Jeremiah 26:1-9 / Matthew 13:54-58
Jeremiah prophesies trouble:The people threatened
Jeremiah.
18 Sunday A - Liturgical Prayers
Greeting (See First Reading)
Introduction by the Celebrant (Two Options)
The Lord invites us:
Listen to me
and you will have good things to eat
and rich food to enjoy.
May the Lord nourish you with his body
and may he always be with you.
Listen to me
and you will have good things to eat
and rich food to enjoy.
May the Lord nourish you with his body
and may he always be with you.
St. Martha - Jul 29
St. Martha
Martha was born of noble and wealthy parents, but she is
still more illustrious for the hospitality she gave to Christ our Lord. After
His Ascension into heaven, she was seized by the Jews, together with her
brother and sister, Marcella her handmaid, and Maximin, one of the seventy-two
disciples of our Lord, who had baptized the whole family, and many other
Christians. They were put on board a ship without sails or oars, and left
helpless on the open sea, exposed to certain shipwreck. But God guided the
ship, and they all arrived safely at Marseilles.
17th Week: July 27- August 1 - Reflections
July 27 Monday: Mt
13:31-35: 31 Another parable he put before them, saying, “The
kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in
his field; 32 it is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is the
greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and
make nests in its branches.” 33 He told them another parable.
17th Week, Monday, Jul 27
Jeremiah 13:1-11 / Matthew 13:31-35
God talks about his people: "I made them cling to
me closely."
One approach to prayer is to get in touch with
ourselves before trying to get in touch with God. For example, we sit in a
chair and relax. We become aware of our clothes gripping our shoulders, legs,
arms. We feel the chair gripping our body, shoes gripping our feet. When we are
in touch with ourselves, we then try getting in touch with God. For example, we
pray to God like this:
17 Sunday A - Liturgical Prayers
Greeting (See Second Reading)
God chose us specially long ago
and destined us to become true images of his Son,
so that Jesus might be the eldest
of many brothers and sisters.
May our brother Jesus be always with you.
and destined us to become true images of his Son,
so that Jesus might be the eldest
of many brothers and sisters.
May our brother Jesus be always with you.
17 Sunday A: The Hidden Treasure - Parables of the KOG
There is a price for relationship - Treasure Hidden Rabindra Nath Tagore, the mystic poet of India, tells a memorable story from his own life which illustrates the truth of what Jesus teaches in today’s gospel, namely, that there is a price we have to pay in order to be in his kingdom, to keep a relationship with him.
16th Week: July 20-25: - Reflections
July 20 Monday:
(St.
Apollinaris, Bishop, Martyr)
Mt 12:38-42: 38 Then
some of the scribes and Pharisees said to him, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign
from you.” 39 But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks
for a sign; but no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the
prophet Jonah. 40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly
of the whale, so will the Son of man be three days and three nights in the
heart of the earth. 41 The men of Nineveh will arise at the judgment
with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of
Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. 42 The queen of the
South will arise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she
came from the ends of the earth to hear the Wisdom of Solomon, and behold,
something greater than Solomon is here. USCCB video reflections: http://www.usccb.org/bible/reflections/index.cfm
16th Sunday: WHEAT & WEEDS: Notes on the Video
16th Sunday: WHEAT and WEEDS: Mt
13:24-43:
The Lord in Mathew’s “Kingdom of God” discourse speaks about
the seeds, soil, weeds, treasure and food for all (Eucharist) for four Sundays. That is the Word of God despite many oppositions, resistances, disturbances, persecutions would become food for the soul. Our sowing is o feed the spiritual hunger or the nourishment of the world.
15th Week, Saturday, Jul 18
Micah
2:1-5 / Matthew 12:14-21
Micah warns Judah: “What
you take will be taken from you.”
Micah
bears a striking resemblance to Amos. He preached around 700 B.C., just before
Assyria destroyed Israel in the north. Like Amos, who lived some 50 years
before him, he came from the vicinity of Bethlehem. Micah also spoke out in the
same blunt, unpolished way as did Amos. But where Amos preached to Israel, Micah
preached to Judah in the south.
15th Week, Friday, Jul 17
Isaiah 38:1-6, 21-22, 7-8 / Matthew 12:1-8
Hezekiah prays to God: God
answered his prayer.
Alexis
Carrel was a French physician who did much of his work in the United States. He
eventually won the Nobel prize for his contributions to the field of medicine. After
a period of religious doubt and skepticism, Carrel underwent a profound
conversion.
16 Sunday A: Wheat and Weeds - Stories & Reflection
Gospel text: Matthew 13:24-3
Michel DeVerteuil
General Comments
15th Week, Thursday, Jul 16
Isaiah 26:7-9, 12, 16-19 / Matthew 11:28-30
Isaiah holds out
hope:
Those sleeping in their graves will wake up.
After
the Titanic
sank in the North Atlantic, a newspaper carried two pictures side by side. The
first picture showed the ship’s side ripped open by the huge iceberg. Under it
was printed: “The weakness
of man, the supremacy of nature.” The second picture showed a passenger giving
his place in a lifeboat to a woman with a child in her arms. Under it was printed:
“The weakness of nature, the supremacy of man.” Isaiah sees the southern
kingdom in similar terms. By itself, it appears doomed and without hope. With
God’s help, however, it can rise from the grave and live again.
17th Week, Tuesday, July 26
17th Week, Tuesday, July 26
Exodus
33:7-11; 34:5-9, 28 / Matthew 13:36-43
Moses communicates with God; He talked to God as to another Person.
15th Week, Wednesday, Jul 15
Isaiah 10:5-7, 13-16 / Matthew 11:25-27
Isaiah rebukes
Assyria:
“Can an ax be greater than its user?”
The
nation of Assyria destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel. Now
it threatened to destroy the southern kingdom of Judah, as well. Isaiah
portrays Assyria as an ax in the hand of a woodsman (God) who was grubbing out
the undergrowth from his vineyard (Judah). God was using Assyria to purify
Judah. Meanwhile, Assyria grew arrogant, thinking that it alone was responsible
for its power and its victories. This led Isaiah to remind Assyria that without
the power of the woodsman’s arms the ax is useless.
15th Week: July 13-18: Reflections
July 13 Monday
(St. Henry): https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-henry/ Mt 10:34–11:1: 34 “Do not think
that I have come to bring peace on earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a
sword. 35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter
against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; 36 and a
man’s foes will be those of his own household. 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; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow
after me is not worthy of me.
15th Week, Tuesday, Jul 14
Isaiah 7:1-9 /
Matthew 11:20-24
God speaks through
Isaiah:
“If your faith is firm, you’ll be firm.”
Tennessee
Williams wrote a play called The
Night of the Iguana. In one scene Hannah Jelkes is talking to Mr.
Shannon, who seems to have a drinking problem. Hannah says, “Liquor isn’t your
problem, Mr. Shannon.” And, of course, Mr. Shannon says to Hannah, “Then what
is my problem?” Hannah says, “The oldest one in the world—the need to believe in
something or in someone—almost anyone—
almost anything . . . something.”
15TH Week, Monday, Jul 1
15th Week, Monday, July 11
Isaiah 1:10-17 / Matthew 10:34-11:1
Isaiah calls for reform: “Stop all this evil.”
German Church - Catholics Leaving
A "Francis bishop" in Germany says Church is becoming irrelevant
Bishop Heiner Wilmer says Catholicism must find alternative ways to 'radiate presence and charisma'
Bishop Heiner Wilmer of Hildesheim. (Photo by Moritz Frankenberg/dpa/MaxPPP)
Catholics in Germany formally left the Church in record numbers last year. The exact figure was 272,771 – a statistic recently confirmed by the national episcopal conference.
French Catholics issue call for Church reform
Prominent French Catholics issue call for Church reform
Michel Camdessus, former Vatican policymaker and IMF director, is editor of new e-book calling for a change in Catholicism according to the vision of Pope Francis
14th Week, Tuesday, July 5th
14th Week, Tuesday, July 5th
Hosea 8:4-7, 11-13 / Matthew 9:32-38
Hosea warns Israel: “Sow the wind; reap a storm.”
15th Sunday A: The Sower, the Seeds and Growth
Gospel text: Matthew 13:1-23
Michel DeVerteuil General Comments
On this and the next two Sundays we have parables of Jesus for our meditation so it would be good to remember the special characteristics of parabolic teaching.
14th Week Year 2: July 6-11:
July 6 Monday (St.
Maria Goretti, Virgin, Martyr): https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-maria-goretti/ Mt
9:18-26: 18 While he was thus speaking to them, behold, a ruler
came in and knelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died; but come and
lay your hand on her, and she will live.” 19 And Jesus rose and followed
him, with his disciples. 20 And behold, a woman who had suffered from a
hemorrhage for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his
garment; 21 for she said to herself, “If I only touch his garment, I shall be
made well.”
13th Week, Saturday, Jul 4th
Amos 9:11-15 / Matthew 9:14-17
Amos holds out hope to Israel: God said, “I will
rescue my people.”
If we refuse to breathe, the air doesn’t punish or
suffocate us. We punish or suffocate ourselves. If we beat our fist against a
brick wall, the brick wall doesn’t punish our fist by making it bleed. We
punish or bloody it ourselves. This may help us understand better the situation
between Israel and God.
14th Sunday A : Come to me all who are Burdened
Starters:
“Do you have any idea who I am?"
The Los Angeles Times published the story of a commercial airline flight cancellation which resulted in a long line of travelers trying to get bookings on another flight. One man in the line grew increasingly impatient with the slow-moving line. At last, he pushed his way to the front and angrily demanded a first-class ticket on the next available flight. "I’m sorry," said the ticket agent, “First I’ll have to take care of the people who were ahead of you in the line." The irate man then pounded his fist on the ticket counter, saying, "Do you have any idea who I am?" Whereupon, the ticket agent picked up the public address microphone and said, "Attention, please! There is a gentleman at the ticket counter who does not know who he is. If there is anyone in the airport who can identify him, please come to the counter." Hearing this, the man retreated, and the people waiting in line burst into applause. We are like this man. We have forgotten how to wait patiently. In today’s gospel, Jesus invites us to learn his meekness and humility. (Tony Kadavil)
St. Thomas Feast - Jul 3rd: Liturgy
Introduction
The gospel has some beautiful texts about St. Thomas. Not only the “My Lord and my God” after his doubt and hesitation to believe, but also “Let us too go and die with him,” and the question “Lord, we don’t know where you are going. How could we know the way?” And the Lord’s, “Happy are those who have not seen and yet believe.” Tradition has him go as far as Persia and the Malabar region in India, where the Christians are still called “the Christians of St. Thomas.”
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