Frederick, Maryland, United States - Daily Mass Reading & Catholic Meditation “The Word among Us” for Friday, 18 July 2014

Frederick, Maryland, United States - Daily Mass Reading & Catholic Meditation “The Word among Us” for Friday, 18 July 2014
Meditations: Matthew 12: In Charge of the Sabbath
1-2 One Sabbath, Jesus was strolling with his disciples through a field of ripe grain. Hungry, the disciples were pulling off the heads of grain and munching on them. Some Pharisees reported them to Jesus: “Your disciples are breaking the Sabbath rules!”
3-5 Jesus said, “Really? Didn’t you ever read what David and his companions did when they were hungry, how they entered the sanctuary and ate fresh bread off the altar, bread that no one but priests were allowed to eat? And didn’t you ever read in God’s Law that priests carrying out their Temple duties break Sabbath rules all the time and it’s not held against them?
6-8 “There is far more at stake here than religion. If you had any idea what this Scripture meant—‘I prefer a flexible heart to an inflexible ritual’—you wouldn’t be nitpicking like this. The Son of Man is no lackey to the Sabbath; he’s in charge.”
Saint Camillus de Lellis, Priest
I desire mercy, not sacrifice. (Matthew 12:7)
A recent photo made worldwide headlines: a group of Ukrainian priests bravely stood between police and protesters on the streets of Kiev. The priests prayed both for the protesters and the police and offered refuge to the injured. Said one priest, “God is supposed to be with those who are persecuted… . It is why from the very beginning our priests were with our people in the middle of that square. And in many cases, the very presence of the priests kept those protests peaceful.” Technically, the priests were breaking the letter of the law because they were defying the police. But at the same time, they were upholding the spirit of the law, which was to secure the welfare of the people.
This story reminds us that being a Christian sometimes means going against the grain—which is just what Jesus’ apostles did on the Sabbath. The Pharisees viewed them as lawbreakers, but Jesus knew they had done nothing wrong. He pointed out how King David violated the Sabbath out of necessity and how the temple priests were doing God’s work when they “worked” on the Sabbath. In their focus on technicalities, Jesus’ opponents were ignoring the very purpose of the Law: love of God and neighbor.
Jesus wants us to be like the Twelve and like these Ukrainian priests. He wants us to be “the salt of the earth” and “the light of the world” (Matthew 5:13, 14). Salt prevents decay, and light disperses darkness. Think of how Francis of Assisi’s life of humble poverty helped reform the entire Church. Or how Mother Teresa’s care for the poor alerted the whole world to the cries of the neediest and most vulnerable.
How is God asking you to witness to his love today? You may encounter a homeless person near work and feel uncomfortable about reaching out to him or her in front of other people. Perhaps your friends will engage in hurtful gossip. It may be hard to stay silent or to try to turn the conversation. Whatever the situation, the Spirit will tell you what to do and how to act on his inspiration. Just take one small step, and you will be blessed. And so will those around you!
“Lord, teach me how to love you in the people you put in my path today.” Amen.
Isaiah 38: Time Spent in Death’s Waiting Room
1 At that time, Hezekiah got sick. He was about to die. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz visited him and said, “God says, ‘Prepare your affairs and your family. This is it: You’re going to die. You’re not going to get well.’”
2-3 Hezekiah turned away from Isaiah and, facing the wall, prayed to God: “God, please, I beg you: Remember how I’ve lived my life. I’ve lived faithfully in your presence, lived out of a heart that was totally yours. You’ve seen how I’ve lived, the good that I have done.” And Hezekiah wept as he prayed—painful tears.
4-6 Then God told Isaiah, “Go and speak with Hezekiah. Give him this Message from me, God, the God of your ancestor David: ‘I’ve heard your prayer. I have seen your tears. Here’s what I’ll do: I’ll add fifteen years to your life. And I’ll save both you and this city from the king of Assyria. I have my hand on this city.
21-22 Isaiah had said, “Prepare a poultice of figs and put it on the boil so he may recover.”
Hezekiah had said, “What is my cue that it’s all right to enter again the Sanctuary of God?”
7-8 “‘And this is your confirming sign, confirming that I, God, will do exactly what I have promised. Watch for this: As the sun goes down and the shadow lengthens on the sundial of Ahaz, I’m going to reverse the shadow ten notches on the dial.’” And that’s what happened: The declining sun’s shadow reversed ten notches on the dial.
Isaiah 38:9-15 This is what Hezekiah king of Judah wrote after he’d been sick and then recovered from his sickness:
In the very prime of life
    I have to leave.
Whatever time I have left
    is spent in death’s waiting room.
No more glimpses of God
    in the land of the living,
No more meetings with my neighbors,
    no more rubbing shoulders with friends.
This body I inhabit is taken down
    and packed away like a camper’s tent.
Like a weaver, I’ve rolled up the carpet of my life
    as God cuts me free of the loom
And at day’s end sweeps up the scraps and pieces.
    I cry for help until morning.
Like a lion, God pummels and pounds me,
    relentlessly finishing me off.
I squawk like a doomed hen,
    moan like a dove.
My eyes ache from looking up for help:
    “Master, I’m in trouble! Get me out of this!”
But what’s the use? God himself gave me the word.
    He’s done it to me.
I can’t sleep—
    I’m that upset, that troubled.
16-19 O Master, these are the conditions in which people live,
    and yes, in these very conditions my spirit is still alive—
    fully recovered with a fresh infusion of life!
It seems it was good for me
    to go through all those troubles.
Throughout them all you held tight to my lifeline.
    You never let me tumble over the edge into nothing.
But my sins you let go of,
    threw them over your shoulder—good riddance!
The dead don’t thank you,
    and choirs don’t sing praises from the morgue.
Those buried six feet under
    don’t witness to your faithful ways.
It’s the living—live men, live women—who thank you,
    just as I’m doing right now.
Parents give their children
    full reports on your faithful ways.
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