The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today urge us to live our relationships in a manner that shows we are following the prompting of the Spirit to seek truth, beauty, and goodness.
Contemplate value
The reading from Paul’s Letter to the Philippians is a prayer for the growth of faith in the Philippians.
* [1:3–11] As in Rom 1:8–15 and all the Pauline letters except Galatians, a thanksgiving follows, including a direct prayer for the Philippians (Phil 1:9–11); see note on Rom 1:8. On their partnership for the gospel (Phil 1:5), cf. Phil 1:29–30; 4:10–20. Their devotion to the faith and to Paul made them his pride and joy (Phil 4:1). The characteristics thus manifested are evidence of the community’s continuing preparation for the Lord’s parousia (Phil 1:6, 10). Paul’s especially warm relationship with the Philippians is suggested here (Phil 1:7–8) as elsewhere in the letter. The eschatology serves to underscore a concern for ethical growth (Eph 1:9–11), which appears throughout the letter.1
Psalm 111 is praise for God’s wonderful works.
* [Psalm 111] A Temple singer (Ps 111:1) tells how God is revealed in Israel’s history (Ps 111:2–10). The deeds reveal God’s very self, powerful, merciful, faithful. The poem is an acrostic, each verse beginning with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.2
In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus heals a man with dropsy on the Sabbath.
* [14:1–6] See note on Lk 13:10–17. * [14:5] Your son or ox: this is the reading of many of the oldest and most important New Testament manuscripts. Because of the strange collocation of son and ox, some copyists have altered it to “your ass or ox,” on the model of the saying in Lk 13:15.3
Eileen Wirth comments that our society seems to be allergic to silence. We flip on TV when we come into an empty room and listen to our play list or a podcast when we exercise. We seem to fear being alone. We need to remember how many times God fills the silence of those willing to be alone with him.
How can God talk to us if we’re constantly drowning in noise and distraction? Traditionally this is why people go on retreats, even one day events that give time to reflect and listen to the Spirit. However, in today’s conditions where we all seem to exist in virtual reality, we have to carve out our own interludes for silence and meditation. If you are reading this, you’re already setting time aside for listening to God so you might try extending that period by just a few minutes – say 15 a day. But there are lots of good options.4
Don Schwager quotes “The law does not forbid mercy on the Sabbath,” by Cyril of Alexandria (376-444 AD).
"As they were silent from ill will, Christ refutes their unrelenting shamelessness by the convincing arguments that he uses. 'Whose son of you,' he says, 'or whose ox shall fall into a pit, and he will not immediately draw him out on the sabbath day?' If the law forbids showing mercy on the sabbath, why do you take compassion on that which has fallen into the pit?... The God of all does not cease to be kind. He is good and loving to people."(excerpt from COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 101)5
The Word Among Us Meditation on Luke 14:1-6 comments that working things out like this can be messy and humbling. It’s not easy to be peaceful when our expectations are upended. It certainly wasn’t easy for the Pharisees to surrender their expectations and ideas about what it meant to keep the law. It was challenging for them to receive Jesus’ teaching; it revealed that they still had room to grow in understanding and implementing the heart of the law.
Jesus wants to keep teaching us how to live out the law—with love—in our everyday lives. If we’re humble, teachable, and open to receiving fresh understanding, he will keep guiding us so that we can love as he loves. “Jesus, what new ‘lesson’ do you want to teach me today? Open my heart to receive it.”6
Friar Jude Winkler comments on the suffering of Paul in prison and the message to the Philippians to assist in carrying Jesus cross in their suffering. Leadership models in the Church were diverse until the beginning of the 2nd century. Friar Jude reminds us that good must be done on the Sabbath.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, wants to emphasize Thomas Keating’s final message, the subject of Cynthia Bourgeault’s commentary in yesterday’s meditation. Father Thomas Keating says what he has been given to know. The only path forward for the survival of our species and perhaps even our planet is a path of nonviolence, of contemplation and action prioritizing justice and solidarity, an affirmation of Oneness and the interconnectedness of all things, which science confirms, and spirituality has always known on its deepest level.
We are called to start—not with the old world contracts, now that we know that they are all lies—but [with] what we know as the truth. . . . So I call upon the nations to consider this as a possibility: that we should begin a new world with one that actually exists. This is the moment to manifest this world, by showing loving concern for poverty, loving appreciation for the needs of the world, and opportunities for accelerated development. We need to find ways to make these really happen. I make this humble suggestion, that now arms-making is of no significance in the world. It hinders its progress. This will allow and offer the world the marvelous gift of beginning, [of] creating, of trusting each other, of forgiving each other, and of showing compassion, care for the poor, and putting all our trust in the God of heaven and earth. I leave this hope in your hands and hearts, coming as a real inspiration from the heart of God. What does [God] care about who has this or other lands, when the power to begin with the truest history is coming from religion as expression of the Source that has been realized for centuries? Buddhism, Hinduism, Sufism, Indigenous, and Christianity—all religions—oneness is their nature. Amen. [1]7
In our silence before God, we may discern our role in connecting with the people we encounter as gifts from God with whom we strive to achieve that which is of eternal value.
References
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