First to Israel

The Roman Catholic Lectionary today looks at the people of the nation of Israel. The prophet Hosea reviews the growth and prosperity of God’s people, unfortunately in a direction away from intimate contact with the Divine. The works of human endeavor will collapse but God desires to restore the people to intimacy. Matthew relates the selection of the twelve Apostles. The number corresponds to the “twelve tribes of Israel” and Jesus instructs them to go specifically to the Jewish community to present the truth that the “The kingdom of heaven has come near.”( Matthew 10:7) This is the same mission as is given the 72 disciples elsewhere in Matthew’s Gospel. The main method that this message is conveyed, then and now is through presence of the Apostle and disciple in the lives of others. This brings the active indwelling Spirit near the indwelling Spirit of the other which may respond in resonance with the Presence of the Kingdom.

Sowing the Wind

The prophet Hosea predicts “For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind” in one of the texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today. We can imagine many contexts in which this saying can or has been used. Hosea sees the wind as the structures and practices that the people of God have created for themselves and the nation without the guidance and participation of the Divine. The failure of these efforts of human ego is certain. However, the love of God is unconditional and Divine mercy knows not limit. The people will be returned to intimacy with God. Matthew echoes the statement of Jesus in Luke’s Gospel from last Sunday that the harvest is great but he labourers are few. Many believers need to be present in the world to be evidence that the Divine continues to delight in humanity and is intimately involved in the lives of all. As Richard Rohr might put it, we need to tune our receivers to resonate our indwelling Spirit with the always present Divine Spirit.(Oremus Bible Browser)

Aware of the Possibilities of Intimacy

In the Roman Catholic Lectionary, today, the psalmist sets the theme of God as gracious and merciful. It seems that we are continually in need of hearing this truth. Perhaps we would prefer to deal with a divinity that was more ‘human’ and made rules that could be accounted for and a person would know his ‘mark’ in the eternal grade book and we could aim at a ‘pass’’ The prophet Hosea tells of the desire of God to renew the Covenant with the people who had drifted away to ‘other gods’. The desire of the Divine to restore life and intimacy is told by Matthew through the healings in today’s text. The action of Jesus, in both cases, is contrary to the expectations of most of the observers. The faith of synagogue official and the woman who is healed open their lives to the possibility of an intimate healing encounter with Jesus.

Mission and Reflection

The texts of the Roman Catholic Lectionary, today, bring rejoicing to mind. Isaiah calls on the faithful to look on Jerusalem which is restored by God for them after the exile in Babylon. The prophet sees hope that the people will return to the deep Covenant relationship with God. Larry Gillick, S. J., of Creighton University’s Deglman Center for Ignatian Spirituality, writes about Luke’s account of the sending and return of the seventy two as a model for the sending of the laity to the “harvest of souls”. He puts this mission in the light of Vatican II, which is one of the early events in his 50 year vocation as a Jesuit. Much has changed in the living of a Christian life in the Roman Catholic tradition. The message of total reliance on the Sender and the direction and support of the indwelling Spirit is fundamental to understanding Paul’s proclamation to the Galatians that the mission of Jesus is everything! (Link to Oremus site.)

Doubtful he was the Doubting One

In the Roman Catholic Lectionary, today, we read the story of “Doubting Thomas”. Perhaps we can recall being referred to as a “Doubting Thomas”. The sense of the episode from John’s Gospel is that of a stubborn and difficult one who needs special attention and is having difficulty in being a team player. The historical evidence on Thomas is different. The ‘role’ he plays in this episode is to be an example of the great desire of the Divine for intimacy with humanity. We don’t have to “get it” right away. Jesus and the Spirit are constantly calling and demonstrating the deep desire to overcome our objections to the communion desired by God.

Surprising Attraction

The calling of Matthew from the texts in the Roman Catholic Lectionary, today, is one example of the difference in thinking and expectation of the human mind and the Divine. Jesus says to Matthew, a tax collector who takes money from his own Hebrew people to deliver it to the Roman occupying forces; ”Follow Me. Matthew is attracted to Jesus through a spiritual resonance of the Indwelling Spirit and the Divine Spirit. Unfortunately for religious authorities, this attraction to truth is not controlled by any human process or liturgy. Amos is disappointed with Israel for not accepting the guidance available through faithfulness to God which would show itself in care for the disadvantaged. The Prophet has seen a drought of the Word of God in the lives of the people. He considers that God should punish this unfaithfulness but the surprise for all is contained in Jesus proclamation from Matthew’s gospel” I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners” (Matthew 9:13)

Walk again! People of God

At the conclusion of Matthew’s Gospel, from the Roman Catholic Lectionary (texts only link) today, it is noted that the people praised God that such power had been given to people. Matthew tells of Jesus response to the faith of the people attending to a paralytic which was to declare that his sins were forgiven. It is this face of God that is present to believers; Forgiveness. Often, like the psalmist, we attend to and even celebrate the justice of the Divine. Certainly justice is a Divine quality but as Amos suggests the consequences of forgetting the relationship with God can be drastic for peoples and individuals. The mercy of God triumphs over the failings of God’s people. Through Divine initiative, we walk again!