Strive for the Kingdom

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to prioritize our actions by striving to live as members of the Body of Christ.

Building the Kingdom

The reading from the Second Letter of Chronicles describes the death of Joash.

Psalm 89 praises God’s Covenant with David.

* [Psalm 89] The community laments the defeat of the Davidic king, to whom God promised kingship as enduring as the heavens (Ps 89:2–5). The Psalm narrates how God became king of the divine beings (Ps 89:6–9) and how the Davidic king became king of earthly kings (Ps 89:20–38). Since the defeat of the king calls into question God’s promise, the community ardently prays God to be faithful to the original promise to David (Ps 89:39–52). (Psalms, PSALM 89 | USCCB, n.d.)

The Gospel of Matthew warns against serving Two Masters and exhorts us to Not Worry.

* [6:24] Mammon: an Aramaic word meaning wealth or property.

* [6:25–34] Jesus does not deny the reality of human needs (Mt 6:32), but forbids making them the object of anxious care and, in effect, becoming their slave.

* [6:27] Life-span: the Greek word can also mean “stature.” If it is taken in that sense, the word here translated moment (literally, “cubit”) must be translated literally as a unit not of time but of spatial measure. The cubit is about eighteen inches.

* [6:30] Of little faith: except for the parallel in Lk 12:28, the word translated of little faith is found in the New Testament only in Matthew. It is used by him of those who are disciples of Jesus but whose faith in him is not as deep as it should be (see Mt 8:26; 14:31; 16:8 and the cognate noun in Mt 17:20).

* [6:33] Righteousness: see note on Mt 3:14–15. (Matthew, CHAPTER 6 | USCCB, n.d.)

Steve Scholer comments that life itself can be overwhelming. There are plenty of negative events each of us may face, including the death of a loved one, a divorce, losing one’s job, a serious medical diagnosis, or financial hardship.

With so much heaped upon us, where do we turn? To whom do we ask for help and guidance? Our family and friends can be a great source of support, but the best thing to do is to take our worries to the Lord. Let God know what is overwhelming you. Share your fears and anxieties with God and ask him to take them from you.

In your prayer today, acknowledge that in all things it is God who is in control, and that because of his infinite love for each of us, and because he accepts us regardless of our frailties and faults, we need not worry. With this burden off our shoulders, we can live a joyful life serving the Lord. (Scholer, 2024)

Don Schwager quotes “The value of life,” by John Chrysostom, 547-407 A.D.

"Note the acceleration of images: just when the lilies are decked out, he no longer calls them lilies but 'grass of the field' (Matthew 6:30 ). He then points further to their vulnerable condition by saying 'which are here today.' Then he does not merely say 'and not tomorrow' but rather more callously 'cast into the oven.' These creatures are not merely 'clothed but 'so clothed' in this way as to be later brought to nothing. Do you see how Jesus everywhere abounds in amplifications and intensifications? And he does so in order to press his points home. So then he adds, 'Will he not much more clothe you?' The force of the emphasis is on 'you' to indicate covertly how great is the value set upon your personal existence and the concern God shows for you in particular. It is as though he were saying, 'You, to whom he gave a soul, for whom he fashioned a body, for whose sake he made everything in creation, for whose sake he sent prophets, and gave the law, and wrought those innumerable good works, and for whose sake he gave up his only begotten Son.'" (excerpt from THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 22.1) (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 6:24-34 asks what does it mean to seek first the kingdom? It means to seek Jesus himself. Seek him before all else, and as we do, he will change our attitudes, our priorities, and even the things we worry about. He will help us to trust in his provision. What might this look like? Let’s start with prayer.

God honors your efforts to worship him; he changes your heart so that it reflects his own. He makes it humbler, simpler, more loving. And that affects everything else.

It changes the way you relate to your family. You find joy in expecting not to be served at home but to serve your family members. When you seek to love as Jesus loves, you create a loving environment in your home, where strained relationships can be healed.

It changes the way you approach your work. You try to honor God whether or not you get rewarded for it. As you take the focus off yourself, your performance might even improve!

It changes your perspective. You start to see with Jesus’ eyes what you really need and what’s not essential. With that new outlook, you might even realize you’re the richest person in the world!

So seek first God’s kingdom and his righteousness. Because as you do, you will receive the blessing of becoming more and more like Jesus and sharing his love in every area of your life.

“Lord, help me to seek you above all things.” (Meditation on Matthew 6:24-34, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler comments on how the priest who saved Joash is stoned to death as a consequence of bringing back the cult of pagan objects. Matthew expresses Jesus' proclamation that we cannot serve two masters. Friar Jude reminds us that we are in the world but not of the world when we do not forget the needs of the poor.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces indigenous author and poet Pixie Lighthorse who names the conscious care and attention we must give to our wounds in order for them to heal.

Yes, we humans can power through—and it is a most helpful skill when it is used in the short term to get through the immediate tasks at hand. Over long periods, hyper-strengthening has a tightening effect—cutting off the flow of oxygen to whatever within us is still seeking healing.  

The tissue is pale at the site where the wound is held, and my body has experienced problems in places like these. Where there is constriction, there is no air or blood flow. Our parts are cut off from the whole, separated and over-protected, if not strangulated.  

Breathe deep and long into these areas, bringing conscious awareness into the constricted focal points, warming them with your breath and even physical touch. Let your breath be deep and prolonged over tight areas; this is akin to the act of stretching muscles that have been engaged in heavy lifting, giving them space and the opportunity to repair. Growth happens on the emotional and spiritual level when you work an area and give equal time to relaxing it with the spaciousness of your care and attention.  

I allow oxygen to infuse my cells with life force,  

breathing into the constricted places in my body  

that have grown tight with fear. (Rohr, n.d.)

We may find ourselves very busy and occupied with the tasks of our daily lives and we are invited to seek the peace of guidance by the Spirit to transform our actions into movements toward fullness of life in Jesus Way.

References

Matthew, CHAPTER 6 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved June 22, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/6 

Meditation on Matthew 6:24-34. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved June 22, 2024, from https://wau.org/meditations/2024/06/22/1005562/ 

Psalms, PSALM 89 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved June 22, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/89?4 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). Daily Meditations — Center for Action and Contemplation. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved June 22, 2024, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/ 

Scholer, S. (2024, June 22). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Online Ministries. Retrieved June 22, 2024, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/062224.html 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved June 22, 2024, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2024&date=jun22 

2 Chronicles, CHAPTER 24 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved June 22, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/2chronicles/24?17 

The sudden change

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to contemplate the signs of the Jesus Presence in the world around us and in the creativity of artists.

Signs in Nature

The reading from the Book of Wisdom points to the foolishness of missing the Creator in our observation of Nature.

* [13:1–9] The author holds a relatively benign view of the efforts of the philosophers to come to know God from various natural phenomena. This is not a question of proving the existence of God in scholastic style. The author thinks that the beauty and might of the world should have pointed by analogy (v. 5) to the Maker. Instead, those “in ignorance of God” remained fixed on the elements (v. 2, three named, along with the stars). His Greek counterparts are not totally blameless; they should have gone further and acknowledged the creator of nature’s wonders (vv. 4–5). Cf. Rom 1:18–23; Acts 17:27–28.1

Psalm 19 proclaims the regular functioning of the heavens inform human beings of the Creator’s power and wisdom.

* [19:4] No speech, no words: the regular functioning of the heavens and the alternation of day and night inform human beings without words of the creator’s power and wisdom.2 

Jesus describes the sudden intrusion of the Day of the Son of Man into our lives in the Gospel of Luke.

* [17:20–37] To the question of the Pharisees about the time of the coming of God’s kingdom, Jesus replies that the kingdom is among you (Lk 17:20–21). The emphasis has thus been shifted from an imminent observable coming of the kingdom to something that is already present in Jesus’ preaching and healing ministry. Luke has also appended further traditional sayings of Jesus about the unpredictable suddenness of the day of the Son of Man, and assures his readers that in spite of the delay of that day (Lk 12:45), it will bring judgment unexpectedly on those who do not continue to be vigilant.3 

Mark Latta comments that our times today might seem like Noah’s time where everyone seems distracted, distanced from God, unable to concentrate on what is important.

Luke’s admonition is not centered on our activities of life but on our lack of attentiveness to what we are doing and what God is doing within us. Saint Ignatius in the Spiritual Exercises asks us to seek an inner freedom from disordered attachments in order to be open to God’s unconditional love for us—and to the movements of the Holy Spirit within us to guide our actions and activities.4 

Don Schwager quotes “Those working in the field are sowing the Word of God,” by Ambrose of Milan, 339-397 A.D.

"'He that will be on the housetop, do not let him go down. He that will be in the field, do not let him turn back.' How may I understand what is the field unless Jesus himself teaches me? He says, 'No one putting his hand to the plough (plow) and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God' (Luke 9:62). The lazy person sits in the farmhouse, but the industrious person plants in the field. The weak are at the fireplace, but the strong are at the plough. The smell of a field is good, because the smell of Jacob is the smell of a full field (Genesis 27:27). A field is full of flowers. It is full of different fruits. Plough your field if you want to be sent to the kingdom of God. Let your field flower, fruitful with good rewards. Let there be a fruitful vine on the sides of your house and young olive plants around your table (Psalm 127:3). Already aware of its fertility, let your soul, sown with the Word of God and tilled by spiritual farming, say to Christ, 'Come, my brother, let us go out into the field' (Song of Solomon 7:11). Let him reply, 'I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride. I have gathered my vintage of myrrh'  (Song of Solomon 5:1). What is better than the vintage of faith, by which the fruit of the resurrection is stored and the spring of eternal rejoicing is watered?" (excerpt from EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 8.43.27)5 

The Word Among Us Meditation on Luke 17:26-37 is concerned that listening to reports of bad news, worrying about what might go wrong in our families, fear for our health—all those things can pull us down into a swamp of worry and apprehension. The more we focus on our anxious thoughts, the deeper we can sink.

Where do you see anxiety dragging you down? The next time you feel like you’re drowning in the quicksand of worry, try to relax and focus on Jesus and his plans for you today. His first coming launched a revolution of love and mercy. It built a solid foundation that can keep you from drowning. What’s even better, this solid foundation will grow ever stronger with every act of faith and trust you make.6 

Friar Jude Winkler describes how the Greek philosophers were caught up in the power and beauty of Creation yet lacked the human wisdom to find God as Creator. Jesus Resurrection was initially interpreted as a sign of the imminent end of the world. Friar Jude observes how the concept of “rapture” may be connected to the apparent lack of rhyme or reason in the timing of our death.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, ponders how there must be a way to be both here and in the depth of here. Jesus is here. Christ is the depth of here. This is the essence of incarnation and the gift of contemplation.

We must learn to love and enjoy things as they are, in their depth, in their soul, and in their fullness. Contemplation is the “second gaze,” through which we see something in its particularity and yet also in a much larger frame. We know it by the joy it gives, which is far greater than anything it does for us in terms of money, power, or success. In its various forms, art provides this incarnational and contemplative insight. 

Sculpture of St. Francis of Assisi, artist unknown, Upper Church in the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi, Assisi, Italy; photo by K505/Shutterstock.

 Instead of looking upward as is usual, he gazes reverently and longingly downward—into the earth—where the Spirit is enmeshed with the earth. Francis understood that the Holy Spirit had in fact descended; she is forever and first of all here! There are many artists who inherently understand incarnation. They see art as a major transposition of sacred place from there to here.7

We ponder the mysteries of the universe and invoke the Spirit to connect us to the truth, beauty, and goodness that we forget is incarnate in our immediate surroundings.

References

1	(n.d.). Wisdom, chapter 13. Retrieved November 15, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/wisdom/13
2	(n.d.). Psalms, chapter 19. Retrieved November 15, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/psalms/19
3	(n.d.). Luke, chapter 17 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved November 15, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/luke/17
4	(n.d.). Daily Reflections - OnlineMinistries .... Retrieved November 15, 2019, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
5	(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved November 15, 2019, from https://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/
6	(n.d.). Meditations - The Word Among Us. Retrieved November 15, 2019, from https://wau.org/meditations/2019/11/15/
7	(2019, November 15). Changing Places — Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved November 15, 2019, from https://cac.org/changing-places-2019-11-15/