July 26, 2012 Memorial of Saint Joachim and Saint Anne, parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary

[이안드레아]

2012년 7월 26일 연중 제16주간 목요일

복되신 동정 마리아의 부모 성 요아킴과 성녀 안나 기념일

제1독서

예레미야서. 2,1-3.7-8.12-13
1 주님의 말씀이 나에게 내렸다.
2 “가서 예루살렘이 듣도록 외쳐라. ─주님께서 이렇게 말씀하신다.─ 네 젊은 시절의 순정과 신부 시절의 사랑을 내가 기억한다. 너는 광야에서, 씨 뿌리지 못하는 땅에서 나를 따랐다.”
3 이스라엘은 주님께 성별된 그분 수확의 맏물이었다. 그를 삼키는 자들은 누구나 벌을 받아 그들에게 재앙이 닥쳤다. 주님의 말씀이다.
7 “내가 너희를 이 기름진 땅으로 데려와 그 열매와 좋은 것을 먹게 하였다. 그러나 너희는 여기 들어와 내 땅을 더럽히고, 나의 상속 재산을 역겨운 것으로 만들었다.
8 사제들도 ‘주님께서 어디 계신가?’ 하고 묻지 않았다. 율법을 다루는 자들이 나를 몰라보고, 목자들도 나에게 반역하였다. 예언자들은 바알에 의지하여 예언하고, 아무런 이익이 되지 않는 것들을 따라다녔다.
12 하늘아, 이를 두고 깜짝 놀라라. 소스라치고 몸서리쳐라. 주님의 말씀이다. 13 정녕 내 백성이 두 가지 악행을 저질렀다. 그들은 생수의 원천인 나를 저버렸고, 제 자신을 위해 저수 동굴을, 물이 고이지 못하는 갈라진 저수 동굴을 팠다.”

복음

마태오 13,10-17
그때에 10 제자들이 예수님께 다가와, “왜 저 사람들에게 비유로 말씀하십니까?” 하고 물었다. 11 예수님께서 그들에게 대답하셨다.
“너희에게는 하늘 나라의 신비를 아는 것이 허락되었지만, 저 사람들에게는 허락되지 않았다. 12 사실 가진 자는 더 받아 넉넉해지고, 가진 것이 없는 자는 가진 것마저 빼앗길 것이다.
13 내가 저 사람들에게 비유로 말하는 이유는, 저들이 보아도 보지 못하고 들어도 듣지 못하고 깨닫지 못하기 때문이다.
14 이렇게 하여 이사야의 예언이 저 사람들에게 이루어지는 것이다. ‘너희는 듣고 또 들어도 깨닫지 못하고, 보고 또 보아도 알아보지 못하리라. 15 저 백성이 마음은 무디고, 귀로는 제대로 듣지 못하며, 눈은 감았기 때문이다. 이는 그들이 눈으로 보고, 귀로 듣고, 마음으로 깨닫고서는 돌아와, 내가 그들을 고쳐 주는 일이 없게 하려는 것이다.’
16 그러나 너희의 눈은 볼 수 있으니 행복하고, 너희의 귀는 들을 수 있으니 행복하다. 17 내가 진실로 너희에게 말한다. 많은 예언자와 의인이 너희가 보는 것을 보고자 갈망하였지만 보지 못하였고, 너희가 듣는 것을 듣고자 갈망하였지만 듣지 못하였다.”

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

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

July 26, 2012

Memorial of Saint Joachim and Saint Anne, parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary

First Reading Introduction
Jeremiah reminds God's people that in their youth, after God had made a covenant with them, they had been faithful and fervent. But since then they have abandoned God, even the priests and the prophets had done so.

Reading 1
Jer 2:1-3, 7-8, 12-13

This word of the LORD came to me:
Go, cry out this message for Jerusalem to hear!

I remember the devotion of your youth,
how you loved me as a bride,
Following me in the desert,
in a land unsown.
Sacred to the LORD was Israel,
the first fruits of his harvest;
Should any presume to partake of them,
evil would befall them, says the LORD.

When I brought you into the garden land
to eat its goodly fruits,
You entered and defiled my land,
you made my heritage loathsome.
The priests asked not,
“Where is the LORD?”
Those who dealt with the law knew me not:
the shepherds rebelled against me.
The prophets prophesied by Baal,
and went after useless idols.

Be amazed at this, O heavens,
and shudder with sheer horror, says the LORD.
Two evils have my people done:
they have forsaken me, the source of living waters;
They have dug themselves cisterns,
broken cisterns, that hold no water.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 36:6-7ab, 8-9, 10-11

R. (10a) With you is the fountain of life, O Lord.
O LORD, your mercy reaches to heaven;
your faithfulness, to the clouds.
Your justice is like the mountains of God;
your judgments, like the mighty deep.
R. With you is the fountain of life, O Lord.
How precious is your mercy, O God!
The children of men take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
They have their fill of the prime gifts of your house;
from your delightful stream you give them to drink.
R. With you is the fountain of life, O Lord.
For with you is the fountain of life,
and in your light we see light.
Keep up your mercy toward your friends,
your just defense of the upright of heart.
R. With you is the fountain of life, O Lord.

Gospel Reading Introduction
Jesus complains that there are some who close their hearts to his message of life. His message is simple. Much of it is told in the moving stories of the parables. Why don't people understand them? They are fickle and busy with themselves and their own little affairs. Or they think they are too learned and too self-sufficient, above the little ones, the humble, the simple people; these are eager to be receptive of the Word of God and to pay attention to it.
Gospel

Mt 13:10-17

The disciples approached Jesus and said,
“Why do you speak to the crowd in parables?”
He said to them in reply,
“Because knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven
has been granted to you, but to them it has not been granted.
To anyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich;
from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away.
This is why I speak to them in parables, because
they look but do not see and hear but do not listen or understand.
Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled in them, which says:

You shall indeed hear but not understand,
you shall indeed look but never see.
Gross is the heart of this people,
they will hardly hear with their ears,
they have closed their eyes,
lest they see with their eyes
and hear with their ears
and understand with their hearts and be converted
and I heal them.

“But blessed are your eyes, because they see,
and your ears, because they hear.
Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people
longed to see what you see but did not see it,
and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”

Commentary

The gift of wisdom, given by the Holy Spirit, enables us to see the world as it really is, charged with the grandeur of God. The eyes of faith enable us to perceive miracles in the intricacies of the created world and to marvel in awe and wonder at the ways in which God makes His presence known to us. Faith is a tremendous gift, a gift more precious than silver or gold.

Just as we count it a blessing to have blessed with the gift of faith, so may we consider it a privilege to pass that faith on to others in word and in deed.

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Talk about repetition! Today’s Gospel repeats yesterday’s in different words. Jesus, in today’s Gospel, tells us why he speaks in parables in the Gospels: to get us to listen to him. It’s as simple as that. People are more prone to listen to a story than to a talk or lecture on some subject. Everybody loves a story or riddles. This is why Jesus speaks in parables. And still we don’t listen! Or sometimes when we do listen, we do not act.

Jesus bemoans the fact in the Gospel that we have eyes and ears but do not see or hear his words. People like this are gross of heart. “But blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear. Jesus almost sounds frustrated in his words in today’s Gospel. He has done everything in his power to give us blessedness, happiness, by his words. If we do not have this happiness and joy, we certainly can’t put the blame on Jesus. Rather, “we have found the enemy and he is us,” as Pogo remarked many years ago.

Fr. Howard

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

«Blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears, because they hear»

Today, we remember the “encomium” Jesus Christ addressed to those around him in those days: «Blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears, because they hear» (Mt 10:16). And we wonder: can Jesus' words be also intended for us, or only for those who saw and heard him directly? It looks like they, who were lucky enough to share their lives with Jesus, and physically and sensibly remained by his side, should be the only blessed ones. Whereas we should rather belong in the group of the upright people and prophets —without being either the upright ones or the prophets!— we would have liked to see and hear.

But we should not forget the Lord is referring to righteous people and prophets before his arrival, before his Revelation: «For I tell you that many prophets and upright people would have longed to see the things you see, but they did not» (Mt 10:17). The fullness of time is brought with him, and we find ourselves in this fullness; we are already in Christ's time, in Salvation's time... Certainly, we have not seen Jesus with our own eyes, but we have, indeed, known him. We do know him. We have not heard his voice with our own ears, but we have definitely heard his words. We do hear them. The knowledge our faith gives us, even though not perceptible, is a true knowledge, which brings us near the truth making us, therefore, feel happy and jubilant.

Let us be grateful to our Christian faith, let us be joyous. Let us try to make our relationship with Jesus not a remote one, but as close as possible one, as that of those disciples, who were by his side, who saw and heard him, treated him. Let us not look at Jesus from today to yesterday, but from today to today; let us actually share his time, a never-ending time. Prayer —to speak with the Lord— and the Eucharist —to receive him— assure us this nearness to him, and make us really happy while looking at him with the eyes and ears of our faith. «Receive, therefore, God's image, that you lost because of your bad deeds» (St. Augustine).

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It was just eleven days ago, on the 15th Sunday of Ordinary Time, that we had this same gospel. The long form on that day contained the parable of the sower and an explanation of the parable (which are the gospel readings from yesterday and tomorrow.)

But between these gospel parts is today’s interjection by Jesus on what he means by using parables. And this part of the whole story is very meaningful for us today. The text directs our thoughts to all the privileges we now enjoy as God’s chosen people. But we have become so secularized. We take for granted all the abundant blessings we have received. But hasn’t it always been so?

The first reading from Jeremiah reviews the Israelite’s history of blessings from the Lord which were clearly lost at the time of the Exodus. The imagery used is from a people who are struggling in a desert, away from an abundant source of water. The people of God deserted the Lord (the source of living waters) only to worship idols (whose cisterns held no water.) This water metaphor is picked up in the psalm refrain, “With you is the fountain of life, O Lord.”

Back to the gospel reflection by Jesus: He asks the question of why does he use parables? (He is addressing his disciples not the crowds.) A second scriptural image is used here – to see and hear is to witness and to understand.

Yahweh used a parable to convert King David from his crimes of murder and adultery in Second Samuel 11 & 12. Only when the prophet Nathan told him a parable of a rich shepherd and a poor shepherd did King David recognize his sins and seek forgiveness of Yahweh.

Jesus used similar imagery when he addressed the “doubting Thomas” in John 20. “Blessed are those who have not seen but still believe”, i.e., blessed are we who are not witnesses, as you were Thomas, but still place our trust in the Lord.

We can reflect on this gospel and apply it to the secularization in our international scene, e.g., the European consortium of nations wrote their constitutions recently and adamantly refused to mention the effect of Christianity in the history of the European countries.

But each of us needs to apply this short interjection of Jesus to our own lives. We, each one of us, have been blessed unbelievably and yet we take it for granted. We need to listen to Jesus’ address to the crowds with the parable of the sower and his explanation of the seed as ‘His Word’ to each of us personally. How have we witnessed God’s presence in our life and trusted in his promises and understood its value?

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"Many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see and hear what you hear"

Do you want to grow in your knowledge of God? Saint Augustine of Hippo once said: "I believe, in order to understand; and I understand, the better to believe." Both faith and understanding are gifts of the Holy Spirit that enable us to hear God's word with clarity so we can know God better and grow in the knowledge of his love and truth. Jesus, however, had to warn his disciples that not everyone would understand his teaching. The prophet Isaiah had warned that some would hear God's word, but not believe, some would see God's actions and miracles, and remained unconvinced. Ironically some of the greatest skeptics of Jesus' teaching and miracles were the learned scribes and Pharisess who prided themselves on their knowledge of scripture and the law of Moses. They heard Jesus' parables and saw the great signs and miracles which he performed, but they refused to accept both Jesus and his message. How could they "hear and never understand" and "see but never perceive"? They were spiritually blind and deaf because their hearts were closed and their minds were blocked by pride and prejudice. How could a man from Galilee, the supposed son of a carpenter, know more about God and his word, than these experts who devoted their lives to study and teaching?

There is only one thing that can open a closed, confused, and divided mind – a broken heart and humble spirit! The word disciple means one who is willing to learn and ready to submit to the wisdom and truth which comes from God. Psalm 119 expresses the joy and delight of a disciple who loves God's word and who embraces it with trust and obedience. "Oh, how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day. Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation." (Psalm 119:97-99)

God can only reveal the secrets of his kingdom to the humble and trusting person who acknowledges their need for God and for his truth. The parables of Jesus will enlighten us if we approach them with an open mind and heart, ready to let them challenge us. If we approach God's word with indifference, skepticism, and disbelief, then we, too, may "hear but not understand" and "see but not perceive." God's word can only take root in a receptive heart that is ready to believe and willing to submit. If we want to hear and to understand God's word, we must listen with reverence and faith. Do you believe God's word and do you submit to it with trust and reverence?

Jerome, an early church bible scholar who lived between 342-419 AD, wrote: "You are reading [the scriptures]? No.Your betrothed is talking to you. It is your betrothed, that is, Christ, who is united with you. He tears you away from the solitude of the desert and brings you into his home, saying to you, 'Enter into the joy of your Master.'"

"Holy Spirit, be my teacher and guide. Open my ears to hear God's word and open my eyes to understand God's action in my life. May my heart never grow dull and may my ears never tire of listening to the voice of Christ."

Psalm 36

1 Transgression speaks to the wicked deep in his heart; there is no fear of God before his eyes.
2 For he flatters himself in his own eyes that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated.
3 The words of his mouth are mischief and deceit; he has ceased to act wisely and do good.
4 He plots mischief while on his bed; he sets himself in a way that is not good; he spurns not evil.
5 Thy steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens, thy faithfulness to the clouds.
6 Thy righteousness is like the mountains of God, thy judgments are like the great deep; man and beast thou savest, O LORD.
7 How precious is thy steadfast love, O God! The children of men take refuge in the shadow of thy wings.
8 They feast on the abundance of thy house, and thou givest them drink from the river of thy delights.
9 For with thee is the fountain of life; in thy light do we see light.
10 O continue thy steadfast love to those who know thee, and thy salvation to the upright of heart!
11 Let not the foot of arrogance come upon me, nor the hand of the wicked drive me away.
12 There the evildoers lie prostrate, they are thrust down, unable to rise.

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http://www.daily-meditations.org/index2.html

In today's First Reading, the prophet Jeremiah says, "The word of the Lord came to me." Seeing this made me think of how the Word of God comes to each of us whenever we read Sacred Scripture.

It isn't just a matter of words, even though words are important, but the fact that the words are sacredly inspired and meant to move us toward God and away from everything that keeps us separated from Him.

Perhaps, that is why everyone is exhorted to spend some time every day reading the Word of God. Spiritual reading is not an activity just for those who live a formal life of prayer as a priest, deacon, nun or any member of a religious Order, but for everyone who wants to live in allegiance to the Lord.

Because this year has been proclaimed a jubilee year in honor of St. Paul, perhaps we might begin a regimen of spiritual reading by reading what he has written, starting with his Letter to the Romans. In it you will hear St. Paul speak about what my particular version of the Bible entitles: "Humanity Without Christ." Though written at the dawn of Christianity, it reveals the sad reality in every age of what life without God is: no life at all.

Let us not allow the distractions and perils of our time to keep Christ from being the center of our lives; let us keep the word of God in our hearts and on our lips. It will instruct and comfort us—and show us the path to never-ending life. It really will!

- Donna Nelson, OCDS

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

In my personal history I must certainly say that I have not always seen or heard, nay I have blocked and turned away.Prayer is attentive waiting, ready to hear.Prayer is the watchfulness so that we can see when we can receive the light, so that we can hear when the Spirit speaks the Word.Yet I am blessed.I am blessed because in the Church, the Sacrament of the Mystery of Christ, there is always the light to be seen and the word to be heard.Many before me in the Old Testament longed for that hearing and seeing.The fact that I seek to be faithful to the Church and to be faithful to prayer would mean that I approach those to whom "it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven."Dedication to the discipline of prayer and ever-earnest renewal of the quality of prayer will allow me never to have a dull heart, heavy ears and closed eyes in the doze of my own self-importance.Every time I enter into the discipline of contemplative prayer the choir of angels sings: "Blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear."

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There are art books that superimpose a network of geometric shapes on a painting in an effort to ‘explain’ it. The more complex they are, the less credible. It is the same with all explanations. “I wish he would explain his explanations,” someone said of a philosopher. Jesus did very little explaining. He preferred to leave his parables there to do their work by themselves. You don’t have to cut open a seed (in fact you had better not) in order to explain it before putting it in the ground. It grows better if you don’t explain it that way! In spiritual matters, too, explanations generally have done more harm than good. When something is explained (the word means ‘flattened out’) we lose interest in it; it loses its power to move us or challenge us or take us beyond a certain ingrained rationalism.

There is no problem about leaving things unexplained. In the 2nd century St Irenaeus wrote: “Why should we complain if…we are able by the grace of God to explain some things [in Scripture], while we must leave others in the hands of God, and that not only in the present world, but also in the world to come, so that God should forever teach, and we should forever learn?”

In the 14th century Julian of Norwich wrote that God revealed to her “a great thing which was to come….But what the deed would be was kept secret from me…..I saw hidden in God an exalted and wonderful mystery, which he will make plain and we shall know in heaven.”

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SOW AND TELL

"Isaiah's prophecy is fulfilled in them which says: 'Listen as you will, you shall not understand, look intently as you will, you shall not see. Sluggish indeed is this people's heart. They have scarcely heard with their ears, they have firmly closed their eyes; otherwise they might see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn back to Me, and I should heal them.' " 뾏atthew 13:14-15

The above passage is a Scripture quote from Isaiah 6:9-10. Isaiah had seen a vision of God, was purified, and accepted God's call to be His prophet (Is 6:1-8). Upon saying his 'Yes' to God, the Lord spoke the above words to Isaiah. In essence, God told Isaiah that by faithfully prophesying an understandable message, it would be as if Isaiah was causing obstinacy rather than repentance. Isaiah 6:9-10 is quoted no less than five times in the New Testament (Mt 13:14-15; Mk 4:12; Lk 8:10; Jn 12:40; Acts 28:26-27), making it one of the most quoted Old Testament passages.

Jesus is reminding us that we must be faithful to God's calling to spread His word, regardless of the results. We must go out and sow, no matter what (Mt 13:4). If people don't receive God's word, why should we be surprised? The New Testament has prepared us five times for this rejection. Our response is to be that of Jesus: we must, like a good teacher, attempt to find a way to reach our hearers on their level, using parables (Mt 13:10), stories, discourses, explanations, etc. In so doing, some will repent, turn back to Jesus, and be healed (Mt 13:15).

Prayer: Jesus, make me an ever more faithful and effective Scripture teacher.

Promise: "For with You is the fountain of life, and in Your light we see light." 뾒s 36:10

Praise: St. Sharbel Makhluf was a Lebanese hermit who became an exemplary Christian to the world. Devoted to Jesus' life of gospel poverty, he never touched money and ate only one meal of vegetables daily.

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From today's readings: "Be amazed at this, O heavens, and shudder with sheer horror, says the LORD. Two evils have My people done: they have forsaken Me, the source of living waters; They have dug themselves cisterns, broken cisterns, that hold no water.... How precious is your mercy, O God!... Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it."

Jeremiah's Gripe

It is tragic enough for one to grow cold and lethargic in the love of God, but it is even worse for one to seek and strenuously pursue an idolatrous love that deliberately disintegrates divine love dwelling within! This is the heart of Jeremiah's prophecy: not only have so many people grown dispassionate in their love for God, but, worse still, so many are positively passionate in their prostitute's love of idols and other evils.

Jeremiah's outcry is terrifying: "Be amazed at this, O heavens, and shudder with sheer horror, says the LORD. Two evils have My people done: they have forsaken Me, the source of living waters; They have dug themselves cisterns, broken cisterns, that hold no water." Not only had the people left God ("the source of living waters"), but they had labored ("dug cisterns") to provide themselves with some soulless substitute that would quench their lives' thirst, but all their efforts were in vain.

Without a doubt, there are times when it is hard to go to church, or hard to pray, or hard to live up to our Lord's commandments, or hard to have faith in God at all. In the lifelong struggle against all temptations, you and I at times feel too little strength within us to put up much of a fight, and so we nibble at temptation, like a drowsy fish that knows there's better food than the worm hanging on the hook, but is too lazy to look elsewhere.

But after one or two careless nibbles, we soon find ourselves hooked on sin, even embracing it and aroused with a pathetic passion for iniquity. Like the once slothful fish which suddenly has some rush of adrenalin which gives it the boost to dart around for miles dancing with the hooked line, so you and I can find ourselves expending so much energy following the lead of sin - ironically (tragically so!), since often the fall into sin is justified because we had been "so wearied" and "overworked" by the demands of virtue, and even though it might gradually dawn on us how painful but how essential it is to get free of its barbs. Pay attention, because Jeremiah (and the whole Bible) teaches us how to get unhooked from sin!

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

Flannery O’Connor has been called the greatest American Catholic novelist. Yet her novels are seldom about Catholics. Rather they concern the working of grace in often very peculiar country Protestants. Once she was asked why she wrote about such strange characters. She answered that when people are near deaf, you have to shout at them.

Jesus responds similarly to the question, “Why do you speak to the crowd in parables?” We need such on-the-money stories to wake us up to God’s goodness. The parables tell us that God is so generous he will pay laborers who only work an hour a full day’s wage and that God’s kingdom is such a treasure that it is worth selling all we have to attain it. But in a world with so many diversions – from home entertainment systems to iPhones – Jesus’ message still does not always get through.

Some people see parables as make believe. Since they do not bring immediate gratification, they are not worth pondering, much less pursuing. But Jesus’ parables have been validated by Jesus’ own experience. He became the seed that dies in order to produce abundant life when he gave himself on the cross. He became the man who searches for the lost sheep when he ate with sinners and succored the poor. Because of Jesus’ life witness the parables not only entertain us, they also move us to follow him.

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

Why do you speak to them in parables? Good question. If we desire the wisdom to fathom the mysteries of the kingdom, we have to seek answers. Little children learn through questioning. They constantly ask, “Why?” We know that Jesus uses parables to enable those who lack understanding of the kingdom to come to know it. We know God by asking about him. If we truly want to see, we need to delve deeper and invest time to reflect. If we truly want to hear, we have to be willing to take further steps. The mysteries of the glory of God are vast. Faith is wonderful, but curiosity and a desire to know God are just as important if we are going to comprehend what the Lord has to say to us. Grant us, Lord, the desire to know you and your ways, we pray. PR