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2012년 7월 2일 연중 제13주간 월요일
제1독서
아모스 예언서 2,6-10.13-16
6 주님께서 이렇게 말씀하신다.
“이스라엘의 세 가지 죄 때문에, 네 가지 죄 때문에 나는 철회하지 않으리라. 그들이 빚돈을 빌미로 무죄한 이를 팔아넘기고, 신 한 켤레를 빌미로 빈곤한 이를 팔아넘겼기 때문이다. 7 그들은 힘없는 이들의 머리를 흙먼지 속에다 짓밟고, 가난한 이들의 살길을 막는다. 아들과 아비가 같은 처녀에게 드나들며, 나의 거룩한 이름을 더럽힌다. 8 제단마다 그 옆에 저당 잡은 옷들을 펴서 드러눕고, 벌금으로 사들인 포도주를 저희 하느님의 집에서 마셔 댄다.
9 그런데 나는 그들 앞에서 아모리인들을 없애 주었다. 그 아모리인들은 향백나무처럼 키가 크고 참나무처럼 강하였지만, 위로는 그 열매를, 아래로는 그 뿌리를 없애 주었다. 10 그리고 나는 너희를 이집트 땅에서 데리고 올라와 사십 년 동안 광야에서 이끈 다음, 아모리인들의 땅을 차지하게 하였다.
13 이제 나는 곡식 단으로 가득 차 짓눌리는 수레처럼 너희를 짓눌러 버리리라. 14 날랜 자도 달아날 길 없고, 강한 자도 힘을 쓰지 못하며, 용사도 제 목숨을 구하지 못하리라. 15 활을 든 자도 버틸 수 없고, 발 빠른 자도 자신을 구하지 못하며, 말 탄 자도 제 목숨을 구하지 못하리라. 16 용사들 가운데 심장이 강한 자도 그날에는 알몸으로 도망치리라.” 주님의 말씀이다.
복음
마태오 8,18-22
그때에 18 예수님께서는 둘러선 군중을 보시고, 제자들에게 호수 건너편으로 가라고 명령하셨다. 19 그때에 한 율법 학자가 다가와 예수님께, “스승님, 어디로 가시든지 저는 스승님을 따르겠습니다.” 하고 말하였다.
20 그러자 예수님께서 그에게 말씀하셨다. “여우들도 굴이 있고, 하늘의 새들도 보금자리가 있지만, 사람의 아들은 머리를 기댈 곳조차 없다.”
21 그분의 제자들 가운데 어떤 이가, “주님, 먼저 집에 가서 아버지의 장사를 지내게 허락해 주십시오.” 하고 말하였다.
22 예수님께서는 그에게 말씀하셨다. “너는 나를 따라라. 죽은 이들의 장사는 죽은 이들이 지내도록 내버려 두어라.”
http://www.usccb.org/calendar/index.cfm?showLit=1&action=month
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings-audio.cfm
July 2, 2012
Monday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Reading 1
Thus says the LORD:
For three crimes of Israel, and for four,
I will not revoke my word;
Because they sell the just man for silver,
and the poor man for a pair of sandals.
They trample the heads of the weak
into the dust of the earth,
and force the lowly out of the way.
Son and father go to the same prostitute,
profaning my holy name.
Upon garments taken in pledge
they recline beside any altar;
And the wine of those who have been fined
they drink in the house of their god.
Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorites before them,
who were as tall as the cedars,
and as strong as the oak trees.
I destroyed their fruit above,
and their roots beneath.
It was I who brought you up from the land of Egypt,
and who led you through the desert for forty years,
to occupy the land of the Amorites.
Beware, I will crush you into the ground
as a wagon crushes when laden with sheaves.
Flight shall perish from the swift,
and the strong man shall not retain his strength;
The warrior shall not save his life,
nor the bowman stand his ground;
The swift of foot shall not escape,
nor the horseman save his life.
And the most stouthearted of warriors
shall flee naked on that day, says the LORD.
R. (22a) Remember this, you who never think of God.
“Why do you recite my statutes,
and profess my covenant with your mouth,
Though you hate discipline
and cast my words behind you?”
R. Remember this, you who never think of God.
“When you see a thief, you keep pace with him,
and with adulterers you throw in your lot.
To your mouth you give free rein for evil,
you harness your tongue to deceit.”
R. Remember this, you who never think of God.
“You sit speaking against your brother;
against your mother’s son you spread rumors.
When you do these things, shall I be deaf to it?
Or do you think that I am like yourself?
I will correct you by drawing them up before your eyes.”
R. Remember this, you who never think of God.
“Consider this, you who forget God,
lest I rend you and there be no one to rescue you.
He that offers praise as a sacrifice glorifies me;
and to him that goes the right way I will show the salvation of God.”
R. Remember this, you who never think of God.
When Jesus saw a crowd around him,
he gave orders to cross to the other shore.
A scribe approached and said to him,
“Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”
Jesus answered him, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests,
but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.”
Another of his disciples said to him,
“Lord, let me go first and bury my father.”
But Jesus answered him, “Follow me,
and let the dead bury their dead.”
the missed moment
A man said he'd follow Jesus, but
first he wanted to bury his father.
Jesus said, "Let the dead bury
the dead." Matthew 8:21-22
To Western minds, Jesus' words
sound almost cruel; but they fit
an Eastern context. For example,
a young Arab refused a college
scholarship, saying, "I'll take it
only after I bury my father." His
father was healthy and under 50."
The boy wanted to put off leaving
home until his father's death.
"Jesus knew the human heart. . .
If the man did not follow him on
the moment, he never would. . .
The tragedy of life is often the
tragedy of the missed moment."
William Barclay
To what extent am I putting off
following Jesus more closely?
There is a tide in the affairs of men
Which, taken at the flood,
leads on to forturne. Omitted,
all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and miseries.
William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, IV, 3
http://www.franciscanretreats.net/
Today the Church celebrates the memorial of St. Iranaeus, one of the very early Fathers of the Church. The Fathers of the Church are a number of early Church Bishops, scholars and Saints who laid the foundation for Christian Theology and kept various errors from infiltrating the message of Jesus.
Iranaeus was probably born sometime around the year 125 and became a disciple of another early Father, St. Polycarp. Iranaeus is most remembered for his writings against the Gnostic heresy that was threatening the early Church. Gnosticism was an early heresy that maintained that matter is evil and that our emancipation from this evil comes from some esoteric knowledge of spiritual truth. St. Iranaeus pretty well eliminated it. Iranaeus died around the year 202.
St. Iranaeus, pray for us.
http://www.evangeli.net/gospel/gospel.html
Follow me
Today, the Gospel presents us —through two personages— a quality the good disciple of Jesus must have: to dispense with all material goods. Before, however, St. Matthew's text points out to a detail I would not like to overlook: «When Jesus saw the crowd press around him...» (Mt 8:18). Crowds gather around the Lord to listen to his words, to be healed of their material and spiritual sicknesses; they are seeking their salvation and a breath of eternal Life amidst a world in conflict.
As at that time, something similar happens in today's world: more or less consciously, we, all, need God's help, to satiate our heart with true spiritual goods, such as a better knowledge of Jesus Christ and a life of friendship and love for Him. Otherwise, we risk tumbling into the trap that fills out our heart with other “gods” giving no meaning to our lives: mobile phones, Internet, tourist holidays to the Bahamas, a frantic work to make more money, a better car than your neighbour or a gym where to excel with the best figure of them all... Right now, this is what is happening to many of us.
In sharp contrast, though, John Paul II's outcry to the youth, full of force and confidence, resounds: «It is possible to be both modern and profoundly faithful to Jesus Christ». It is needed, for this, as the Lord says, our breaking away with what may link us to a much materialized way of life that serves no purpose other than closing the doors to the Holy Spirit.
«The Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head (...) Follow me» (Mt 8:22), says today's Gospel. And St. Gregory the Great reminds us: «Let temporal things be used, while keeping eternal realities in our desire; let earthly things be utilized for our trek, while desiring the eternal ones for the end of our journey». This is a good criterion to examine whether we are properly following Jesus.
http://www.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
Time to Renew the World
God minces no words. The leaders of Israel will be punished for trampling on the weak and the just. As they have crushed the needy, so now they face ruin.
Amos calls these crimes. Our words are softer. Predatory loans or long-term unemployment are problems discussed in polite tones. “What a mess” gets said of immigration policy while chewing the hamburgers that undocumented workers have made. The wars continue, but we have switched channels. We create systems like labyrinths that few understand where no one seems to be responsible for all that is lost. The urgency of people struggling to hang on goes mute. Without a fiery defender, those in greatest need disappear from the screen. Secure in our helplessness, we sit and sigh.
Like the prophet, Jesus sounds a thunderous wake-up call. His words are not balanced or discreet. No time remains to dally or debate. On the move in faith we enter the battle for the living. How we answer this call must arise from each one’s heart. But this is for sure: God wants us as combatants in the struggle to renew the world. There are no excuses or hiding places that can rescind this call.
http://www.rc.net/wcc/readings/
"Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go"
Have you ever been invited or drafted to do something special for an important cause that would cost you a great deal, such as leaving your home, occupation or studies in order to serve your country, church, or family? When the Lord Jesus began his mission he announced that God's kingdom was imminent - God was on the move to overthrow the kingdom of darkness and establish his kingdom of peace and justice. Jesus invited his hearers to join him as disciples on mission. Missionaries serve wherever they are sent. Most of Jesus' disciples served in their own homes, towns, and synagogues - until persecution scattered them to other places.
When the Lord Jesus calls us to follow him, he invites us into a personal relationship of love and friendship. That relationship also involves the commitment of our entire lives to Jesus as Lord and Master, Teacher and Healer, Messiah and Savior. To follow Jesus is the greatest of all calls. What an awesome privilege and an awesome responsibility to be a disciple of Jesus Christ! What does it cost to be a disciple? Our whole lives, for sure! Christ in turn gives us all that we need and more besides! Before we “sign-on” for something, is quite natural to ask what it will cost us. Jesus made sure that any “would-be” followers knew what they were getting themselves into. One prospective follower, a scribe, paid Jesus the highest compliment he knew. He called Jesus “teacher”. Scribes considered themselves the “teachers” and “experts” in the law of God.
Jesus advised this would-be follower: Before you follow me, think what you are doing and count the cost. A disciple must be willing to make sacrifices, even the sacrifice of his own life to follow Jesus as his Master and Lord. Another would-be disciple responded by saying that he must first bury his father, that is go back home and take care of his father until he died. Jesus appealed to the man’s heart and told him to detach himself from whatever might keep him from following as his disciple. Love sacrifices all for the beloved. It was love that compeled the Lord Jesus to lay down his life for us. Does the love of Christ compel you to give your all for the Lord? Let the Holy Spirit flood your heart with the love of God.
What can keep us from giving our all to God? Fear, self-concern, pre-occupation and attachment to other things. Even spiritual things can get in the way of having God alone as our Treasure if we put them first. Detachment is a necessary step is we want to make the Lord our Treasure and Joy. It frees us to give ourselves without reserve to the Lord and to his service. There is nothing greater we can do with our lives than to place them at the service of the Lord and Master of the universe. We cannot outgive God in generosity. Jesus promises that those who are willing to part with what is most dear to them for his sake “will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life” (Matthew 19:29). Is there anything holding you back from giving your all to the Lord?
"Take, O Lord, and receive my entire liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my whole will. All that I am and all that I possess you have given me. I surrender it all to you to be disposed of according to your will. Give me only your love and your grace – with these I will be rich enough and will desire nothing more.” (Prayer of Ignatius Loyola, 1491-1556)
Psalm 50:1-5, 23
1 The Mighty One, God the LORD, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting.
2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth.
3 Our God comes, he does not keep silence, before him is a devouring fire, round about him a mighty tempest.
4 He calls to the heavens above and to the earth, that he may judge his people:
5 "Gather to me my faithful ones, who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!"
23 He who brings thanksgiving as his sacrifice honors me; to him who orders his way aright I will show the salvation of God!"
http://www.daily-meditations.org/index2.html
Today's memorial is for St. Irenaeus, a bishop of the early Church who died a martyr's death, defending the faith against the Gnostics. He was particularly devoted to the identity of Christ as the Word made flesh. Through those words of John's Prologue, the Church is inspired by the Incarnation, rejoicing in the divinity and humanity of Jesus Christ. That reality is central to the Eucharistic sacrifice!
The Eternal Word dwells among us. Yet, the gospels teach us, that Word can be rejected. The Word of God can be neglected, "nowhere to rest his head."
Welcome the Word of God, so that Christ is with you and you go with him. Like St. Irenaeus, rejoice that the Incarnation has meant that the Church is a communion in the Lord, and with the Lord.
The Church prays today from The Prayer over the Gifts: "May this Eucharist bring You glory, increase our love of truth and help Your Church to remain firm in faith and unity."
~ Rev. Stephen H. Gratto
http://www.contemplative.com/weekday_readings.htm
http://goodnews.ie/calendar.php
Promises are easily made and still more easily broken. The man who said to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go,” was saying more than he knew. Maximus of Turin (5th century) made this realistic comment: “The scribe’s declaration is prompt indeed, but foolish. The Lord was on his way toward his final suffering, his descent into hell and ascent into heaven. Is human frailty really prepared to follow him ‘wherever he goes’? This is more a foolish presumption than a confession of faith. Later the Lord would say to the apostle Peter, when Peter thought that he would follow him no matter what: ‘Where I am going you are not able to follow me now’ (Jn 13:36). And when Peter obstinately insisted and said that death would not separate him from [Jesus], he heard that he would deny the Lord three times. In this he was censured for his pride. He promised… that death itself would not deter him from following Christ, but he is cut off…by a little girl’s question.”
Making a promise is like writing a cheque: anyone can do it, but there has to be something to back it up. Plans and promises and even preparations can sometimes be nothing more than delaying tactics that fool even oneself. Jesus never seems to have bogged himself down with preparations; he simply did what needed to be done at each moment. Preparations can be excuses for delaying, and delaying is a way of not doing something. He sent out the disciples without any feasibility studies, project proposals, pastoral plans or catechetical programmes…. A man who was strong on planning came up and said he would like to follow him, “but let me bury my father first.” His father was not dead; his father was alive and well, but getting on in years perhaps. What the young man meant was: in some indefinite time in the future, after my father has passed away and I have arranged all the family affairs, I will come and follow. And Jesus replied: Follow me now if you are going to follow me. Leave the world of planning and business to look after itself; in fact it is never finished with its own business. If you are going to do something, don't begin by postponing; that is the best way of never doing anything.
http://www.presentationministries.com/
The secular culture rebels against discipline. It says: "Do what makes you feel good…You deserve a break today…Have it your way." By contrast, a follower of Jesus Christ is called a disciple, a word which has the same root as the word "discipline." In today's Gospel, Jesus challenges a "disciple" (Mt 8:21) to avoid the temptation of joining the "living dead" (see 1 Jn 3:14). Some scholars say that this man's father was not yet dead, and the son was waiting to claim his inheritance and then follow Jesus. Whatever this disciple's circumstances, Jesus realized that the man was self-deceived about his own commitment as a disciple. Our human hearts are twisted (Jer 17:9). We often rationalize our lack of discipline by excuses and circumstances. We avoid the labor and pain required by discipline. Disciples of Christ, don't fall into the trap of attempting to justify your lack of discipline to God, for "the Holy Spirit of discipline flees deceit" (Wis 1:5). St. Paul testifies: "What I do is discipline my own body and master it, for fear that after having preached to others I myself should be rejected" (1 Cor 9:27). Growing in discipline means suffering pain in the present. Not being disciplined leads to even more pain in the future, for yourself and for others. Will you choose the pain of discipline or the pain of regret? "Do not disdain the discipline of the Lord" (Heb 12:5). Repent of any failure to embrace the discipline Jesus requires of a disciple.
"YOU HATE DISCIPLINE" (Part 1)
"You hate discipline." 뾒salm 50:17
Prayer: Jesus, help me to remember that Your discipline is a sign of Your great love for me (Heb 12:5-11). May I show my trust in You by loving Your discipline rather than hating it.
Promise: "To Him that goes the right way I will show the salvation of God." 뾒s 50:23
Praise: St. Irenaeus fought deceit by writing about truth and fighting the heresy of his day, Gnosticism.
http://www.judeop.org/daily_bread.htm
Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead. Priorities. Christians must recognize that being Christ’s followers takes precedence over everything else. Jesus’ demand for people to drop everything and follow him may appear divisive, but it isn’t a call to separate families or to neglect obligations. It is, however, a cold slap of reality. If Jesus is not at the center of our thoughts and actions, then little else can have much meaning. All other actions will be lonely, empty, broken and dark. We will merely labor for this life, feign an existence with shallow relationships, rather than live in the fullness of Christ. May following the Lord be of highest importance to us, we pray. PR
http://www.judeop.org/dailyreflections.htm
For the next couple of weeks or so, the first scripture for daily liturgy will come from the prophetic literature of the Old Testament. We begin with what I think everybody's stereotypical idea of a biblical prophet might be: Amos! Here is the quintessential country boy (a shepherd and "dresser of sycamores") who "gets religion" and comes to the shrine at Bethel in the Northern Kingdom (before the Assyrians destroy it long before the Babylonians destroy the "southern" kingdom of Judah). There he begins to thunder against the injustice he sees taking place, especially by the rich against the poor. "Thunder" is not too strong a word to use to describe his message! He is anything but subtle or gentle! His message could be summed up as follows: Things are rotten. Repent or Else!
Folks like this can be very threatening! The God they preach seems harsh and vengeful! But one wonders if it is God who is harsh and vengeful in the long run because the harsh and vengeful behavior of the powerful may require harsh measures to correct! Consider the kinds of punishments that many are calling for against British Petroleum or against those elements of the financial world that contributed to the market collapse that has cost so many their homes and jobs! The issue in Amos is not the image of God but the terrible injustice being committed against the poor and the lowly.
When injustice becomes institutionalized in the fundamental moral, political or economic way of life of a people, the entire system has to be cleaned out before it can begin to serve everyone justly. If we are looking for inspiration to handle our own contemporary "systemic" injustices, Amos will be glad to "tell it like it is" for us! AMEN
http://biblereflection.blogspot.com/
St. Irenaeus was a great theological writer of the 2nd century. He
said that man finds the actualization of life when he sees God. To see
God, according to him, is to enjoy his goodness. Therefore, our goal
in life must be to see God if we want to be fulfilled. St. Irenaeus
further said that it is the desire of God to manifest himself to men.
So what are we waiting for? Let us seek God fervently through the
Scriptures, through prayer, through fellowship with other Christians
and by doing good to our neighbor since God dwells in them. Let us
contemplate the goodness of God in the small victories we have – when
we forgive somebody, when we are a bit generous to the poor, or when
we proclaim our faith to those who are spiritually dead
God invites us to be his disciples. The gospel describes exactly what
to expect if we want to follow Jesus – daily sufferings and
renunciation of family ties. As we progress in the spiritual life, we
realize that we must give up comforts, enter into precarious
situations and suffer privations for love of God. We are also invited
to love God more than our parents, relatives, etc. because God always
comes first. When we become adult, we realize that God should be the
center of our lives or else all our relationships become corrupted.
Are you ready to give up everything in order to find the one great
pearl – Jesus Christ?
http://www.judeop.org/dailyhomilette2.htm
“It’s the song the whole world over;
It’s the poor, what get the blame;
It’s the rich, what get the curry.
Ain’t it all a blooming shame.”
This folksong would have been as valid in the prophet Amos’ day just as it is in our own. Amos is outraged at the crimes he finds taking place in Samaria, the Northern Kingdom of Israel. He sees good men being sold into slavery as if they were cheap footwear (“a pair of sandals”) and peasants’ land being expropriated while they are “trampled into the dust.” The list goes on. In fact, Amos’ seeming impreciseness (“For three crimes of Israel and for four”) is just another way of saying “many.”
It is tempting to overlook this reading as prophetic rant and to proceed to Jesus’ more curious words, “the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.” But such dismissal would ignore the very reason of Jesus’ urgency. He comes to restore righteousness not only to Israel but to the whole world. He provides both the clarity of mind and the strength of will to live justly, not only in his day but also in ours.
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