Frederick, Maryland, United States - Daily Mass Reading & Catholic Meditation “The Word among Us” for Saturday, 26 July 2014Meditations: Matthew 13:24-26 He told another story. “God’s kingdom is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field. That night, while his hired men were asleep, his enemy sowed thistles all through the wheat and slipped away before dawn. When the first green shoots appeared and the grain began to form, the thistles showed up, too.
27 “The farmhands came to the farmer and said, ‘Master, that was clean seed you planted, wasn’t it? Where did these thistles come from?’
28 “He answered, ‘Some enemy did this.’
“The farmhands asked, ‘Should we weed out the thistles?’
29-30 “He said, ‘No, if you weed the thistles, you’ll pull up the wheat, too. Let them grow together until harvest time. Then I’ll instruct the harvesters to pull up the thistles and tie them in bundles for the fire, then gather the wheat and put it in the barn.’”
Saints Joachim and Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Let them grow together until harvest. (Matthew 13:30)
Have you ever planted grass seed, only to see it come up half crabgrass? Then you probably know what the servants in today’s parable were thinking: Get rid of the weeds right away. Yank them all up. They’re ruining the crop!
But what about the man who sowed the wheat? How did he react? He knew where the weeds came from. But unlike his servants, he was slow to get angry about his enemy’s malice, and this enabled him to think clearly and to make good decisions about how to proceed. Patient, even merciful, he was willing to bear with the weeds for the sake of the good crop. It was just as well, for though he waited, he did destroy the weeds in the end, when he gathered the wheat into his barn.
This parable shows us that when God reveals himself, we might feel confounded, for his thoughts are not our thoughts, and his ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8). “Why not pull up all the weeds immediately and let the wheat flourish?” we ask. But such a rash response shows that we need to reflect further on who God reveals himself to be. He is not a God who punishes immediately. He is a patient God who offers each “weed” every single chance to be transformed into “wheat.” As we grasp a little bit of God’s mercy and patience, our hearts can be moved and stirred with a desire to share in his mission of transforming our world so that it can become a lush, fruitful landscape. We all recognize that the enemy may have sown weeds, but God remains confident that he can bring good out of evil.
St. Catherine of Siena once referred to God as a “deep ocean” in which “the more [we] seek, the more [we] find; and the more [we] find, the more [we] seek.” When we pray, when we read Scripture, even the simplest parables, he surprises us with unexpected revelations of his love, his mercy, and his delight in his creation. He overturns our assumptions and proves himself to be far more faithful and far more powerful than we could ever expect or imagine.
“Father, as I pray and read Scripture today, show me more of who you are. I want to know your power to change hearts—even mine—into the finest wheat.” Amen!
Jeremiah 7: The Nation That Wouldn’t Obey God
1-2 The Message from God to Jeremiah: “Stand in the gate of God’s Temple and preach this Message.
2-3 “Say, ‘Listen, all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship God. God-of-the-Angel-Armies, Israel’s God, has this to say to you:
3-7 “‘Clean up your act—the way you live, the things you do—so I can make my home with you in this place. Don’t for a minute believe the lies being spoken here—“This is God’s Temple, God’s Temple, God’s Temple!” Total nonsense! Only if you clean up your act (the way you live, the things you do), only if you do a total spring cleaning on the way you live and treat your neighbors, only if you quit exploiting the street people and orphans and widows, no longer taking advantage of innocent people on this very site and no longer destroying your souls by using this Temple as a front for other gods—only then will I move into your neighborhood. Only then will this country I gave your ancestors be my permanent home, my Temple.
8-11 “‘Get smart! Your leaders are handing you a pack of lies, and you’re swallowing them! Use your heads! Do you think you can rob and murder, have sex with the neighborhood wives, tell lies nonstop, worship the local gods, and buy every novel religious commodity on the market—and then march into this Temple, set apart for my worship, and say, “We’re safe!” thinking that the place itself gives you a license to go on with all this outrageous sacrilege? A cave full of criminals! Do you think you can turn this Temple, set apart for my worship, into something like that? Well, think again. I’ve got eyes in my head. I can see what’s going on.’” God’s Decree!
Psalms 84:3-4 Birds find nooks and crannies in your house,
sparrows and swallows make nests there.
They lay their eggs and raise their young,
singing their songs in the place where we worship.
God-of-the-Angel-Armies! King! God!
How blessed they are to live and sing there!
5-7 And how blessed all those in whom you live,
whose lives become roads you travel;
They wind through lonesome valleys, come upon brooks,
discover cool springs and pools brimming with rain!
God-traveled, these roads curve up the mountain, and
at the last turn—Zion! God in full view!
8-9 God-of-the-Angel-Armies, listen:
O God of Jacob, open your ears—I’m praying!
Look at our shields, glistening in the sun,
our faces, shining with your gracious anointing.
10-12 One day spent in your house, this beautiful place of worship,
beats thousands spent on Greek island beaches.
I’d rather scrub floors in the house of my God
than be honored as a guest in the palace of sin.
All sunshine and sovereign is God,
generous in gifts and glory.
He doesn’t scrimp with his traveling companions.
It’s smooth sailing all the way with God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
-------
No comments:
Post a Comment