Frederick, Maryland, United States - Daily Mass Reading & Catholic Meditation “The Word among Us” for Friday, 11 July 2014

Frederick, Maryland, United States - Daily Mass Reading & Catholic Meditation “The Word among Us” for Friday, 11 July 2014
Meditations: Psalms 51: A David Psalm, After He Was Confronted by Nathan About the Affair with Bathsheba
1-3 Generous in love—God, give grace!
    Huge in mercy—wipe out my bad record.
Scrub away my guilt,
    soak out my sins in your laundry.
I know how bad I’ve been;
    my sins are staring me down.
4-6 You’re the One I’ve violated, and you’ve seen
    it all, seen the full extent of my evil.
You have all the facts before you;
    whatever you decide about me is fair.
I’ve been out of step with you for a long time,
    in the wrong since before I was born.
What you’re after is truth from the inside out.
    Enter me, then; conceive a new, true life.
7-15 Soak me in your laundry and I’ll come out clean,
    scrub me and I’ll have a snow-white life.
Tune me in to foot-tapping songs,
    set these once-broken bones to dancing.
Don’t look too close for blemishes,
    give me a clean bill of health.
God, make a fresh start in me,
    shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life.
Don’t throw me out with the trash,
    or fail to breathe holiness in me.
Bring me back from gray exile,
    put a fresh wind in my sails!
Give me a job teaching rebels your ways
    so the lost can find their way home.
Commute my death sentence, God, my salvation God,
    and I’ll sing anthems to your life-giving ways.
Unbutton my lips, dear God;
    I’ll let loose with your praise.
16-17 Going through the motions doesn’t please you,
    a flawless performance is nothing to you.
I learned God-worship
    when my pride was shattered.
Heart-shattered lives ready for love
    don’t for a moment escape God’s notice.
Saint Benedict, Abbot
A clean heart create for me, O God. (Psalm 51:12)
Do you remember learning about metamorphosis in school? First, a wormlike larvae encases itself in a shell. Out of sight, it undergoes radical changes until, finally, an elegant butterfly wriggles out of the shell and flies away.
Today’s psalm speaks of a kind of metamorphosis. But according to this psalm’s backstory, King David was probably feeling more like a worm than a butterfly—and rightly so. Nathan had confronted him with his sins of adultery and murder. David’s eyes were opened to see just how far he had fallen. But he also saw that he needed a radical transformation, not just a dollop of divine mercy. Pardon wasn’t enough. He needed to be changed. And so he asked God for a pure heart and a renewed spirit.
What about us? Many of us are in the habit of examining our consciences and repenting, whether in our daily prayer or during the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Can we hope for a radical change as well? Yes! The key is following King David’s example by staying in God’s presence. That’s because only God can transform sinners into saints. This is why David pleaded, “Cast me not out from your presence” (Psalm 51:11). In faith, he waited for the Lord to perform a creative work, or many works, within his heart.
Is there a part of your life that needs a metamorphosis? Don’t be afraid to bring it to the Lord. Come into his presence, and let mercy and forgiveness greet you. Take a few moments to pray through Psalm 51, making its ancient words your own. Wash me. Cleanse me. Teach me. Create me. Purify me. Renew me. Remember, God is the main agent in this work of transformation. Your most important job is to stay in his presence and to return to it day after day. This teaching, creating, purifying, and renewing process takes time! It’s a gradual process where your eyes are opened both to the state of your own heart and to the wonderful depths of God’s heart.
So be sure to spend time with the Lord. Ask him to answer your prayers and create a clean heart in you. Let him shape you into the saint you were born to be. It is a transformation well worth waiting for!
“Create in me a new heart, O God!” Amen.
Hosea 14: Come Back! Return to Your God!
1-3 O Israel, come back! Return to your God!
    You’re down but you’re not out.
Prepare your confession
    and come back to God.
Pray to him, “Take away our sin,
    accept our confession.
Receive as restitution
    our repentant prayers.
Assyria won’t save us;
    horses won’t get us where we want to go.
We’ll never again say ‘our god’
    to something we’ve made or made up.
You’re our last hope. Is it not true
    that in you the orphan finds mercy?”
4-8 “I will heal their waywardness.
    I will love them lavishly. My anger is played out.
I will make a fresh start with Israel.
    He’ll burst into bloom like a crocus in the spring.
He’ll put down deep oak tree roots,
    he’ll become a forest of oaks!
He’ll become splendid—like a giant sequoia,
    his fragrance like a grove of cedars!
Those who live near him will be blessed by him,
    be blessed and prosper like golden grain.
Everyone will be talking about them,
    spreading their fame as the vintage children of God.
Ephraim is finished with gods that are no-gods.
    From now on I’m the one who answers and satisfies him.
I am like a luxuriant fruit tree.
    Everything you need is to be found in me.”
9 If you want to live well,
    make sure you understand all of this.
If you know what’s good for you,
    you’ll learn this inside and out.
God’s paths get you where you want to go.
    Right-living people walk them easily;
    wrong-living people are always tripping and stumbling.
Matthew 10:16 “Stay alert. This is hazardous work I’m assigning you. You’re going to be like sheep running through a wolf pack, so don’t call attention to yourselves. Be as cunning as a snake, inoffensive as a dove.
17-20 “Don’t be naive. Some people will impugn your motives, others will smear your reputation—just because you believe in me. Don’t be upset when they haul you before the civil authorities. Without knowing it, they’ve done you—and me—a favor, given you a platform for preaching the kingdom news! And don’t worry about what you’ll say or how you’ll say it. The right words will be there; the Spirit of your Father will supply the words.
21-23 “When people realize it is the living God you are presenting and not some idol that makes them feel good, they are going to turn on you, even people in your own family. There is a great irony here: proclaiming so much love, experiencing so much hate! But don’t quit. Don’t cave in. It is all well worth it in the end. It is not success you are after in such times but survival. Be survivors! Before you’ve run out of options, the Son of Man will have arrived.
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