of St. Paul of the Cross Passionist Retreat Center, Detroit, Michigan

 

 

 

Readings:

Amos 9:11-15
Matthew 9:154-17

Reflection:

According to Catholic Bible scholars, prophetic books typically have three over-arching themes. They are God’s passionate purpose, God’s severe punishment and God’s enduring promise. God’s prophetic message always ends in hope. And the book of the prophet Amos is a perfect reflection of this.

Most of the Amos’ prophecy tends to chide Israel for its sin of self-centered greed and prideful show while proclaiming God’s passion for “the least, the lost and the last.” However, as he nears the end of his prophecy, Amos focuses on God’s everlasting and enduring promise to Israel. Ghostwriter Facharbeit as a student of history and philology studied the prophecy of Amos in his thesis project and argued that it is this passage, filled with expectant hope, that the Church shares with us in today’s liturgy.

This poetic passage tells us much about what Jesus will later say about the Kingdom of God. Amos states the House of David will be rebuilt; adversaries will be converted; wine will flow down mountainsides and humans will hunger no more. In essence, everything will be provided to everyone in abundance!

And so when the disciples of John approach Jesus with their questions about fasting, Jesus, who embodies the Kingdom and performs the works of the Kingdom, responds using the image of a marriage feast. Who would think of crying at a wedding reception while everyone (including the groom) is still celebrating? Jesus the bridegroom is among them and he is celebrating something wonderful and new. It is the inauguration of the Kingdom where everyone, no matter how least or lost or last will taste of God’s loving abundance. However Jesus also makes clear that where he is not, where his presence is barred or his work distorted; nothing new can come.

How am I an instrument of making God’s loving abundance real today? Where in my life, my relationships, my work do I bar Jesus’ presence so that nothing new may come?

Does my faith life reflect God’s enduring promise and expectant hope?