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Reflections on the
Daily Readings
July 25 - 31, 2010.
Seventeenth Week of Ordinary Time.
Psalter Week I.
Sunday Cycle C; Weekday Cycle II.
Sunday 25:
The Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Genesis
18:20-32; Psalm 137; Colossians 2:12-14; Luke 11:1-13
In our
first reading from the book of Genesis we see the Lord speaking with Abraham
about the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and their sins. The Lord decides to
wipe them off the face of the earth but Abraham asks the Lord to relent for
not all the people are evil. He begins by asking the Lord to spare them if
there are fifty just men in the town and finally persuades the Lord to spare
the people if there are but ten just men found there. The Lord listens to
the pleas of Abraham and relents each time. The Psalm is a hymn of
thanksgiving to the Lord for listening to the cries of his servant. In our
Gospel text we see Jesus teaching the disciples how to pray and he gives
them the ‘Our Father.’ He goes on to tell them, through an example, that if
anyone calls on God their prayers will not go unanswered. All too often
people forget that ‘no’ is also an answer as is silence. In answering our
prayers the Lord does not always give us what we want because what we want
might not be what we need. St Paul tells us in the second reading that all
our sins have been wiped away because they have been nailed to the cross
with Christ whose sacrifice sets us free. No matter what we do we always
have the Lord on our side and he is ready to forgive our sins and to answer
our prayers whenever we turn to him in faith and trust.
Monday 26:
Memorial of Sts Joachim and
Anne, Parents of Our Lady*
Jeremiah
13:1-11; Psalm – Deuteronomy 32; Matthew 13:31-35
In our
first reading today from the Prophet Jeremiah, we see that the Lord is
dissatisfied with his people because they have not been faithful to him. He
likens them to a rotting linen cloth which is good for nothing and which
eventually decays to nothing. It is possible that Jeremiah is referring to
the Babylonian captivity where the people would go into exile near the river
Euphrates. The Psalm, taken from Deuteronomy, continues this theme – “You
forget the God who fathered you.” Again in the Gospel we see Jesus
speaking to the people through parables because there are those who do not
want to listen to his message and understand it. Those who do want to hear
the word and believe will easily understand the meaning of the message and
conform their lives to the truth, unlike the people in the first reading.
Tuesday 27:
Of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time
Jeremiah
14:17-22; Psalm 78; Matthew 13:36-43
In the
reading from Jeremiah we read that the southern kingdom of Judah has been
stricken with a drought because the people were unfaithful to the covenant.
The people need food and call on God to be merciful to them and to end the
drought. The people gather in Jerusalem for a penitential service in which
they acknowledge that their sins have caused the drought. In the Gospel,
Christ tells us that on judgement day those who have not lived according to
the will of God will be weeded out just as the darnel is weeded out and
burned. Unlike the people in the first reading, we are called on to be
faithful to God in good times as well as in bad.
In
Carmelite Churches:
July 27:
Memorial of Blessed Titus Brandsma, Carmelite Priest & Martyr*
Wednesday
28:
Of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time
Jeremiah
15:10, 16-21; Psalm 58; Matthew 13:44-46
The prophet
Jeremiah in our first reading realises that the message he preaches is a
difficult one, one of dissention and one which has separated Jeremiah from
his people and given him a sense of isolation. God however, tells him to be
faithful and he will strengthen him against those who do not wish to listen
to him or his message. It is a reminder that, even in our day, following our
Christian vocation is not always an easy one but that God is always with us
to strengthen and guide us. Christ tells us in the Gospel that the kingdom
of heaven is a treasure beyond all price. We are called on to be like the
prophet Jeremiah, to preach the Gospel of Christ no matter what the personal
cost to us, knowing that there is nothing more valuable in this life than
eternal life with God in the next.
Thursday
29:
Memorial of St Martha*
1John
4:7-16; Psalm 33; John 11:19-27 (or Luke 10:38-42)
The first
reading from St John’s first letter speaks of love – love for God and love
for others. Love was also a characteristic of Martha. We have two images of
Martha presented to us in the Gospels. The first is from St Luke in which
see Martha rushing about the house when our Lord arrives. She becomes
annoyed because her sister, Mary, is sitting listening to Christ rather than
looking after him. When she complains about this, Jesus tells us to stop
worrying and to sit in his presence and listen as her sister is doing. In
the second image, this time from St John’s Gospel, we are presented with the
arrival of Jesus at the tomb of his friend Lazarus. Martha greets him while
Mary stays indoors. Martha says that if Christ had come sooner her brother
would not have died but that whatever Christ asks of the Father will happen.
When asked if she believed that Christ was the resurrection and the life,
Martha answers that she does and that she believes him to be the Christ, the
Son of God. This is the faith to which we are all called to profess and to
show in our lives through love of God and neighbour.
Friday 30:
Of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time
Jeremiah
26:1-9; Psalm 68; Matthew 13:54-58
We see
Jeremiah in the first reading preaching the word of God in the Temple. He
tells the people that if they are not more faithful to God that God would
destroy the Temple built by Solomon. This was blasphemous for the people who
nearly rioted but Jeremiah reminds them that this happened before at Shiloh
when the Lord allowed that most sacred of places to be destroyed by the
enemies of Israel. In the Gospel, we see Jesus being rejected by his own
people because they think they know him just because he is from their
district. In both readings the people had little faith and so the word of
God could do no work in them. If we are not open to the word of God then it
will not work in us either.
Saturday
31:
Memorial of St Ignatius of
Loyola, Priest*
Jeremiah
26:11-16, 24; Psalm 68; Matthew 14:1-12
The
authorities wish to kill Jeremiah in the first reading because they did not
like his message. He had predicted that God would destroy his own Temple in
Jerusalem because of the sins of the nation. He tells the people that even
if they kill him the message will be carried by others and it will never die
because the message he brings are God’s own words. In the Gospel, we read of
the beheading of John the Baptist for the sake of a foolish promise. The
truth of the message and its constancy is put before us today and we are
called on to believe it as the people did in the time of Jeremiah after they
heard him speak.
Memorials this Week:
July 26:
Memorial of Saints Joachim & Anne, Parents of Our Lady
These are the names traditionally
given to the parents of Our Lady, though nothing is known about them. St
Anne is the Patron Saint of Canada, women in labour, miners, cabinet-makers
and home-makers.
July 27:
Memorial of Blessed Titus Brandsma, Carmelite Priest & Martyr
Born at Bolsward (The
Netherlands) in 1881, Blessed Titus Brandsma joined the Carmelite Order as a
young man. Ordained priest in 1905, he obtained a doctorate in philosophy in
Rome. He then taught in various schools in Holland and was named professor
of philosophy and of the history of mysticism in the Catholic University of
Nijmegen where he also served as Rector Magnificus. He was noted for his
constant availability to everyone. He was a professional journalist, and in
1935 he was appointed ecclesiastical advisor to Catholic journalists.
During the
1930's he visited Ireland and stayed in Kinsale with the Carmelite Community
there to improve his English before giving a series of lectures in the
United States.
Both before and
during the Nazi occupation of The Netherlands he fought, faithful to the
Gospel, against the spread of the Nazi ideology and for the freedom of
Catholic education and the Catholic press. For this he was arrested and sent
to a succession of prisons and concentration camps where he brought comfort
and peace to his fellow prisoners, even doing good to his tormentors. In
1942, after much suffering and humiliations, he was killed at Dachau. He was
beatified by John Paul II on November 3rd, 1985.
July 29:
Memorial of St Martha
Little is known about Martha other
than what is recounted in the Gospels. She was the sister of Lazarus and a
friend of the Lord.
July 31:
Memorial of St Ignatius of Loyola, Priest
Born in 1491 in Loyola of noble
stock, Ignatius became a soldier. Having been wounded in battle against the
French, Ignatius began reading sacred texts while he was recovering from his
injuries. He became a priest and began founding the Society of Jesus (the
Jesuits) in 1534. He died in 1556.
©
P. Breen, O.Carm. 2002-2010
The Holy Father’s Intentions for this
month
General Liturgical Calendar
for Ireland
(in PDF)
Carmelite Liturgical Calendar
The Seasons of the Church’s Year
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