Persecution and Promise

 The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today present the possibility that tuning to accept the Christian Life will place us in opposition to many of the positions of world politics and power.

Housing as a Promise for Life

The Reading from the Prophet Hosea proclaims Sincere Conversion and New Life.

* [14:1] Samaria: the capital of the Northern Kingdom will fall; this is the punishment predicted for Ephraim, the Northern Kingdom.

* [14:4] These good intentions promise a reversal of Israel’s sins: no more reliance on “Assyria,” i.e., on foreign alliances (see notes on 8:9 and 12:2), on “horses,” i.e., on human power (10:13), and on idolatry (8:4–6; 13:2). Israel will trust in the Lord alone.

* [14:9] Verdant cypress tree: the symbol of lasting life, the opposite of the sacred trees of the Baal cult (4:13). The Lord provides the “fruit” (peri) to Israel (2:7, 10), another instance of the wordplay on Ephraim (see notes on 9:16 and 13:15).

* [14:10] A challenge to the reader in the style of the wisdom literature. (Hosea, CHAPTER 14 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 51 prays for the removal of the personal and social disorders that sin has brought.

* [Psalm 51] A lament, the most famous of the seven Penitential Psalms, prays for the removal of the personal and social disorders that sin has brought. The poem has two parts of approximately equal length: Ps 51:3–10 and Ps 51:11–19, and a conclusion in Ps 51:20–21. The two parts interlock by repetition of “blot out” in the first verse of each section (Ps 51:3, 11), of “wash (away)” just after the first verse of each section (Ps 51:4) and just before the last verse (Ps 51:9) of the first section, and of “heart,” “God,” and “spirit” in Ps 51:12, 19. The first part (Ps 51:3–10) asks deliverance from sin, not just a past act but its emotional, physical, and social consequences. The second part (Ps 51:11–19) seeks something more profound than wiping the slate clean: nearness to God, living by the spirit of God (Ps 51:12–13), like the relation between God and people described in Jer 31:33–34. Nearness to God brings joy and the authority to teach sinners (Ps 51:15–16). Such proclamation is better than offering sacrifice (Ps 51:17–19). The last two verses express the hope that God’s good will toward those who are cleansed and contrite will prompt him to look favorably on the acts of worship offered in the Jerusalem Temple (Ps 51:19 [20–21]). (Psalms, PSALM 51 | USCCB, n.d.)

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus warns His followers of Coming Persecutions.

* [10:17] The persecutions attendant upon the post-resurrection mission now begin to be spoken of. Here Matthew brings into the discourse sayings found in Mk 13 which deals with events preceding the parousia.

* [10:21] See Mi 7:6 which is cited in Mt 10:35, 36.

* [10:22] To the end: the original meaning was probably “until the parousia.” But it is not likely that Matthew expected no missionary disciples to suffer death before then, since he envisages the martyrdom of other Christians (Mt 10:21). For him, the end is probably that of the individual’s life (see Mt 10:28).

* [10:23] Before the Son of Man comes: since the coming of the Son of Man at the end of the age had not taken place when this gospel was written, much less during the mission of the Twelve during Jesus’ ministry, Matthew cannot have meant the coming to refer to the parousia. It is difficult to know what he understood it to be: perhaps the “proleptic parousia” of Mt 28:16–20, or the destruction of the temple in A.D. 70, viewed as a coming of Jesus in judgment on unbelieving Israel. (Matthew, CHAPTER 10 | USCCB, n.d.)

Michele Bogard reminds us that our work as followers of Christ is always ongoing and incomplete. She shares the prayer below with students who are unsatisfied with their efforts not taking off immediately. 

A Prayer of Oscar Romero by Bishop Ken Untener of Saginaw

It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view.
The Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,
it is even beyond our vision.
We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction
of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work.
Nothing we do is complete,
which is a way of saying that the Kingdom always lies beyond us.
No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the Church’s mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.
This is what we are about.
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted,
knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces effects far beyond our capabilities.
We cannot do everything,
and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.
This enables us to do something,
and to do it very well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way,
an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest.
We may never see the end results,
but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker.
We are workers, not master builders;
ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future that is not our own. (Bogard, 2026)

Don Schwager quotes The Spirit of your heavenly Father speaks through you in every age, by Augustine of Hippo.

"To be sure, we heard in that reading, 'But when they deliver you up, do not be anxious how or what you are to speak... for it is not you who are speaking but the Spirit of your Father who speaks through you.' And he says in another place: 'Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the world' (Matthew 28:20). Does this mean that the people who heard those words of the Lord would be here until the end of the world? The Lord was referring, rather, not only to those about to depart from this life but also to the others, including us and those who would come after us in this life. He saw everyone in his single body, and the words he spoke, 'I am with you even to the end of the world,' were heard by them and by us too. And if we did not hear them then in our knowledge, we heard them in his foreknowledge. Therefore, safe as sheep among the wolves, let us keep the commandments of him who directs us. And let us be 'innocent as doves but cautious as snakes' (Matthew 10:16). Innocent as doves that we may not harm anyone; cautious as snakes that we may be careful of letting anyone harm us." (excerpt from the Sermon 44a.2) (Schwager, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler comments that Hosea uses an image of turning away from God as a description for sin. He urges people to turn again to God to be able to accept God when they recognize their sin. Jesus' message in the Gospel of Matthew is to Trust in God depend upon God for everything. Jesus sends the apostle to proclaim the Gospel. They will be rejected and Matthew writing in 80 CE is witness to persecutions that have occurred in the community even by family and in one town after the other. Friar Jude comments on whether Jesus expected the world to end very soon. Only the Father knows the time of the “parousia”. It is difficult to know what Matthew understood it to be, perhaps the “proleptic parousia”. We pay a price for living a Christian life opposed and rejected by some.

The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 10:16-23 comments that In today’s Gospel, as He prepares to send His disciples out to proclaim the good news, He tells them, “I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves” (Matthew 10:16). That’s a lot of similes! So let’s look at each of them to understand Jesus’ words a little better.

Trusting as sheep. Shrewd as serpents. Simple as doves. These are the qualities that make for effective missionary disciples. They don’t all come naturally, but they do come as we practice them. They come as we step out in faith and try our best to share our faith in the Lord. So don’t give up! Jesus has called you to proclaim his gospel; and if he has called you, he will empower you!

“Lord, teach me how to share your great good news!” (Meditation on Matthew 10:16-23, n.d.)

Father Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces author Debie Thomas who reflects on the many ways the Beatitudes have been understood and what she believes the Beatitudes are not.

The Beatitudes are not sentiments.

They are meant to startle us awake… Yes, they are pastoral, and yes, they give us hope. But Christian hope is not a sedative. Christian hope gets us up and out the door.

The Beatitudes are not to-do items. 

They are not suggestions, instructions, commandments, or quid pro quos… There is nothing transactional about them, nothing that smacks of a “should,” a “must,” or an “ought.”

The Beatitudes are not shame tactics.

The takeaway Jesus intends for his listeners is neither shame nor self-condemnation. The last thing Jesus’s Beatitudes should do is defeat us.

The Beatitudes are not permission slips for passivity.

There is nothing in the Beatitudes that excuses injustice, nothing that relativizes abuse, nothing that frees us to tell suffering people that their suffering is God-ordained and redemptive.

Jesus acts. He doesn’t simply speak blessing; he lives it. Through his words, his hands, his feet, his life, he brings about the very blessings he promises. Insisting that pain in and of itself is neither holy nor redemptive in the Christian story, Jesus works to bring healing, abundance, liberation, and joy to everyone who crosses his path.

This is the vocation we are called to. The work of sharing the blessings we enjoy is not the work of a distant someday. It is the work we’re called to now. The Beatitudes remind us that blessing and justice are inextricably linked. If it's a blessing we want, then it’s justice we must pursue. (Rohr, n.d.)

We ask the Spirit to strengthen our resolve to be disciples of Christ as we turn to the mission of bringing the Life of Christ to our daily interactions with the community.

References

Bogard, M. (2026, July 10). Daily Reflection July 10, 2026 | Creighton Online Ministries. Creighton Online Ministries. Retrieved July 10, 2026, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-july-10-2026 

Hosea, CHAPTER 14 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Bible Readings, Audio and Video Every Morning | USCCB. Retrieved July 10, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/hosea/14?2 

Matthew, CHAPTER 10 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Bible Readings, Audio and Video Every Morning | USCCB. Retrieved July 10, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/10?16 

Meditation on Matthew 10:16-23. (n.d.). Word Among Us. Retrieved July 10, 2026, from https://wau.org/meditations/2026/07/10/1611592/ 

Psalms, PSALM 51 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved July 10, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/51? 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). What the Beatitudes Are Not. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved July 10, 2026, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/what-the-beatitudes-are-not/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Sheep in the Midst of Wolves - Wise and Innocent. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved July 10, 2026, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/ 

Build on a Solid Foundation

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to use our reflection on the transformation in our lives to act concretely in support of those who need “thoughts and prayers” that are realized by our action for change.

Cooperate in Care

The Reading from the First Letter to Timothy proclaims the mercy of God.

* [1:15] This saying is trustworthy: this phrase regularly introduces in the Pastorals a basic truth of early Christian faith; cf. 1 Tm 3:1; 4:9; 2 Tm 2:11; Ti 3:8.

* [1:17] King of ages: through Semitic influence, the Greek expression could mean “everlasting king”; it could also mean “king of the universe.” (1 Timothy, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 113 exhorts the congregation to praise God’s name.

* [Psalm 113] A hymn exhorting the congregation to praise God’s name, i.e., the way in which God is present in the world; the name is mentioned three times in Ps 113:1–3. The divine name is especially honored in the Temple (Ps 113:1) but its recognition is not limited by time (Ps 113:2) and space (Ps 113:3), for God is everywhere active (Ps 113:4–5) especially in rescuing the lowly faithful (Ps 113:7–9). (Psalms, PSALM 113 | USCCB, n.d.)

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus describes The Two Foundations.

* [6:20–49] Luke’s “Sermon on the Plain” is the counterpart to Matthew’s “Sermon on the Mount” (Mt 5:1–7:27). It is addressed to the disciples of Jesus, and, like the sermon in Matthew, it begins with beatitudes (Lk 6:20–22) and ends with the parable of the two houses (Lk 6:46–49). Almost all the words of Jesus reported by Luke are found in Matthew’s version, but because Matthew includes sayings that were related to specifically Jewish Christian problems (e.g., Mt 5:17–20; 6:1–8, 16–18) that Luke did not find appropriate for his predominantly Gentile Christian audience, the “Sermon on the Mount” is considerably longer. Luke’s sermon may be outlined as follows: an introduction consisting of blessings and woes (Lk 6:20–26); the love of one’s enemies (Lk 6:27–36); the demands of loving one’s neighbor (Lk 6:37–42); good deeds as proof of one’s goodness (Lk 6:43–45); a parable illustrating the result of listening to and acting on the words of Jesus (Lk 6:46–49). At the core of the sermon is Jesus’ teaching on the love of one’s enemies (Lk 6:27–36) that has as its source of motivation God’s graciousness and compassion for all humanity (Lk 6:35–36) and Jesus’ teaching on the love of one’s neighbor (Lk 6:37–42) that is characterized by forgiveness and generosity.

c. [6:43–45] Mt 7:16–20; 12:33, 35.

d. [6:46] M t 7:21; Rom 2:13; Jas 1:22.

e. [6:47–49] Mt 7:24–27. (Luke, CHAPTER 6 | USCCB, n.d.)

A Member of Creighton University Community reflects that she likes to have things well prepared, planned in advance, her itinerary carefully charted out, her oil changed and tires rotated, her materials durable and archival. She hates to leave a mess behind or get caught unprepared. She admires striking buildings.

In the end, as I have learned in retreats before, the words of Jesus challenge me not to be more fearful of failure, but to look more carefully to the one who really is doing the building. In the parable, I am not the contractor of my life, I am but one tool, and a pretty simple one at that. My temptation is to see the project of discipleship as a lasting monument to myself, my legacy, the collected archive of my life’s work, what will be created for the admiration of others or left behind to posterity. My prayerful response to the principle and foundation of my life is to seek to accept the gift of life humbly, one day at a time, not as an entitlement or reflection of my personal worth, but in deep gratitude to the God who gives it.

So where does good sense and careful planning lead to excessive reliance on myself? At what point does wisdom and maturity give way to my temptation to foolish vanity? And, perhaps most importantly, when might prudence and conventionally sound judgment need to yield to the risks to which I am called to build the Kingdom of God?

In the words of Ps. 127: “If the Lord does not build the house, those who do build labor in vain.” (Member of Creighton University Community, n.d.)

Don Schwager quotes “Scripture is the field where we build our house,” by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.

"In a certain place in the Gospel, the Lord says that the wise hearer of his word ought to be like a man who, wishing to build, digs rather deeply until he comes to bedrock. There without anxiety he establishes what he builds against the onrush of a flood, so that when it comes, rather it may be pushed back by the solidity of the building than that house collapse by the impact. Let us consider the Scripture of God as being a field where we want to build something. Let us not be lazy or content with the surface. Let us dig more deeply until we come to rock: 'Now the rock was Christ' (1 Corinthians 10:4)." (excerpt from TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 23.1) (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Luke 6:43-49 shares how we can hear the Lord in a way that moves us to act on what we have heard. One powerful way is through the Scriptures. Each morning, read the Mass readings for that day.

Remember, it’s a process of trial and error. It takes time. But with each choice you make to act on Jesus’ words, you are building on a strong foundation. Just like the wise builder!

“Lord, you are my rock. Show me how to build my life on you by acting on your word.” (Meditation on Luke 6:43-49, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler comments that Paul repeats that we see the mercy of God in his life and urges us to praise as in the doxology. We need to be grateful for mercy and patience in our life and in our mission as witnesses and apostles. Good comes from people of integrity. Those whose hearts are not in the right place will give us bad messages. We have to change and make God the centre for solid ground in our life. In a crisis some fall away because of a transactional relationship. Friar Jude reminds us that Jesus calls us and helps us hold on in the storms of life.

Father Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces Pastor Dennis Jacobsen who questions why some Christians avoid power, despite Jesus’ teachings about working on behalf of others.

We find that we cannot run away from power once we take the ethical teachings of Jesus seriously. These teachings draw us into a life of compassion and righteousness that seeks justice. On an interpersonal level, perhaps we find no tension. We visit the sick and imprisoned, shelter the homeless, and feed the hungry without conflict. But what happens when we begin to analyze why people are imprisoned, homeless, hungry, and poor in a society of immense wealth? We begin to thirst for justice. This thirst for justice leads us into the public arena. And there we learn rather quickly the truth of Frederick Douglass’s maxim: “Power yields nothing without a struggle. It never has and it never will” [1]….  

Small wonder that many people of faith prefer to turn away from power and the public arena. It feels safer, holier, and more comfortable to operate in the realm of the individual and interpersonal. Everyone speaks well of the Christian who serves soup to the homeless or volunteers at a shelter, unless of course that Christian begins to question why people are homeless. Dom Hélder Câmara said, “When I feed the hungry, they call me a saint. When I ask why people are hungry, they call me a Communist” [2]….  (Rohr, n.d.)

We ponder the power of the Word to be a foundation for our mission to support the anawim by our action to build the Kingdom of God.

References

Luke, CHAPTER 6 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved September 13, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/6? 

Meditation on Luke 6:43-49. (n.d.). Word Among Us Homepage. Retrieved September 13, 2025, from https://wau.org/meditations/2025/09/13/1381955/ 

Member of Creighton University Community. (n.d.). Creighton Online Ministries: Home. Retrieved September 13, 2025, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-september-15-2007 

1 Timothy, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved September 13, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/1timothy/1?15 

Psalms, PSALM 113 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Bible Readings. Retrieved September 13, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/113?1 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). From Domination to Communion: Weekly Summary. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved September 13, 2025, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/from-domination-to-communion-weekly-summary/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). A Life Built on a Solid Foundation. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved September 13, 2025, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2025&date=sep13