Care and Compassion

 The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today resonate with our experience of real life loss and the need to re-work our reconnection to our community through the companionship of people who offer care in mourning.

Family and Remembrance

The Reading from the Prophet Jeremiah expresses the expectation that the Lord would reunite Israel and Judah as one kingdom under a just Davidic king.

* [30:1–31:40] These two chapters contain salvation oracles that originally expressed the double expectation that the Lord would return the exiled survivors of the Northern Kingdom of Israel and reunite Israel and Judah as one kingdom under a just Davidic king. They were probably composed early in Josiah’s reign (the reference of v. 9), when he took advantage of Assyria’s internal disintegration and asserted control over northern Israel (cf. 2 Kgs 23:15–17). With the destruction of Jerusalem, the oracles were re-worked to include Judah and their fulfillment along with the renewal of the Davidic dynasty became associated with the eschatological “day of the Lord.”

* [30:21] His leader: cf. v. 9. Approach me: i.e., in the sanctuary of the Temple for worship. This new David is given a priestly function to perform on behalf of the assembly. To approach God on one’s own brings death; cf. Lv 16:1–2. (Jeremiah, CHAPTER 30 |USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 102 recalls God’s venerable promises to save the poor.

* [Psalm 102] A lament, one of the Penitential Psalms. The psalmist, experiencing psychological and bodily disintegration (Ps 102:4–12), cries out to God (Ps 102:1–3). In the Temple precincts where God has promised to be present, the psalmist recalls God’s venerable promises to save the poor (Ps 102:13–23). The final part (Ps 102:24–28) restates the original complaint and prayer, and emphasizes God’s eternity. (Psalms, PSALM 102 | USCCB, n.d.)

In the Gospel of Matthew religious leaders ask why Jesus’ disciples are breaking the tradition of the elders.

* [15:2] The tradition of the elders: see note on Mk 7:5. The purpose of the handwashing was to remove defilement caused by contact with what was ritually unclean.

* [15:1–20] This dispute begins with the question of the Pharisees and scribes why Jesus’ disciples are breaking the tradition of the elders about washing one’s hands before eating (Mt 15:2). …Then with a wider audience (the crowd, Mt 15:10) he goes beyond the violation of tradition with which the dispute has started. The parable (Mt 15:11) is an attack on the Mosaic law concerning clean and unclean foods, similar to those antitheses that abrogate the law (Mt 5:31–32, 33–34, 38–39). After a warning to his disciples not to follow the moral guidance of the Pharisees (Mt 15:13–14)...

* [15:2] The tradition of the elders: see note on Mk 7:5. The purpose of the handwashing was to remove defilement caused by contact with what was ritually unclean.

* [15:13–14] Jesus leads his disciples away from the teaching authority of the Pharisees. (Matthew, CHAPTER 15 | USCCB, n.d.)

Don Schwager quotes “Keeping one's own heart with all watchfulness,” by Origen of Alexandria, 185-254 A.D.

"These things are what 'defiles the person' when they come out from the heart and, after they have gone out from it, go through the mouth. Thus if they did not occur outside of the heart but were held by the person somewhere around the heart, not being allowed to be spoken through the mouth, they would very quickly disappear and the person would not be defiled any longer. Therefore the source and beginning of every sin is 'evil reasonings.' For if these reasonings did not prevail, there would be neither murders nor acts of adultery nor any other of such things. Because of this each one ought to keep one's own heart with all watchfulness. (excerpt from COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 11.14-15) (Schwager, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler shares that the passage from Jeremiah is a lament on the woes of Israel that has not opened a way out of sin. So then God can restore them. He will restore and return them to what He wanted them to be purified and turn back to Him. The one planting will overcome the one harvesting. It will lead to a new Covenant. Jesus and disciples don’t wash before eating and the Pharisees and Scribes, who take the Law to its greatest extent, and wash hands before praying in the Temple also wash hands before eating. What goes into your mouth does not make you unclean. What you do externally means nothing. Superficial acts and not seeking to be transformed makes them Blind Guides not leading to truth. The final editor of the Gospel of Matthew is believed to be a converted Pharisee rejected as being connected to Jesus. Friar Jude suggests this might account for the number of passages where rejecting Pharisees is a means of getting back at his former friends?

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces Hebrew Testament scholar Ellen Davis who points out that before Job’s friends launch into their lengthy speeches trying to justify Job’s suffering, their most compassionate action is to simply sit with him in his grief and suffering.

And they lifted up their eyes from a distance but could hardly recognize him. And they lifted up their voices and wept, and each one tore his robe and they threw dust over their heads into the air. And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights without speaking a word to him, for they saw how great was his pain. (Job 2:12–13)

Those seven days of silence are surely one of the most influential acts of pastoral care ever performed. The Jewish practice of “sitting shiva” (literally “sitting seven,” when friends come to sit with mourners at home over the period of a week) memorializes the friends’ wise compassion in this long moment of shared grief. More than twenty-five hundred years after the book of Job was written, this one act of Job’s companions is imitated on a daily basis by comforters all over the world. Silence kept with others has a special quality. It is like a fine veil, preserving separateness, yet strangely heightening mutual awareness. Silence requires us to be present to the unexpressed needs of others, needs of which they may themselves not yet know. It is a powerful means of fostering mutual encouragement among us, whom God has entrusted to one another in this wilderness of pain and doubt. (Rohr, n.d.)

We are grateful for the comfort, counsel, and contemplation offered through the Spirit when we share the distress and concern of the people we encounter through our openness to join them in sorrow and to accompany their return to the rhythm of daily life.

References

Jeremiah, CHAPTER 30 |USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Reflections. Retrieved August 4, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/jeremiah/30?1 

Matthew, CHAPTER 15 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved August 4, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/15? 

Memorial of Saint John Vianney, Priest | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved August 4, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/080426.cfm 

Psalms, PSALM 102 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Bible Readings, Audio and Video Every Morning | USCCB. Retrieved August 4, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/102?16 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). Suffering and Silence. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved August 4, 2026, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/suffering-and-silence/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). It Is What Comes Out of the Mouth That Defiles. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved August 4, 2026, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/ 

Abide in Me

 

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to worship and contemplation to experience the mystery of our relationship with God in Christ.

Walking in contemplation

 

The reading from the Acts of the Apostles describes the conversion of Saul who then preaches in Damascus.

 

* [9:1–19] This is the first of three accounts of Paul’s conversion (with Acts 22:3–16 and Acts 26:2–18) with some differences of detail owing to Luke’s use of different sources. Paul’s experience was not visionary but was precipitated by the appearance of Jesus, as he insists in 1 Cor 15:8. The words of Jesus, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” related by Luke with no variation in all three accounts, exerted a profound and lasting influence on the thought of Paul. Under the influence of this experience he gradually developed his understanding of justification by faith (see the letters to the Galatians and Romans) and of the identification of the Christian community with Jesus Christ (see 1 Cor 12:27). That Luke would narrate this conversion three times is testimony to the importance he attaches to it. This first account occurs when the word is first spread to the Gentiles. At this point, the conversion of the hero of the Gentile mission is recounted. The emphasis in the account is on Paul as a divinely chosen instrument (Acts 9:15).1

Psalm 117 is a  universal call to worship.

 

* [Psalm 117] This shortest of hymns calls on the nations to acknowledge God’s supremacy. The supremacy of Israel’s God has been demonstrated to them by the people’s secure existence, which is owed entirely to God’s gracious fidelity.2

In the Gospel of John, Jesus reveals the mystery of “abide in me, and I in them”.

 

* [6:54–58] Eats: the verb used in these verses is not the classical Greek verb used of human eating, but that of animal eating: “munch,” “gnaw.” This may be part of John’s emphasis on the reality of the flesh and blood of Jesus (cf. Jn 6:55), but the same verb eventually became the ordinary verb in Greek meaning “eat.”3

Tom Shanahan, S.J. comments that experiencing the Christ is on a way different level than simply knowing about Jesus.  He asks how do we receive the wonders of who God is and how God transforms us all?

 

 John of the Cross emphasizes that the entire project of our daily prayer starts with God’s initiative toward us.  God invites us to receive his gift of prayer and to let that gift suffuse our lives.  We are imprinted with grace by God looking at us with ardent love. That look of love changes us in the depths of our being so that we go forth to behold ourselves in your beauty.  As we pray to God (Father, Son or Holy Spirit), the grace of God’s presence helps us to change and grow because of the love and beauty of God.4

Don Schwager quotes “Abiding in Christ,” by  Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.

 

Jesus recommended to us His Body and Blood in bread and wine, elements that are reduced into one out of many constituents. What is meant by eating that food and taking that drink is this: to remain in Christ and have Him remaining in us." (excerpt from Sermon on John 26,112)5

The Word Among Us Meditation on Acts 9:1-20 comments that Ananias clearly went beyond just giving Saul the benefit of the doubt. And although he is not mentioned again in the Bible, we all benefit from Ananias’ example. After all, we can all fall into the trap of labeling people according to what we have heard about them. Only God has the full picture. Whatever we may learn about another person, one fact stands above everything else: this is someone God has created and whom he loves very much.

 

 So when you’re tempted to make harsh judgments, ask God for further light, as Ananias did. Just as a better light source can transform a photograph, looking at people in the light of God’s love helps us see them more fully, more truly. Ananias shows us that gaining a new perspective is just the beginning. How might God be asking you to go further and be a blessing in someone’s life today? How can your generous actions make a difference in their life?6

Friar Jude Winkler comments on the simple narrative that is the first account of Saul’s conversion in Acts. Guided by the Spirit, Paul begins the ministry of the Church to all people. Friar Jude reminds us of the difficulty of observant Jews with the invitation of Jesus in the “Bread of Life” discourse.

 

A post by Franciscan Media comments that Saint George is the object of a vast amount of imagination. There is every reason to believe that he was a real martyr who suffered at Lydda in Palestine, probably before the time of Constantine. The Church adheres to his memory, but not to the legends surrounding his life. That he was willing to pay the supreme price to follow Christ is what the Church believes. And it is enough.

 Human nature seems to crave more than cold historical data. Americans have Washington and Lincoln, but we somehow need Paul Bunyan, too. The life of Saint Francis of Assisi is inspiring enough, but for centuries the Italians have found his spirit in the legends of the Fioretti, too. Santa Claus is the popular extension of the spirit of Saint Nicholas. The legends about Saint George are part of this yearning. Both fact and legend are human ways of illumining the mysterious truth about the One who alone is holy.7

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, shares insights from Joanna Macy,  a brilliant Buddhist teacher, a systems thinker, deep ecologist, and activist for peace, justice, and a healthy environment. She teaches in what she calls the Work That Reconnects. Ecologist Stephan Harding writes about this.

 

The Work That Reconnects is conceptualized as a spiral that maps the journey to Gaian consciousness [or deep connection with the living Earth] in four stages. The first is gratitude, in which we experience our love for life. Next is honoring our pain, in which we learn how to suffer the pain of the world with others and with the world itself. Then, in seeing with new eyes, we experience our connection with life in all its forms through all the ages. Finally, in the last stage we go forth into action in the world as open human beings, aware of our mutual belonging in the web of life, learning through feedback in our social and ecological domains. [2]8

Our piety, study, and action bring us into deeper relationship with Christ and the mystery of His Presence in our lives.

 

References

 

1	(n.d.). Acts of the Apostles, CHAPTER 9 | USCCB - Daily Readings. Retrieved April 23, 2021, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/acts/9
2	(n.d.). Psalms, PSALM 117 | USCCB. Retrieved April 23, 2021, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/117
3	(n.d.). John, CHAPTER 6 | USCCB. Retrieved April 23, 2021, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/john/6:1
4	(n.d.). Creighton U Daily Reflections - Online Ministries - Creighton University. Retrieved April 23, 2021, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/042321.html
5	(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved April 23, 2021, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/
6	(2021, April 20). 3rd Week of Easter - The Word Among Us. Retrieved April 23, 2021, from https://wau.org/meditations/2021/04/23/188685/
7	(n.d.). Saint George | Franciscan Media. Retrieved April 23, 2021, from https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-george
8	(2021, April 23). The Work That Reconnects — Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved April 23, 2021, from https://cac.org/the-work-that-reconnects-2021-04-23/