The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to invoke the guidance of the Spirit to transform the events of our journey into action plans to assist the people we encounter who are seeking fullness of life.
The reading from the Prophet Ezekiel presents the sign of Ezekiel’s Bereavement.
* [24:17] The bread of mourners: a post-burial meal that mourners shared to comfort one another; cf. 2 Sm 3:35; Jer 16:7. The other gestures mentioned here were also popular mourning customs. Because Ezekiel does not observe any of the mourning customs mentioned, the people are puzzled and ask him to explain.
* [24:22–24] The fall of the city will be so sudden and final that the exiles will have no time to go into mourning. (Ezekiel, CHAPTER 24 | USCCB, n.d.)
The response from the Book of Deuteronomy laments that “You have forgotten God.”
* [32:21] “No-god”…“no-people”: worship of the gods of the nations brings destruction at the hands of a foreign invader. A false god cannot sustain or protect (cf. Jer 14:22); and though the nations seem “foolish” (see their characterization in such passages as Ps 114:1; Is 28:11; 33:19), they will prove to be anything but nonentities when the Lord stirs them up against Israel (Is 9:10–12). For the “no-” or “not-” construction, see Hos 1:6, 9; 2:1, 25. (Deuteronomy, CHAPTER 32 | USCCB, n.d.)
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus encounters the Rich Young Man.
* [19:16] Gain eternal life: this is equivalent to “entering into life” (Mt 19:17) and “being saved” (Mt 19:25); the life is that of the new age after the final judgment (see Mt 25:46). It probably is also equivalent here to “entering the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 19:23) or “the kingdom of God” (Mt 19:24), but see notes on Mt 3:2; 4:17; 18:1 for the wider reference of the kingdom in Matthew.
* [19:17] By Matthew’s reformulation of the Marcan question and reply (Mk 10:17–18) Jesus’ repudiation of the term “good” for himself has been softened. Yet the Marcan assertion that “no one is good but God alone” stands, with only unimportant verbal modification.
* [19:18–19] The first five commandments cited are from the Decalogue (see Ex 20:12–16; Dt 5:16–20). Matthew omits Mark’s “you shall not defraud” (Mk 10:19; see Dt 24:14) and adds Lv 19:18. This combination of commandments of the Decalogue with Lv 19:18 is partially the same as Paul’s enumeration of the demands of Christian morality in Rom 13:9.
* [19:20] Young man: in Matthew alone of the synoptics the questioner is said to be a young man; thus the Marcan “from my youth” (Mk 10:20) is omitted.
* [19:21] If you wish to be perfect: to be perfect is demanded of all Christians; see Mt 5:48. In the case of this man, it involves selling his possessions and giving to the poor; only so can he follow Jesus. (Matthew, CHAPTER 19 | USCCB, n.d.)
Carol Zuegner has been without electricity because of storms that raged through town where winds tore down trees and power lines.
Like the young man in the gospel, I try to follow the commandments and to love my neighbor as myself. This last directive to reach perfection calls for selling what I have and giving the proceeds to the poor and that is hard for me as well. I can say with certainty I will never be perfect. But what can I do?
I can be generous with time, talent and treasure. In this time of disaster for many in my town, stories of care and kindness abound. In my own corner of the world, neighbors pitched in to help me clean branches and storm debris from my yard. My family and so many others have been generous in offering places to stay to get out of the heat, meals or a cool drink. Let that kind of generosity fill my life instead of more things. My prayer today:
God, help me find ways to simplify my life and offer my time, talent and treasure to others. (Zuegner, n.d.)
Don Schwager quotes “Seek the life that endures,” by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
"The Lord said to a certain young man, 'If you would enter life, keep the commandments.' He did not say 'If you would have life' but 'If you would enter life,' defining that life as eternal life. Let us first consider then the love of this life. For this life is loved, whatever its quality - and however troubled it is, however wretched, people are afraid to end it. Hence we should see, we should consider, how much eternal life is to be loved, when this miserable life that must at some time be ended is so loved. Consider, brothers, how much that life is to be loved when it is a life you never end. You love this life, where you work so much, run, are busy, pant. In this busy life the obligations can scarcely be counted: sowing, plowing, working new land, sailing, grinding, cooking, weaving. And after all this hard work your life comes to an end. Look at what you suffer in this wretched life that you so love. And do you think that you will always live and never die? Temples, rocks, marbles, all reinforced by iron and lead, still fall. And a person thinks that he will never die? Learn therefore, brothers, to seek eternal life, when you will not endure these things but will reign with God forever." (excerpt from Sermon 84,1) (Schwager, n.d.)
The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 19:16-22 comments that God made us for a relationship with him. He knows that we are most fully ourselves, most fully human, most fully satisfied when we are close to him. This is what the man in today’s Gospel was searching for, even if he couldn’t make the leap of faith that Jesus was asking of him.
Don’t let that happen to you! Jesus is just as present to you as he was to that young man on the road. He is inviting you—each and every day—to come to a deeper relationship with him. So if something is holding you back, be willing to let it go. Then take Jesus up on his invitation. Go and encounter him—in the Scriptures, in the sacraments, and in the silence of prayer. He is waiting for you!
“Lord Jesus, I want to follow you—today and always!” (Meditation on Matthew 19:16-22, n.d.)
Friar Jude Winkler comments on the action of Ezekiel to not mourn the death of his wife as a sign to the exiles on how to respond to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. The will of God is to be accepted even in exile and destruction. Friar Jude reminds us that our concern for family needs to include not letting possessions possess us.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, describes what he considers to be essential qualities of a true mentor.
Mentors have a generous acceptance of variety, difference, and the secret, unique character of each person and where they are on their journey… Secondly, to be a mentor we have to have a capacity for simple friendship. We have to know how to accompany someone, befriend and walk with them simply for the sake of a relationship… Thirdly, if a mentor is not free to talk about going down just as much as going up, they aren’t a mentor. C. S. Lewis once said that for him, “Nothing was any good until it had been down in the cellar for a while.” [1] A true mentor has the patience, the authority, and the courage to share when and how they’ve been “down in the cellar for a while.” It’s not all about climbing and achievement.
Even if we aren’t in a formal mentoring relationship with others, if we keep maturing, if we use all we have experienced for our own soul work, then I think we’re already giving something to the next generation. We become a generative human being, and life will flow out from us, just by being who we are. That’s precisely what they said of Jesus: “power came out from him” (Luke 6:19). He had inner authority, and when we have inner authority, we also, by our being and our bearing, offer self-confidence, grounding, and validation to those around us. (Rohr, n.d.)
We contemplate the image that our actions and attitude communicate to those on our journey who may be facing difficult times and the ways in which we can actualize love, compassion, and care for them.
References
Deuteronomy, CHAPTER 32 | USCCB. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved August 19, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/deuteronomy/32?18
Ezekiel, CHAPTER 24 | USCCB. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved August 19, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/ezekiel/24?15
Matthew, CHAPTER 19 | USCCB. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved August 19, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/19?16
Meditation on Matthew 19:16-22. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved August 19, 2024, from https://wau.org/meditations/2024/08/19/1054629/
Rohr, R. (n.d.). Daily Meditations — Center for Action and Contemplation. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved August 19, 2024, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/what-makes-a-mentor/
Schwager, D. (n.d.). Give - and You Will Have Treasure in Heaven. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved August 19, 2024, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/
Zuegner, C. (n.d.). Daily Reflection Of Creighton University's Online Ministries. OnlineMinistries. Retrieved August 19, 2024, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/
No comments:
Post a Comment