Tuesday, June 27, 2017

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle A) July 2, 2017

Sunday, July 2, 2017  Readings  

First Reading: 

4Then come back and close the door on yourself and your children; pour the oil into all the vessels, and as each is filled, set it aside.”5So she went out. She closed the door on herself and her children and, as they handed her the vessels, she would pour in oil.6When all the vessels were filled, she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” He answered, “There is none left.” And then the oil stopped.7She went and told the man of God, who said, “Go sell the oil to pay off your creditor; with what remains, you and your children can live.”
8One day Elisha came to Shunem, where there was a woman of influence, who pressed him to dine with her. Afterward, whenever he passed by, he would stop there to dine. (The Shunnamite woman opened her home to him - see Dr. Scott Hahn's reflection below)
11One day Elisha arrived and stayed in the room overnight.
14Later Elisha asked, “What can we do for her?” Gehazi answered, “She has no son, and her husband is old.”15Elisha said, “Call her.” He did so, and when she stood at the door,16Elisha promised, “This time next year you will be cradling a baby son.” She said, “My lord, you are a man of God; do not deceive your servant.”

Responsorial Psalm: 

2     I will sing of your mercy forever, LORD
proclaim your faithfulness through all ages.
3        For I said, “My mercy is established forever;
my faithfulness will stand as long as the heavens.
16Blessed the people who know the war cry,
who walk in the radiance of your face, LORD.
17In your name they sing joyfully all the day;
they rejoice in your righteousness.
18You are their majestic strength;
by your favor our horn is exalted. ( Horn: a concrete noun for an abstract quality; horn is a symbol of strength.) 
19Truly the LORD is our shield,
the Holy One of Israel, our king!

Second  Reading:   

3Or are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?4We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life.
8If, then, we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him.9We know that Christ, raised from the dead, dies no more; death no longer has power over him.10As to his death, he died to sin once and for all; as to his life, he lives for God.11Consequently, you too must think of yourselves as [being] dead to sin and living for God in Christ Jesus.

Gospel:

37“Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me;
38and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me.39Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
Rewards40“Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.41 Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever receives a righteous man because he is righteous will receive a righteous man’s reward.42And whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of these little ones to drink because he is a disciple—amen, I say to you, he will surely not lose his reward.”

Matthew 10:37-42
 Jesus explains the difficulties of discipleship, yet reveals 
that those who welcome the disciples have also welcomed him.  (Loyal Press)

Scott Hahn's Reflection (edited for length)
The Liturgy this week continues to instruct us in the elements of discipleship. We’re told that even the most humble among us have a share in the mission Christ gives to His Church.
At Baptism our lives were joined forever to the cross of Christ, as Paul tells us in today’s Epistle. Baptized into His death, we’re to renounce sin and live for God in Christ Jesus.
We are to follow Him, each of us taking up our personal cross, as Jesus says in today’s Gospel. That doesn’t mean we will all be asked to suffer a martyr’s death. But each of us is called to self-denial, to the offering of our lives in service of God’s plan.
Jesus must be elevated to first place in our lives—above even our closest bonds of kinship and love. By Baptism, we’ve been made part of a new family—the kingdom of God, the Church. We are to proclaim that kingdom with our lives, bringing our fathers and mothers, and all men and women to live as “little ones” under the fatherhood of God and the kingship of the Holy One.
We do this by opening our hearts and homes to the service of the Lord, following the Shunnamite woman’s example in today’s First Reading. As Jesus tells us, we’re to receive others—not only prophets, but also little children, the poor and the imprisoned—as we receive Christ himself (see Matthew 18:5;  25:31–46).
As we sing in today’s Psalm, we are to testify to His favors and kindness in our lives.
We’re to hold fast to the promise—that if we have died with Christ, we shall also live, that if we lose our lives for His sake, we shall find our reward, and walk forever in His countenance.
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Reflection by John Kavanaugh, SJ (edited for length):

Those who find their life will lose it
 (Matthew 10:39).
In Matthew's account, Jesus tells us not to love our family members more than we love him. This text illuminates, I believe, the rather troubling formulation found in chapter 14 of Luke. Luke has it this way: “If you come to me without hating father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, yes and your own life too, you cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26). Although the word translated “hate” in Luke is closer to the original Aramaic, John L. McKenzie reminded us that Aramaic actually had no words for “love more than.” Thus, the comparative softening of Matthew's “loving more than” is a fair alternative. It also provides an insight into the nature of human loves.

In scripture passages dealing with the claims human relations make upon us, at least two dangers are suggested. 

The First danger: 
The beloved can become more important to us than God. 
The Second danger:  
Such love can become possessive.


If the totality of our love is exhausted by any created thing or person, then that “loved one”must become the anchor of our being, our purpose and fulfillment, our security and final hope. Sooner or later such a total object of our love becomes our idol, a false god.

But God must always be “more than” any creature of earth. If we turn a human person into a god, either that person will eventually possess us, or we will try to possess and use the fabricated god as an idol.


Love-idols are functions of a craving inadequacy.
Psychologically this paradox makes sense, although not to the person under the spell of idolatry. If we say to another, “You're my everything; you're my meaning; I am nothing without you,” then what is left of us to give that person? Why would he or she even be bothered with us, if we are nothing without them?

Thus our love shatters because we are shrunk by the idolized creature without whom we would be nothing. Oddly enough, we also shrink the beloved; for there is a strategy in counterfeit love, always doomed to failure, which seeks control by investing all our attention. Parents thus suffocate the child who becomes their “everything.” Love-idols are functions of a craving inadequacy; but when they fail as our ”rock” or “security,” we come to hate them for betraying our expectations.

The same paradox applies to the way we love ourselves. If we make ourselves the absolute goal of our seeking, we bring ruin upon ourselves. Only when we die to such narcissistic illusions can we be fulfilled. Only when we take up the cross of true love—“laying down our lives,” sharing ourselves freely with our family and friends, not demanding that they be our gods or we be theirs—do we find ourselves.

If neither I nor you are God, but only God is God, then we may love each other freely, nonpossessively, and without jealousy. There is no question of domination or control. Then we know the greatest gift God has given us: the capacity to bestow our lives freely in covenants and promises to our dear ones, who even in eternity are loved in God.

  “Whoever welcomes you, welcomes me and the one who sent me,” Jesus said. In this life and the next, when we so welcome each other, we truly love the God who dwells in us and yet is not reduced to us.


John Kavanaugh, SJ

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A wonderful bite size "take-away" on the Gospel:
~~> Choosing life with Christ means that every relationship we have must be understood from a new perspective.  (Loyola Press)
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sources:
Scott Hahn
John Kavanaugh, SJ 
http://www.catholicdoors.com/homilies/  Did not use this site - I just found it. This week's homily is very "works oriented" and the wording seems careless to me . . . .  hmmmm?

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Sunday, June 25, 2017

12th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle A)
 June 25, 2017

June 25, 2017


First Reading (Jeremiah 20:10-13)  
(10) Yes, I hear the whisperings of many: 
“Terror on every side!
Denounce! let us denounce him!”
All those who were my friends
are on the watch for any misstep of mine.
“Perhaps he can be trapped (tricked); then we will prevail,
and take our vengeance (revenge) on him.”
(11) But the LORD is with me, like a mighty champion:
my persecutors will stumble, they will not triumph (prevail).
In their failure they will be put to utter shame,
to lasting, unforgettable confusion.
(12) LORD of hosts, you who test the just,
who probe (you see) mind and heart,
Let me witness (see) the vengeance (revenge) you take on them,
for to you I have entrusted my cause.
(13) Sing to the LORD,
praise the LORD,
For he has rescued the life of the poor
from the power of the wicked (evildoers)! 

Commentary of First Reading by Reginald H. Fuller
This reading has clearly been chosen to match the Gospel, which speaks of the persecution that the apostles will encounter on their mission. Jeremiah was preeminently the prophet who suffered persecution because of his prophetic activity.
His fate influenced the development of the later Jewish view that rejection, persecution, and martyrdom were inseparable from prophetic vocation, a view echoed in a number of dominical sayings (Luke 11:51;  Luke 13:33-34;  Mark 12:1-9) 
To be a bearer of the word of God means to suffer, because that word inevitably encounters hostility and rejection.
It is illuminating that apparently, according to the sayings of the Lord referred to above, Jesus regarded his own fate as the culmination of the rejection of the prophets and their message.
But it was Paul, more than any other New Testament figure, who regarded Jeremiah as a model for his own apostleship.
Certainly Paul regarded suffering as a supreme manifestation of the cross in his own apostolic ministry (see especially the catalogues of his sufferings in Second Corinthians 4:7-12;  6:3-10;  11:22-33)

Responsorial Psalm: 69:8-10, 14, 17, 33-35
(R. 14c) Lord, in your great love, answer me.
(8) For your sake, I bear insult,
and shame covers my face.
(9) I have become an outcast to my brothers,
a stranger to my  children.
(10) Because zeal for your house consumes me,
And the insults of those who blaspheme you fall on me.
(R. ) Lord, in your great love, answer me.
I pray to you, LORD,
(14) for the time of your favor, O God!
In your great kindness answer me
with your constant help.
(17) Answer me, O LORD, for bounteous is your kindness;
in your great mercy turn toward me.
(R.) Lord, in your great love, answer me.
(33) “See, you lowly ones, and be glad;
you who seek God, may your hearts revive!
(34) For the LORD hears the poor,
and his own who are in bonds he spurns not.
(35) Let the heavens and the earth praise him,
the seas and whatever moves in them!”
(R.) Lord, in your great love, answer me.

Second Reading (Romans 5:12-15)   
Brothers and sisters:
(12) Through one man sin entered the world, and through sin, death, and thus death came to all men, inasmuch as all sinned—
(13) for up to the time of the law, sin was in the world, though sin is not accounted when there is no law.
(14) But death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin after the pattern of the trespass of Adam, who is the type of the one who was to come.
Grace and Life through Christ
(15) But the gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression the many died, how much more did the grace of God and the gracious gift of the one man Jesus Christ overflow for the many.


Gospel  (Matthew 10:26-33)   Courage Under Persecution

Author:  •  Homily notes for June 24, 2017
The Lord speaks to us today of one of the  most central struggles in our life: fear. Yes, fear is one of our deepest drives and though it has a positive purpose, too often we miss the mark in directing its energy. The positive role of fear is to alert us that something is wrong and to divert us from danger. With our fallen nature, though, we often fear the wrong things while lacking a sober fear of the right things. We major in the minors of life; we get all worked up about passing things but do not have a sober and reverent fear of eternal things. We fear sinful and weak human beings, but not God, who is just, who sees all, and who will assign us our eternal destiny.
The Lord thus teaches us today in order to help us to “get fear right.” He sets forth the proper object of our fear, points to the outcome of succeeding or failing in this matter, and reminds us of our proper role in this world as we master our fear.
I.  The Object of Fear  Jesus said to the Twelve: “Fear no one … And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna … Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge. Even all the hairs of your head are counted. So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”
Wrong Fear  In speaking to the object of fear, Jesus is asking us to consider what and whom we fear most. We are going to fear someone and something. We are just too tiny and weak to be wholly free of fear. Yes, fear has its place and purpose; the problem is that we often fear the wrong things. We are a bit like Chicken Little, who was afraid of an utterly false threat (that the sky was falling) and in her panic ran right into the wolf, who devoured her.
Jesus is clear: Fear no man. The worst thing a human being can do to you is to kill you physically. Even if that happens, though, if you are faithful, dying is the path to Heaven; it’s a maximum promotion! Maybe people can steal your things or make your brief life here a little less pleasant, but life does not consist in our possessions. As an old gospel hymn says, “Trouble don’t last always.”
In a moment, Jesus will tell us whom we should fear. For now, consider again Jesus’ teaching: Fear no man. Yet the fact is that we do fear human beings. It’s incredible to find out how afraid we are. We’re afraid of everybody and everything! We’re more afraid of men than we are of God. We’re afraid of physical dangers, certainly, but even more so we’re afraid of being rejected by other people; of not being liked by others. We’ll do just about anything to ingratiate ourselves to others and to assuage our fear of being rejected or laughed at. We’ll gossip and lie; we’ll spend a lot of money on clothes, cosmetics, fancy cars, big houses, or the latest iPhone. Desperate to fit in, young people may join gangs, drop out of school, use drugs, fornicate, and/or engage in self-destructive behaviors, all in a desperate quest to be thought “hip” and loved.
Yes, too many of all ages have a mighty fear of rejection and humiliation by other human beings. And because we’re afraid of not being liked, we’ll do almost anything.
Not only does this fear drive us to do many things we shouldn’t, it also keeps us from doing many things we ought to do such as preaching the Gospel and insisting on what is right. Think of the martyrs of old who died professing the faith, and here we are afraid that someone will raise an eyebrow!
Fear is one of the chief habit patterns of sin, and it brings about countless other sins. It has to go.
Thus Jesus says, “Fear no one.” That is, fear no man. Whom do you fear more, men or God? Honestly?
Right Fear  God is the proper object of our fear.
Jesus teaches very provocatively, … rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna …
Some think that this text refers to Satan, but it does not. Luke’s version makes this even clearer: But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear the One who, after you have been killed, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear Him (Luke 12:5).
This cannot be Satan because Satan is not our judge. Although he can tempt us, he has no authority to determine our final destiny. Scripture says that Satan, our accuser, has been cast out (see Rev 12:10). Further, it declares, The Father judges no one, but has consigned all judgment to the Son that the world may revere him (Jn 5:22).
Many are uncomfortable thinking of the Lord in this way. They prefer to think of Him as an affable fellow, a harmless hippie who’s not all that concerned with things like holiness and conversion, and who in the end will just wave everyone through.
This is simply not what Scripture teaches. God is holy, and His holiness exudes a power and glory that we must be purified in order to endure, let alone enjoy. Frankly, Heaven would be a miserable place for anyone who has not been brought up to the temperature of Heaven or been accustomed to the bright light of God’s truth. 

Heaven is not our personal “designer paradise.” It is the Kingdom of God in all its fullness and with all its values: forgiveness, generosity, love of one’s enemies, chastity, and so forth. There are many who don’t want anything to do with some or any of these values. They are much like the older son in the parable of the prodigal son, the one who stands outside angry and unwilling to the enter the feast given by his father. He finds forgiveness untenable; he loathes the feast because his wayward brother is honored there. 

Judgment Day is something to have a holy fear about, for it is the day when God will ask this question: “Do you want the Heaven I offer on its terms or not?” On the Day of Judgment, God will assess what our decision has amounted. He will either welcome us into the feast or close the door and consign us to the “other arrangements” we ourselves have made and perversely preferred. Jesus says, As for anyone who hears My words and does not keep them, I do not judge him… The word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day (John 12:47-48).
Balanced Fear  This proper fear is not a cringing one, rooted only in the dread of punishment (though if that’s all you’ve got, go with it). Rather, it is a reverential fear that remembers God’s love for us and His desire to save us. Jesus says, Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge. Even all the hairs of your head are counted. So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
Although this proper fear remembers God’s love and does not give way to the imbalance of purely servile fear, neither does it swing to the other imbalance, which disregards the loving respect we should have for God and His holiness. God is who He is and Heaven is what it is. We simply cannot endure such realities without being purified and prepared for them first. God must have our repentance in order to do the work necessary to enable us for Heaven’s brightness and His fiery glory.
A reverential and balanced fear acknowledges God’s love and mercy, but also His awesome glory. Such a fear takes seriously our need to prepare for judgment and to avail ourselves of God’s graces in the sacraments, the Liturgy, His Word, and prayer.
II.  The Outcome of Fear  Jesus adds, There is nothing that is concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known … Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father. But whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father.
Our fear is going to have an outcome for either good or ill. If we have the wrong fear (fearing man more than God), it will lead us to silence and even outright denial of God and His truth before others. Fearing the opinion of the world and human beings more than God makes us silent and too easily conformed to a world opposed to Him. This amounts to a tacit denial (by silence) or to an outright denial wherein we publicly scorn God and/or His revealed truth in order to ingratiate ourselves to this world. The consequence of this denial is Jesus’ affirmation of our denial of God the Day of Judgment. The martyrs and confessors of the faith shine brightly before God, but we cannot endure their brightness because we have hidden out in the dark places and preferred the darkness of error to the light of truth.
If we have the right fear, we want to please God rather than man. We delight in representing Him and His teachings before others, even joyfully enduring the world’s scorn. 
If we fear God, we fear no one else. 
If we can kneel before God, we can stand before any man. 
If we fearlessly, charitably, and joyfully acknowledge God before others, we will be acknowledged before God the Father as someone who truly sought Him and witnessed to Him. 
A proper and balanced fear brings an outcome of glory and happiness. An improper fear (of man rather than God) brings denial, because we fear and prefer the opinions of men and this world rather than God. On Judgment Day the Lord will acknowledge our preference to His Father.
For a good outcome, make sure you have the right and balanced fear!
III. The Office of Holy Fear  What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light; what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.
The Lord is summoning us to speak fearlessly to the world on account of a holy fear of Him.
1. But in the face of strong opposition, we were bold in our God to speak the gospel of God to you. … We speak … not in order to please men but God, who examines our hearts. As you know, we never used words of flattery or any pretext for greed. God is our witness! Nor did we seek praise from you or from anyone else (1 Thess 2:2-6).
2. Do you think I am seeking the approval of men, or of God?… I would not be a servant of Christ (Gal 1:10).
3. From henceforth let no man trouble me; for I bear in my body the brand marks of the Lord Jesus (Gal 6:17).
4. But Peter and John replied, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to listen to you rather than God. For we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:19-20).
What about you? Do you speak the word of God to an often-scoffing world? Or do you fear the world more than God, and therefore stay silent, hiding out? If we reverently fear God more than the world, then we will speak out even in the face of opposition. We love the Lord more than we love the world. Therefore, we speak!
Summation – Make sure you fear the right thing, in this case the right One. Here is what Jesus teaches: Do not fear man. Rather, have a holy reverent fear of God. Get fear right. Stop getting so anxious about what mere mortals think of you. Your destiny will hinge on getting fear right. Fear the Lord; acknowledge Him before men and proclaim His world, and you be acknowledged greatly by him in Heaven. If you fear men and the world, just watch how quickly cave in, compromise, and deny the Lord, preferring worldly trinkets and the praise to eternal glories. But if you go that route, that’s all you’ll get. Beware, the Lord will one day have to acknowledge your preference: “Father He denied. He said no to our offer.”
Decide now whom you will fear. Your destiny depends on that decision.


Sources: