The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to reconciliation as we experience God’s Presence in our tent of meeting.
Journey to our tent of meeting
The reading from the Book of Exodus takes us to the tent outside the Camp where Moses’ Intimacy with God was experienced.
* [34:6] Gracious…fidelity: this succinct poetic description of God is an often-repeated statement of belief (see Nm 14:18; Ps 103:8; 145:8; Jl 2:13; Jon 4:2). All the terms describe God’s relationship to the covenant people.1
Psalm 103 is a thanksgiving for God’s Goodness.
* [Psalm 103] The speaker in this hymn begins by praising God for personal benefits (Ps 103:1–5), then moves on to God’s mercy toward all the people (Ps 103:6–18). Even sin cannot destroy that mercy (Ps 103:11–13), for the eternal God is well aware of the people’s human fragility (Ps 103:14–18). The psalmist invites the heavenly beings to join in praise (Ps 103:19–22).2
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus explains the Parable of the Weeds.
* [13:37–43] In the explanation of the parable of the weeds emphasis lies on the fearful end of the wicked, whereas the parable itself concentrates on patience with them until judgment time.3
Molly Mattingly has heard this image of wheat and weeds related to discernment. Is this thought wheat - coming from God, leading to greater freedom and love, and worthy of cultivation? Is it a weed – not of God, something I can let go of and stop giving energy to? Does this pattern of behavior or thought cultivate the field for the wheat, or allow the weeds to spread further? This kind of discernment is easiest when we have a close relationship with God, like Moses in the first reading: speaking to God honestly, face to face.
I’m sure Jesus (and Matthew) didn’t intend to make a pun in English at the end of this passage. However, it does strike me that the fruit of wheat is called an “ear,” like corn is. I can picture Jesus smiling as he holds up an ear of wheat to his disciples as he said, “Whoever has ears ought to hear. … If you have wheat growing in you and bearing fruit, you can hear this and respond.”4
Don Schwager quotes “Let us become friends of Jesus,” by Origen of Alexandria (185-254 AD).
"Now, having discoursed sufficiently to the multitudes in parables, he sends them away and goes to his own house, where his disciples come to him. His disciples did not go with those he sent away. As many as are more genuine hearers of Jesus first follow him, then having inquired about his house, are permitted to see it. Having come, they saw and stayed with him for all that day, and perhaps some of them even longer. In my opinion, such things are implied in the Gospel according to John... And if then, unlike the multitudes whom he sends away, we wish to hear Jesus and go to the house and receive something better than the multitudes did, let us become friends of Jesus, so that as his disciples come, we may also come to him when he goes into the house. And having come, let us inquire about the explanation of the parable, whether of the tares of the field, or of any other. (excerpt from the COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 10.1-3)5
The Word Among Us Meditation on Exodus 33:7-11; 34:5-9, 28 comments that today, this same God waits to meet with you! “The Lord, a merciful and gracious God,” desires to reveal himself to you, as he did with Moses and Joshua (Exodus 34:6). So let this story stir up your desire to see your heavenly Father “face to face” (33:11). It may happen in a dramatic way as it did for Moses and Joshua, or it may happen in a more quiet meeting. However it happens, don’t limit the Lord; he will come and reveal himself. All he asks is a seeking, open heart.
Where is your “tent of meeting” today? A quiet corner of your home? At Mass? Or maybe in Eucharistic Adoration? Wherever it is, God is present. Like Joshua, stay there: pour out your heart, your questions, and your love. And wait to see what God will do. “I treasure my time in your presence, Lord. Reveal yourself to me.”6
Friar Jude Winkler discusses Moses meeting in the tent and comments on the Hebrew belief that we cannot see the face of God and live. The cloud over Mary, at the Incarnation, connects with the cloud at the “tent of meeting”. Friar Jude notes the evil doers in the world will judge themselves and face consequences in the end.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, quotes trauma researcher Joy DeGruy who writes about the wounds caused by oppression that are passed down over generations, and says that the time has come to break the cycle of pain.
The time has now come to . . . break the cycle, and once again claim our humanity. Breaking this cycle and claiming our humanity will require much work from all of us. Those who have been the victims of years, decades, and centuries of oppression first must heal from injuries received first-hand, as well as those passed down through the ages. Those who have been the perpetrators of these unspeakable crimes, and those who continue to benefit from those crimes, have to honestly confront their deeds and heal from the psychic wounds that come with being the cause and beneficiaries of such great pain and suffering. [1]7
Fr Richard asserts that when we do not seek transformation of our pain and suffering, we pass it on to those closest to us. We seek the mercy of God through the Spirit to transform weeds to wheat.
Addendum
David Lonsdale, teacher of Christian spirituality at Heythrop College, University of London, and author of Eyes to See, Ears to Hear: An Introduction to Ignatian Spirituality and Dance to the Music of the Spirit: The Art of Discernment, notes that in his account of the differences between the two ‘spirits’, Pope Francis reveals his debt to Saint Ignatius Loyola's Rules for the Discernment of Spirits (SpExx §§313-336), especially those in which Ignatius describes the contrasting signs and effects by which the two can be recognised. For example, he states that for those who are going forward in their love and service of God, ‘it is typical of the bad spirit to harass, sadden and obstruct and to disturb the soul with false reasoning’. The ‘good spirit’ on the other hand, will typically give courage and strength, consolations, tears, inspirations and quiet, making things easy and removing all obstacles, so that the person may move forward in doing good. (SpExx §315)
Francis refers to the ‘spirits’ as ‘voices’, which call us in different directions, speak in different languages and use ‘different ways to reach our hearts.’ (p.61) His understanding of the key differences between them can be clearly seen if we put them side by side (pp.61-2).8
https://www.thinkingfaith.org/sites/default/files/20210629_1discernment_table.jpgReferences
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