July 18, 2012 Wednesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

[이안드레아]

2012년 7월 18일 연중 제15주간 수요일

제1독서

이사야서 10,5-7.13-16
주님께서 이렇게 말씀하신다.
5 “불행하여라, 내 진노의 막대인 아시리아! 그의 손에 들린 몽둥이는 나의 분노이다. 6 나는 그를 무도한 민족에게 보내고, 나를 노엽게 한 백성을 거슬러 명령을 내렸으니, 약탈질을 하고 강탈질을 하며 그들을 길거리의 진흙처럼 짓밟게 하려는 것이었다. 7 그러나 그는 그렇게 생각하지 않고, 그러한 뜻을 마음에 품지도 않았다. 오로지 그의 마음속에는 멸망시키려는 생각과 적지 않은 수의 민족들을 파멸시키려는 생각뿐이었다.”
13 그는 이렇게 말한다. “나는 내 손의 힘으로 이것을 이루었다. 나는 현명한 사람이기에 내 지혜로 이루었다. 나는 민족들의 경계선을 치워 버렸고, 그들의 재산을 빼앗았으며, 왕좌에 앉은 자들을 힘센 장사처럼 끌어내렸다. 14 내 손이 민족들의 재물을 새 둥지인 양 움켜잡고, 버려진 알들을 거두어들이듯 내가 온 세상을 거두어들였지만, 날개를 치거나 입을 열거나 재잘거리는 자가 없었다.”
15 도끼가 도끼질하는 사람에게 뽐낼 수 있느냐? 톱이 톱질하는 사람에게 으스댈 수 있느냐? 마치 몽둥이가 저를 들어 올리는 사람을 휘두르고, 막대가 나무도 아닌 사람을 들어 올리려는 것과 같지 않으냐?
16 그러므로 주 만군의 주님께서는 그 비대한 자들에게 질병을 보내어 야위게 하시리라. 마치 불로 태우듯, 그 영화를 불꽃으로 태워 버리시리라.

복음

마태오 11,25-27
25 그때에 예수님께서 이렇게 말씀하셨다.
“아버지, 하늘과 땅의 주님, 지혜롭다는 자들과 슬기롭다는 자들에게는 이것을 감추시고, 철부지들에게는 드러내 보이시니, 아버지께 감사드립니다. 26 그렇습니다, 아버지! 아버지의 선하신 뜻이 이렇게 이루어졌습니다.”
27 “나의 아버지께서는 모든 것을 나에게 넘겨주셨다. 그래서 아버지 외에는 아무도 아들을 알지 못한다. 또 아들 외에는, 그리고 그가 아버지를 드러내 보여 주려는 사람 외에는 아무도 아버지를 알지 못한다.”

http://www.usccb.org/calendar/index.cfm?showLit=1&action=month

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings-audio.cfm

July 18, 2012

Wednesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Reading 1

Is 10:5-7, 13b-16

Thus says the LORD:
Woe to Assyria! My rod in anger,
my staff in wrath.
Against an impious nation I send him,
and against a people under my wrath I order him
To seize plunder, carry off loot,
and tread them down like the mud of the streets.
But this is not what he intends,
nor does he have this in mind;
Rather, it is in his heart to destroy,
to make an end of nations not a few.

For he says:
"By my own power I have done it,
and by my wisdom, for I am shrewd.
I have moved the boundaries of peoples,
their treasures I have pillaged,
and, like a giant, I have put down the enthroned.
My hand has seized like a nest
the riches of nations;
As one takes eggs left alone,
so I took in all the earth;
No one fluttered a wing,
or opened a mouth, or chirped!"

Will the axe boast against him who hews with it?
Will the saw exalt itself above him who wields it?
As if a rod could sway him who lifts it,
or a staff him who is not wood!
Therefore the Lord, the LORD of hosts,
will send among his fat ones leanness,
And instead of his glory there will be kindling
like the kindling of fire.

Responsorial Psalm

Ps 94:5-6, 7-8, 9-10, 14-15

R. (14a)

The Lord will not abandon his people.
Your people, O LORD, they trample down,
your inheritance they afflict.
Widow and stranger they slay,
the fatherless they murder.
R. The Lord will not abandon his people.
And they say, "The LORD sees not;
the God of Jacob perceives not."
Understand, you senseless ones among the people;
and, you fools, when will you be wise?
R. The Lord will not abandon his people.
Shall he who shaped the ear not hear?
or he who formed the eye not see?
Shall he who instructs nations not chastise,
he who teaches men knowledge?
R. The Lord will not abandon his people.
For the LORD will not cast off his people,
nor abandon his inheritance;
But judgment shall again be with justice,
and all the upright of heart shall follow it.
R. The Lord will not abandon his people.

Gospel

Mt 11:25-27

At that time Jesus exclaimed:
"I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for although you have hidden these things
from the wise and the learned
you have revealed them to the childlike.
Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.
All things have been handed over to me by my Father.
No one knows the Son except the Father,
and no one knows the Father except the Son
and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him."

http://www.staygreat.com/

God knows best

Lord, you have shown to the
unlearned what you have hidden
from the wise." Matthew 11:25

An old rabbi went on a journey.
He took 3 things: a rooster to
wake him each day, a donkey to
ride, a Bible to read at night. One
day he came to a village; but
they would not him stay. He said,
"God knows best." That night he
lit a candle to read his Bible, but
the wind kept blowing it out.
Minutes later, two thieves force-
fully took his donkey and his roo-
ster. "God know best, he said,
Hearing a noisy crowd coming,
he hid behind a bush. He fell a-
sleep saying, "God knows best."
Next day, he learned a crowd of
angry enemy soldiers had
entered the unfriendly village,
and killed every one in sight.

What is this ancient story's point.

Behind the dim unknown,
Standeth God within the shadow,
keeping watch above his own.
James Russell Lowell

http://www.franciscanretreats.net/

Fifty-three years ago today, on July 14, 1957, in St. Mark’s Church on the Aventine Hill in Rome, Italy, I was ordained to the priesthood. I am extremely grateful to Almighty God for his call to serve him and his people as a priest.

Our Gospel for today can be construed as being about the difference between knowing about God and about really knowing God. The difference is huge! I think the first 17 years of my priesthood I knew about God. Knowledge of God for me during that period was a head trip. That’s what it means to know about God. I didn’t really begin to know God, to know him in my heart, until I quit playing games with alcohol and settled down to really living the life of a priest and really coming to know God.

I believe all of us, each in his or her own way, go through the transition of knowing God with our head and then finally knowing him and loving him with our hearts. When we love him with our hearts, we believe what we know about him and try our best to put it into practice. That is when we begin to find happiness, joy and peace in our lives. I believe I have now found these things and I am very grateful to God for his many graces that led me on the right path. As I remarked a week or so ago, it has been a great ride. How about you?

http://www.evangeli.net/gospel/gospel.html

You have hidden these things from the wise and learned and revealed them to simple people

oday, the Gospel offers us the opportunity to accede, so to speak, to the very structure of the divine wisdom. Who, amongst us, would not love to become acquainted with the unfathomable mysteries of life? There are enigmas the world's best team of investigators would not even dream of detecting. There is One however before which «there is nothing hidden, (...); nor is anything secret» (Mk 4:22). This is the mystery of who calls himself the “Son of man ”, inasmuch He says about himself: «All things have been handed over to me by my Father» (Mt 11:27). His human nature —through the hypostatic union— has been assumed by the Person of the Word of God: He is, in short, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, before which darkness does not exist and for which, night is more luminous than broad daylight.

An Arab proverb says: «If a pitch black night a black ant climbs over a black wall, God sees it». There are neither secrets nor mysteries for God. There are mysteries for us, but not for God, before whom, past, present and future are open and dug into, to the last comma.

Quite pleased, the Lord says today: «Father, Lord of heaven and earth, I praise you, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned and revealed them to simple people» (Mt 11:25). Indeed, because no one could pretend to know these or similar hidden secrets, not even by bringing them out of the darkness through exhaustive studies, or as the wisdom should. A little old aged woman, without any school experience, will always be more aware about the deep secrets of life than the pretentious scientist that has spent an awful lot of money at reputed universities. Certain science can be achieved through inner faith, humility and poorness. Clement of Alexandria very well wrote: «Night is favourable for mysteries; it is then when our soul —attentive and humble— turns on itself while pondering over its condition; it is then when it finds God».

http://www.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html

Today Catholics celebrate the “Lily of the Mohawks,” Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha (“Gaw-deh-lee De-ga-kwe-tha”). Kateri was born near the town of Auriesville, New York, in the year 1656, the daughter of a Mohawk warrior. Her mother died when she was young, she was raised by aunts and uncles, and eventually rejected by her tribe when she converted to Christ. She had to leave her family to practice her faith. In the four years that she lived as a disciple of Jesus before her death at age twenty-four, she cared for the sick and aged and dedicated herself to prayer and penance. Her greatest devotion was to the crucified Jesus and the Eucharist. Blessed Kateri lived a simple, humble life. She is a beautiful “icon” through whom we can catch a glimpse of the message of today’s scriptures.

In the Isaiah passage the Lord pronounces woes against the nation Assyria. Why? Assyria was an instrument God used to punish other nations but then attributed its might and wisdom to itself. It’s as if an axe is boasting about its ability to chop wood and forgets the hands that wield it. Assyria is boastful and proud and for this God plans to bring punishment. Blessed Kateri is the anti-Assyria for she never forgets her maker and never exalts herself. In humility and love she serves God.

The refrain of the responsorial psalm is “The Lord will not abandon his people.” Blessed Kateri was persecuted by her own tribe. Although she loved her people, she felt compelled to travel to a place where she could practice her faith. I cannot fathom the courage required of a twenty-year-old, single, Native American, young woman living in 1676 who abandoned all to embrace the crucified Jesus. Yet, through it all she experiences the love of God. The one who made the ear hears her cry. The one who made the eye sees her faith. Her inheritance is the Spirit who does not abandon his people.

The gospel lesson records one of the prayers of Jesus. Jesus praises the Father for hiding his will for the world from the wise and learned and revealing it to the childlike. It is the Blessed Kateris of the world to whom the Father reveals his will. The haughty, the proud, the wise, the learned simply are not enough like children to be able to receive it. God would give it to us but we are too full of ourselves. There is no room within our hearts for the gracious will of God.

Blessed Kateri is the first Native American to be declared a Blessed. Recently I visited the St. Augustine Mission in Winnebago, Nebraska, and observed the beautiful ministry that Fr. Dave, Fr. Mike, and the Benedictine sisters have on the Winnebago Indian Reservation. Fr. Dave told me that the Native Americans may be the only people not to have a Catholic saint and that they regularly pray for the canonization of Blessed Kateri. I include the prayer for her canonization for all who wish to join them.

“O God, who, among the many marvels of Your Grace in the New World, did cause to blossom on the banks of the Mohawk and of the St. Lawrence, the pure and tender Lily, Kateri Tekakwitha, grant we beseech You, the favor we beg through her intercession; that this Young Lover of Jesus, and of His Cross may soon be counted among her Saints by Holy Mother Church, and that our hearts may be enkindled with a stronger desire to imitate her innocence and faith. Through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen.”

http://www.rc.net/wcc/readings/
"Heavenly things revealed to babes"

Do you want to know the mind and thoughts of God? Jesus thanks the Father in heaven for revealing to his disciples the wisdom and knowledge of God. What does Jesus' prayer tell us about God and about ourselves? First, it tells us that God is both Father and Lord of earth as well as heaven. He is both Creator and Author of all that he has made, the first origin of everything and transcendent authority, and at the same time, goodness and loving care for all his children. All fatherhood and motherhood is derived from him (Ephesians 3:14-15). Jesus' prayer also contains a warning that pride can keep us from the love and knowledge of God. What makes us ignorant and blind to the things of God? Certainly intellectual pride, coldness of heart, and stubbornness of will shut out God and his kingdom. Pride is the root of all vice and the strongest influence propelling us to sin. It first vanquishes the heart, making it cold and indifferent towards God. It also closes the mind to God's truth and wisdom for our lives. What is pride? It is the inordinate love of oneself at the expense of others and the exaggerated estimation of one's own learning and importance.

Jesus contrasts intellectual pride with child-like simplicity and humility. The simple of heart are like "babes" in the sense that they see purely without pretense and acknowledge their dependence and trust in the one who is greater, wiser, and more trustworthy. They seek one thing – the "summum bonum" or "greatest good" who is God himself. Simplicity of heart is wedded with humility, the queen of virtues, because humility inclines the heart towards grace and truth. Just as pride is the root of every sin and evil, so humility is the only soil in which the grace of God can take root. It alone takes the right attitude before God and allows him as God to do all. God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble (Proverbs 3:34, James 4:6). Only the humble in heart can receive true wisdom and understanding of God and his ways. Do you submit to God's word with simple trust and humility?

Jesus makes a claim which no one would have dared to make – he is the perfect revelation of God. One of the greatest truths of the Christian faith is that we can know the living God. Our knowledge of God is not simply limited to knowing something about God, but we can know God personally. The essence of Christianity, and what makes it distinct from Judaism and other religions, is the knowledge of God as our Father. Jesus makes it possible for each of us to personally know God as our Father. To see Jesus is to see what God is like. In Jesus we see the perfect love of God – a God who cares intensely and who yearns over men and women, loving them to the point of laying down his life for them upon the Cross. Jesus is the revelation of God – a God who loves us completely, unconditionally, and perfectly. Jesus also promises that God the Father will hear our prayers when we pray in his name. That is why Jesus taught his followers to pray with confidence, Our Father who art in heaven ..give us this day our daily bread. Do you pray to your Father in heaven with joy and confidence in his love and care for you?

"Lord Jesus, give me the child-like simplicity and purity of faith to gaze upon your face with joy and confidence in your all-merciful love. Remove every doubt, fear, and proud thought which would hinder me from receiving your word with trust and humble submission."

Psalm 94:5-10,14-15

5 They crush thy people, O LORD, and afflict thy heritage.
6 They slay the widow and the sojourner, and murder the fatherless;
7 and they say, "The LORD does not see; the God of Jacob does not perceive."
8 Understand, O dullest of the people! Fools, when will you be wise?
9 He who planted the ear, does he not hear? He who formed the eye, does he not see?
10 He who chastens the nations, does he not chastise? He who teaches men knowledge,
14 For the LORD will not forsake his people; he will not abandon his heritage;
15 for justice will return to the righteous, and all the upright in heart will follow it.

http://www.daily-meditations.org/index2.html
Arrogance is defined as "an attitude of superiority manifested in an overbearing manner or in presumptuous claims or assumptions."

No word could better define how the nation of Israel had become at the time if Isaiah. To show the people of Israel their folly, Isaiah uses some beautiful imagery asking, "Will the axe boast against him who hews with it? Will the saw exalt itself above him who wields it?" Of course, the answer is no: the axe has no power over him who swings it, just as the saw can do nothing to the person who cuts with it. Axes and saws are powerless, inanimate objects.

The Israelites were nothing more than axes and saws, but in their arrogance they believed they had great power and could ignore God's laws. In reality they had no power at all, especially in the face of God's anger.

As our scientific knowledge, our success and our seemingly great accomplishments continue to expand, it seems God gets smaller and smaller. But as our own presumptuousness grows, God really never gets smaller. In fact our true need for him grows larger and larger. Don't ever be fooled by letting arrogance creep into your life!

~ Don Claunch, SFO

http://www.contemplative.com/weekday_readings.htm

As soon as I seek in my prayer the mind of the little one who trusts in the absoluteness of God. And as soon as I do not allow one rook or cranny of my consciousness to be puffed up in modernity's skepticism of the Kingdom, then I begin to experience in my prayer the hidden mystery of the Kingdom. This is the pleasure of the Father to reveal to me the Son and the Son reveals the Father. And what a gift is given! The Trinitarian life! No one knows the Son but the Father. No one knows the Father but the Son. Into this intimacy of Presence I am called. What am I learning in my prayer? Holy Spirit of the love-knowledge of the Father and the Son, come and teach and re-form me into the image of the Son.

http://goodnews.ie/calendar.php

We advise children to “tell the truth and shame the devil.” Like a lot of advice, it seems to be mainly for giving away. But we could use some of that advice ourselves: most of the truth in the world is told by young children. Not far into our lives we begin to take sides on things, and then goodbye truth! To enter the kingdom of God we have to become like children again, Jesus said (Mt 18:3). ‘Infant’ comes from the Latin ‘in-fans’: non-speaking. Language helps us distinguish things, and very soon distinction becomes separation, which then turns into opposition. Potentially the most destructive opposition is between ‘I’ and ‘not-I’. In English, ‘I’ is the most frequently used pronoun; and it is written in upper case – “like God!” a Chinese speaker once said to me. Language can seduce me into believing that I am somehow divided from everything else, and that everything in the world opposes me. Then I spend my life mentally protecting and defending this first person singular - who in reality could not last five minutes if left without such ‘non-I’ things as air, water, food, shelter….

The ‘little ones’ Jesus spoke of were not just children but the humble, the helpless, the heavy-burdened, those who were ready to hear what he was saying: disciples. They are the ones who know their need of God and of everything that God gives. This knowledge may not look like knowledge at all: it can adduce no subtle arguments, no book-learning. But it is, wrote St Paul, “a wisdom that none of the masters of this age have ever known” (1 Cor. 2:8). It is the wisdom of God incarnate in Jesus.

http://www.presentationministries.com/

FOR CHILDREN ONLY

"What You have hidden from the learned and the clever You have revealed to the merest children." 뾏atthew 11:25

The Lord hides many things from the learned and the clever but reveals them to the merest children (Mt 11:25). This is not unfair because we can all become like little children whenever we wish (Mt 18:3-4). The Lord's will is to tell us things great beyond reach of our knowledge (Jer 33:3), but we must choose a receptive attitude and lifestyle.

Becoming like little children and receiving the fullness of God's revelation has nothing to do with age. When we acknowledge our utter dependence on God, let it be done unto us according to God's word (Lk 1:38), and put ourselves in situations where we have no help but our Abba, we then become like little children.

In our society, many people use knowledge to control their lives and those of others. Knowledge is the means to power, protection, and manipulation. We must give up control and choose to become like little children before being given the ultimate knowledge, God's revelation.

Prayer: Abba, teach Your children, and may I choose to be one of them.

Promise: "No one knows the Son but the Father, and no one knows the Father but the Son � and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal Him." 뾏t 11:27

Praise: Bl. Kateri retained the heart of a child as she grew in the grace and knowledge of her Lord and Savior. Though her decision to be a Christian placed her future status in great risk, she accepted the good news of Jesus with childlike trust.

http://www.judeop.org/daily_bread.htm

All things have been handed over to me by my Father. Jesus here offers a prayer of praise to the Father. Here and elsewhere, the Gospel places value on being like little children. Do we struggle with this disposition? How much of our prayer time is given to praise? Perhaps what we lack most are eyes of wonder, appreciation and gratitude for all that has been given to us. To really know the Father, Jesus and ourselves as beloved children of God is to live with a grateful, hope-filled heart. If we have failed to train ourselves in regular praise of our God, let us recommit to this happy practice today. For childlike joy in the Lord, we pray. Ecw

http://www.judeop.org/dailyhomilette2.htm

In trying to come to terms with the great evils that have racked humankind, some theologians have concluded that God has no power over forces like armies or hurricanes. Rather, they say, God only inspires people to carry out His will like a father might encourage his sons not to defile the family name. However, it is hard to square such a weak conception of God with Scripture as we see in the first reading today.

Assyria is a mighty power in the first third of the millennium before Christ. Scripture sees it becoming God’s instrument to punish the Northern Kingdom of Israel for the latter’s wickedness. However, according to Isaiah, Assyria has gone too far in its demolition of Israel. Now, the prophet predicts, God will call Assyria to account for its excesses. In fact, Babylonia will conquer Assyria a hundred years later.

When we suffer, we should call to mind that God is in control of the universe and all that is within it. Although we cannot understand why He allows good people to undergo terrible misfortune, we still can turn to God in prayer for mercy. We should not doubt an instant that God loves us and will come to our assistance. Blessed Kateri Tekawitha demonstrated this trust as a believer in the primitive society which we know as the missionary frontier of America. Despite facial deformation, sickness and persecution, Kateri showed great care for her people. No doubt her devotion to the Eucharist generated her charity toward others.

http://www.judeop.org/dailyreflections.htm

These words of Jesus speak of intimacy with God. Scripture scholars point to Exodus 33 where Moses seeks to know God and God calls Moses, "my intimate friend." Jesus is presented in the Gospel of Matthew as a "new" Moses. In short, Jesus presents himself in these words for who he truly is: the revelation of God! In tomorrow's gospel, this image will be further developed, again along lines from Exodus 33.

It is important here not to allow ourselves to be drawn into the old errors of "gnosticism" in which the gospel becomes a hidden body of information available to only a select few. Intimacy with God is available to all persons who seek God! However, we must come with open hearts and minds and not with a prepared agenda. Jesus reveals himself as the one who reveals God. He invites us to get acquainted. Shall we take him up on it? AMEN

http://biblereflection.blogspot.com/

This prayer of praise by Jesus to his Father in heaven will never fail
to inspire us. It is also found in the Gospel of Luke. Surely, as we
read and internalize the words spoken by our Lord in this prayer, we
cannot but feel its powerful effect on us .How many times did we pray
in a similar manner during moments of great joy when we felt the
consoling presence of the Lord in our lives.

But knowing the events which prompted Jesus to praise the Father in
this manner will help us appreciate better this very powerful and
inspiring prayer.

As we all know, many of the teachings of Jesus were not accepted by
the religious authorities during his time; the scribes and the
Pharisees because of the way he interpreted Jewish scriptures. The
Jewish scriptures govern every aspect of Jewish life. But the
increasing number of regulations and commentaries were becoming a
burden to the poor who could not know and remember all of them; hence
they were looked down and despised by Jewish society. However, the
teachings of Jesus gave them hope and dignity and they flocked to hear
him in increasing numbers. It was in this context that our Lord Jesus
prayed this prayer to the Father.

As we reflect and meditate on the prayer, what thoughts come to our
mind? Do we also praise and thank the Father like Jesus for revealing
his love for us through the different circumstances of our lives? How
many times have we failed to open our hearts to the promptings of the
Holy Spirit so that we can discern the grace and the hand of our
loving Father at the other instances of our lives?