Dissonance Sent by God

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite contemplation of our reaction to proposals and action plans of others that do not satisfy our notions.

Missing Mindfulness? 

In the Acts of the Apostles Luke describes the reaction of the Synagogue of Freedmen to the preaching of Stephen.


* [6:13] False witnesses: here, and in his account of Stephen’s execution (Acts 7:54–60), Luke parallels the martyrdom of Stephen with the death of Jesus.

In the Gospel from John, Jesus challenges those looking for wonders and wealth to seek food that truly satisfies.

* [6:27] The food that endures for eternal life: cf. Jn 4:14, on water “springing up to eternal life.”

Cindy Costanzo reminds herself, in seeking wholeness, to be as intentional with her spirit as she is with nutrition, exercise and social practices.

God offers me that opportunity daily, to take time to find God in the everyday events of life and give thanks. The early moments in a day when it is quiet and peaceful…the busy, hectic workday thanking God for my gifts and talents and the talents of others…the late afternoon or early evening slow down, tired from the day, anxious to return ‘home’ to rest and relax for the next day….thanking God for that special place.  But I must be intentional about my prayers in the morning, throughout the day and in the evening. If I do this then my ‘choices’ for the day are in harmony with Jesus, our Risen Lord.

Don Schwager asks what do we most hunger for - wealth, peace, health, love, the good life? Jesus connects with Isaiah when He asked if the crowd were simply hungry for things which satisfy the body or for that which satisfies the heart and soul.

Jesus echoes the question posed by the prophet Isaiah: "Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy" (Isaiah 55:2)? There are two kinds of hunger - physical and spiritual. Only God can satisfy the hunger in our heart and soul - the hunger for truth, for life, and for love.

Friar Jude Winkler notes how Stephen, as a Hellenist, may have spoken with less understanding of Moses and the Temple than the Hebrew population. Believe that Jesus is the One sent by the Father and the Evangelist John asserts that this is our essential choice for life.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, uses the Song of Songs, in the Hebrew Scriptures, to capture the sense in a quote from Father Ron Rolheiser of the influence of Platonic dualism that deemed body as bad and spirit as good. He advocates a much more integrated notion of the human being.

We wake up in the world and in every cell of our being we ache, consciously and unconsciously, sensing that we are incomplete . . . aching at every level for a wholeness that, at some dark level, we know we have been separated from.

We are challenged to consider our response to spiritual nudges that may be opportunities to grow toward greater wholeness.

References

(n.d.). Acts, chapter 6 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved April 16, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/acts6:54

(n.d.). John, chapter 6 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved April 16, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/john/6

(n.d.). Creighton's Online Ministries - Creighton University. Retrieved April 16, 2018, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/online.html

(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved April 16, 2018, from http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/

(n.d.). Daily Meditations Archives - Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved April 16, 2018, from https://cac.org/category/daily-meditations/