Roman Catholic The Word Among Us Daily Mass Reading & Daily Meditation for Tuesday, 11 November 2014

Roman Catholic The Word Among Us Daily Mass Reading & Daily Meditation for Tuesday, 11 November 2014
Meditation: Psalms 37:3-4 Get insurance with God and do a good deed,
    settle down and stick to your last.
Keep company with God,
    get in on the best.
18-19 God keeps track of the decent folk;
    what they do won’t soon be forgotten.
In hard times, they’ll hold their heads high;
    when the shelves are bare, they’ll be full.
23-24 Stalwart walks in step with God;
    his path blazed by God, he’s happy.
If he stumbles, he’s not down for long;
    God has a grip on his hand.
27-28 Turn your back on evil,
    work for the good and don’t quit.
God loves this kind of thing,
    never turns away from his friends.
28-29 Live this way and you’ve got it made,
    but bad eggs will be tossed out.
The good get planted on good land
    and put down healthy roots.
Saint Martin of Tours, Bishop
Trust in the Lord and do good, that you may dwell in the land and be fed in security. (Psalm 37:3)
Did you know that a tree’s roots can extend way beyond the length of its branches and sometimes go as deep as the height of the tree?
When we think about trees, we often think about the magnificent height, the breathtaking canopy of the branches, and the fruit that many trees produce. But what happens underground? The roots do more than just provide food to keep the tree healthy. They also provide stability so that it can weather most storms. They help nourish the soil and prevent erosion. And they provide a home for many underground creatures. So God’s purpose for that tree extends below the ground as well as above the ground. If the roots aren’t growing in the right place or manner, the tree will die, and the entire environment around it will be affected.
This analogy can help us understand the thrust of today’s readings. In the first reading, St. Paul encourages us to strive to be good examples for all those who see us “above the ground”: our self-control, our perseverance, and our integrity. But he also asks us to consider what is happening “under the ground” in terms of our openness to the grace of God that is ours in Christ (Titus 2:11). Are we getting our stability and nutrients from the Lord?
In today’s Gospel, Jesus is telling us that God wants us to be like the servants in the parable: bearing fruit when it’s convenient and when it’s difficult. Like every tree that produces a minimal harvest, we are “unprofitable servants” if we are concerned only with serving just enough to get by. Those who bear generous, abundant, joyful fruit bring gladness to the people around them.
Finally, in the psalm, we are exhorted to “trust in the Lord” and “take delight in the Lord” (Psalm 37:3, 4). God is reminding us that in order to be upright in this world and to bear the kind of fruit that refreshes our loved ones, we need to sink deep roots into the Lord, receiving all the nourishment and strength he has to give us.
So how can your roots grow deeper today?
“Lord, help me sink my roots into your word and your grace so that I can bear the fruit of your kingdom.” Amen!
Titus 2: A God-Filled Life
1-6 Your job is to speak out on the things that make for solid doctrine. Guide older men into lives of temperance, dignity, and wisdom, into healthy faith, love, and endurance. Guide older women into lives of reverence so they end up as neither gossips nor drunks, but models of goodness. By looking at them, the younger women will know how to love their husbands and children, be virtuous and pure, keep a good house, be good wives. We don’t want anyone looking down on God’s Message because of their behavior. Also, guide the young men to live disciplined lives.
7-8 But mostly, show them all this by doing it yourself, incorruptible in your teaching, your words solid and sane. Then anyone who is dead set against us, when he finds nothing weird or misguided, might eventually come around.
11-14 God’s readiness to give and forgive is now public. Salvation’s available for everyone! We’re being shown how to turn our backs on a godless, indulgent life, and how to take on a God-filled, God-honoring life. This new life is starting right now, and is whetting our appetites for the glorious day when our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, appears. He offered himself as a sacrifice to free us from a dark, rebellious life into this good, pure life, making us a people he can be proud of, energetic in goodness.
Luke 17:7-10 “Suppose one of you has a servant who comes in from plowing the field or tending the sheep. Would you take his coat, set the table, and say, ‘Sit down and eat’? Wouldn’t you be more likely to say, ‘Prepare dinner; change your clothes and wait table for me until I’ve finished my coffee; then go to the kitchen and have your supper’? Does the servant get special thanks for doing what’s expected of him? It’s the same with you. When you’ve done everything expected of you, be matter-of-fact and say, ‘The work is done. What we were told to do, we did.’”

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