Thoughts on the Gospel Reading for July 1, 2018

"The woman who touched the hem of his garment" past Harold Copping (1863-1932)

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time—July 1, 2018
Readings: Wis 1:13-15; 2:23-24 ● 2 Cor 8:7, 9, 13-15 ● Mk 5:21-43
 http://usccb.org/bible/readings/070118.cfm

The gracious act of Christ, emptying himself for usa.
In the liturgy today, we are given a word from the Book of Wisdom that faces, head on, the ultimate human question of death, and God's relationship to it. The response could not be more blunt: "God did not make expiry." What God does is create. He makes life and offers love that makes "life worth living," every bit Bishop Sheen so famously put it. God: "fashioned all things that they might take being" and has formed us to exist "imperishable." That is God's program. Period.

Of course, there is death and destruction of being all around usa. Where is God? What is His response? St. Paul gives us a clue in the 2d reading. He urges the Corinthians that while they excel in faith, discourse, knowledge and beloved, that they might also excel in "this gracious act also." What is the gracious act? "This gracious human activity" must be getting close to the core of what makes all the departure in our Christian vision. Indeed it is the core. St. Paul immediately describes the "gracious act" initiated by Christ that "though he was rich, he became poor for our sakes." The gracious act is God's own free pick to let become, every bit it were, of the richness of his divinity and empty himself, condign a slave, taking on human flesh for those of us who are threatened by sin and death.

By looking at the person of Jesus, nosotros see the ability of God going out from himself—out from his transcendence, so that he can be close to his people, close to the broken-hearted, close to the poor, the minor, the weak. That's what God does. In the person of Jesus, we run into a glimpse of that same power of God, that has goose egg to do with decease, and everything to practice with life. In today'southward Gospel, while responding in the affirmative to the plea to go to heal the girl of Jairus, Jesus shows his instinctive desire to bring life. While he is on his style to Jairus' house, another run into happens that reveals the aforementioned truth most the power of God'southward life flowing through Jesus. Information technology is unique among the Gospel accounts of Jesus' encounters with the ill, the blind, and the lame.

As the adult female suffering with the hemorrhages makes a desperate endeavor to reach out to touch Jesus' cloak, she has a single-hearted desire for healing to come to her from one she believes has that power. Her weakness meets Jesus' power, and in that meeting, a transformation occurs. St. Marker describes the unusual nature of the healing: "Jesus, enlightened at one time that power had gone out from him" looks around to discover out who had received that power of life and healing. He seeks to personalize what had happened in an evidently automatic manner. "The woman, realizing what had happened to her…" then sought to arroyo Jesus, though she did then with "fear and trembling." Both Jesus and the woman seek to make personal the encounter that had happened unconsciously. Upon their face-to-face coming together, Jesus confirms her non only as a person who has been healed, but as i who has been given a renewed identity: "Girl, your faith has saved y'all." Not only does Jesus overcome the chasm of isolation she experienced as ane who is suffering, but he draws her into a new identity, every bit a beloved girl of his Father. Not only is her "being" refashioned, as the Volume of Wisdom describes it, but a new identity is given her.

This is to exist the pattern of the Church building, as well. We are to, outset, be the beneficiaries of Christ'due south gracious human activity: he empties himself, becoming one with us so that we might become one with him in eternity. In one case we accept received this "gracious deed" of Christ, we in turn, as members of his body, are to perform that gracious act ourselves in the world effectually u.s.a.. A question for u.s.a. today might be: how prepared am I to let go of my riches, becoming poor for the sake of those in demand? How might I take office in the "gracious act" of Christ's self-elimination beloved for the sake of people similar united states of america who don't seem to deserve it?

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14th Sunday in Ordinary Time—July 8, 2018
Readings: Ez 2:ii-five; ● two Cor 12:7-ten ● Mk 6:1-half dozen
http://usccb.org/bible/readings/070818.cfm

Being opened to receiving the Word made mankind in the Eucharist
In the Jewish and Christian traditions, i of the most potent images used for understanding God's human relationship to his people is that God speaks his Word to us in a way that has organic effects. The Discussion of God is often likened to a seed that is planted in the soil. Jesus himself, of grade, offers the "Parable of the Sower." The sower is eager to sow the seed. He is non stingy with information technology. At that place is not a limited supply. But information technology depends a great bargain on the nature of the soil, if that seed is going to have root. Much of salvation history, in fact, is characterized by the lack of receptivity of the people of God to listening to the Word of God. There is a lack of receptivity, a hardness of eye, in the human person. The soil in which the seed of God's Word is planted is often too dry out and rocky for annihilation to abound. As the Lord sends his prophets out, they are fully enlightened of what they are up confronting. In the case of Ezekiel, in today'south reading in the liturgy, the Lord warns the one whom he is asking to proclaim his Discussion. "Hard of face up and obstinate of heart are they to whom I am sending you…Just you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord God! And whether they heed or resist—for they are a rebellious house—they shall know that a prophet has been amid them." Even if the soil is rocky, and doesn't seem like information technology will be receptive to the seed of the Word, the sower continues to sow.

One way or some other, it is the will of the Lord to have his Word heard, to have the seed of his word take root so that it can bear fruit. Just the only fashion this can happen, is if there is an opening in the soil, a break in the encrusted surface of the homo centre, into which that seed can fall, become enveloped, and begin to grow. St. Paul points to this reality in more direct linguistic communication in today's readings. He notes, "Power is fabricated perfect in weakness." In the Christian vision, God looks very different, and and so does the perfection of the human person. Power and fulfillment come not from what we remember of as strength, every bit characterized by individual chapters to have care of everything on 1's ain. What looks similar weakness turns out to exist strength, when we look at the person of Jesus. What seems similar defeat on the cross, turns out to exist victory. It turns out to be the fullness of the expression of God's power. Because God's ability, at the cadre, is dearest and nothing else.

Some of this confusion shows through in today's Gospel reading. In the form of people'south listening to Jesus, preaching with neat dominance, they enquire a question: "Where did this man get all this?… Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary…" This otherwise unimpressive speaker is speaking words that seem to bear bully authority, peachy power. And precisely because of his lack of outward authority, the people are rattled. Indeed, the gospel recounts, "They took offense at him." At the same fourth dimension, the crowd is both dismissive of Jesus, and threatened by him.

As a result of the people'due south own confusion and reluctance to be open to Jesus' words, "he was non able to perform any mighty human action there." Only those who were in demand could receive what he had to give. The obstinate received nothing. Here, it seems, is the crux of the invitation for us in today'south liturgy, particularly as we come forward from this moment of hearing the Word. If we have heard with the open ears of the eye, our hearts are prepared in openness to receive the fullness of the Give-and-take made mankind in the Eucharist. God'southward speech communication of hope becomes God's activeness of dearest. It is only for us to recognize our need for this hope, for this love which but the Lord can give, coming forward with open hands and open hearts to say in bang-up gratitude, "Amen."

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15th Sunday in Ordinary Time—July 15, 2018
Readings: Am 7:12-xv ● Eph ane:3-14 ● Mk 6:7-13
http://usccb.org/bible/readings/071518.cfm

Preaching a discussion that liberates
Yesterday was Guardhouse Day. Over ii centuries ago, this pregnant moment in western history is frequently seen as a symbol of the beginning of liberty—liberty of the common man from the coercion and domination of the absolutist monarch, likewise as from the oppressive tradition and authority of the Church. This rebellion was a central moment in the history of the French Revolution. Only, this marking of liberation from political oppression has as well been associated with a radical secularizing impulse nowadays in European culture ever since. In this notion of the man condition, homo should ultimately be costless, not but from the State and the Church, simply even from the authority of God, in lodge to be truly complimentary.

All the same, we too know that certain kinds of freedom very quickly lead a person directly dorsum into slavery when this liberty is exercised in isolation, for the sake of self-involvement lonely. Since the French Revolution, a crucial mistake has been made in western thought that confuses these varying manifestations of liberty. We are reminded, in today's liturgy, of the distinction between these notions of freedom, especially in low-cal of our ultimate liberty experienced only from inside the identity of the children of God.

We are given a model of what this liberty entails in the first reading today. The prophet, Amos, experiences his call from the Lord, which is not easy to respond to simply which he does with great courage. Threatened past his message of repentance and justice for the near vulnerable in their society, the male monarch bans Amos from preaching in Bethel, the place of the king's sanctuary. Amos responds in humility that highlights the paradox of what true dominance and truthful freedom look similar. He demurs, "But I am just a shepherd and dresser of sycamores." In all simplicity and humility, he admits his station in club. Yet, precisely in this humility, the greatness of God's authorisation can shine through well-nigh perfectly. These are not his ain ideas, nor his ain ability, that he asserts, simply rather nothing more, and nada less, than the sovereignty and truth of God alone.

In the reading from the Letter of the alphabet to the Ephesians, nosotros are confronted with the reality that we have been chosen "before the foundation of the earth, to be adopted children" of God the Father. As such, nosotros are in a position to receive a divine inheritance. Of course, nosotros receive this inheritance through no merit of our own. It is freely given considering of the family into which nosotros are born. We do not take the authority to select our families. They are given to us, as we are given to them. The aforementioned is true of our ultimate, spiritual family that is given life, and formed, by our heavenly Father. These familial relationships are given, and the truth of who we are comes, not when we determine our own fates, merely when we freely, humbly, and gratefully abide from inside these relationships. From within these sets of relations, nosotros find the truth of our identities and ultimately, our truthful freedom.

Providing a kind of orientation for usa in this truthful identity of ours, Jesus reveals his ultimate Lordship, over both physical and spiritual reality, to his apostles in today'south Gospel. In sending the twelve in pairs to cast out unclean spirits, he gives them a share in that authority and mission, given him by the Begetter, in guild to do his Lordship over cosmos and human history. Curiously, the apostles are sent on this mission, being both poor and without the possibility of being self-reliant. They are assured that what they might achieve is done and so, non by any merit of their own, only just by the grace of God working through them. In their obedience to this call—extended to them in order to share in the mission of the Son who freely obeys the Father—we are given models of what it looks like to live in true freedom, rather than some truncated version that mod secular culture insists upon.
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16th Dominicus in Ordinary Fourth dimension—July 22, 2018
Readings: Jer 23:1-6 ● Eph ii:13-18 ● Mk 6:30-34
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/072218.cfm

The lost brought abode.
The prophet Jeremiah speaks a discussion of woe in today's reading. He reprimands those shepherds who atomic number 82 their flocks astray, away from the pastures where real nourishment is to be had. He laments the effect of this misleading, namely, that there are now those who find themselves far abroad from God, and from the fullness of life. But, the Lord speaks through Jeremiah, proverb that in that location is no need to despair, for "I myself will gather the remnant of my flock." Where shepherds have failed in their responsibilities, the Lord himself volition step in, providing the care needed for the sheep. This is what is in the Lord's eye. Though he chooses to rely on people like the states to offering pastoral care to his people, he continues the work himself when we fail. He finds new means to feed his flock. He is relentless in his care for his people.

The liturgy of the Give-and-take this week focuses on this reality of humanity's separation from God, and the nature of God's response to "gather the remnant" back to him. In the second reading, from the Alphabetic character to the Ephesians (and to us today), nosotros hear how we "who in one case were far off, have go near by the blood of Christ." Ultimately, this is the act of God, wherein He fulfills what he said to Jeremiah: "I myself will get together the remnant of my flock." St. Paul's letter goes on to describe how it is the cantankerous of Jesus Christ that "puts enmity to expiry." Death, of course, is that ultimate distancing and separation which causes suffering in our human being condition. How is it that our separation from God is a separation that tin be traversed only by the cross? How are we brought back to God precisely by the "expiry of God," in Jesus Christ? Nosotros are brought dorsum by the claret of Christ. That is to say, it is only by the ultimate and perfect act of dear by God, who is love itself that, in Christ, God gives away everything he'due south got—his whole cocky, his whole middle that is pierced—in order to draw united states of america dorsum to himself. It is from this heart, this source of dearest from which this blood and life flow, overcoming the chasm of decease that would otherwise separate us from God.

In the Gospel for today, we get a glimpse of Jesus' own agreement of this mystery, and his intentionality about bringing about this reunion of humanity with God. Every bit he had gone away to residue, to exist with his Father, the people who are in need follow him to the place of his seclusion. As he disembarks from the boat, we hear, "his heart was moved with pity for them for they were like sheep without a shepherd." Jesus, the Proficient Shepherd—who is and then dissimilar from those simulated shepherds that Jeremiah warned about in the first reading—sees in the people before him, those who are "far off." It is his desire to bring them back "near" to his Father. In proceeding to perform the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves, he provides, as it turns out, a foreshadowing of what he will offer at the Terminal Supper, wherein he will give, as a free gift, his own torso and blood for the disciples to be nourished. This Eucharistic gift, that is hinted at in the multiplication of the loaves, and that volition be offered on Holy Thursday, will exist itself an anticipation of the sacrifice he will brand the side by side day on the cross on Calvary. In his gift of himself on the Cross, the blood he will cascade out will go the ways of our ain reconciliation, our own coming dorsum near to the Male parent. It is precisely in this Eucharistic mystery that nosotros are being drawn right into the middle of this season of ordinary time. We brainstorm to encounter what God promised so many centuries earlier in his discussion to Jeremiah, promising that he himself will "gather the remnant of my flock."

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17th Sunday in Ordinary Time—July 29, 2018
Readings: 2 Kgs 4:42-44 ● Eph 4:ane-six ● Jn 6:ane-15
http://usccb.org/bible/readings/072918.cfm

Hunger satisfied
The culmination of every celebration of the Eucharist is the receptive human action of being fed by God. We come to the Mass non primarily to gain insights almost life, though these might exist given forth the way. The source and acme of our lives as Christians are not only a cognitive, or even purely spiritual activity, just a actual one, every bit well. We are non primarily looking for new cognition. Nosotros seek a satisfaction of our hunger. It is this hunger that the words of Scripture enquire us to reflect upon today.

In the first reading from the Second Book of Kings, nosotros see the great prophet, Elisha, who is living in the midst of not bad trial. He is witnessing the breakdown Israel due, in big part, to the infidelity of their leaders. Notably, the more the kings are unfaithful, the more than the people terminate up suffering. There is a series of stories contained in this section about the poor existence on the brink of starvation. However, through the prophet Elisha, they are reminded, over again and over again, that trust in their God is all that is required, no matter how bleak things outset to expect. It is a fourth dimension of desolation for the people of Israel, specially the poor, and this pathos is represented concretely in the experience of the great prophet existence on the brink of starvation. In the midst of this, a man comes to Elisha setting before him a few loaves of bread. Elisha responds saying he ought to give it to the crowds who are hungry, for: "They shall swallow and in that location shall be some left over." Though it seemed like it wouldn't be enough, when the loaves were given, the people, of form, had been fed and, indeed, "there was some left over, equally the Lord had said."

The Gospel account of the feeding of the five thousand represents a kind of fulfillment of what is prefigured in the Elisha story. It is itself a pre-figuration of the Eucharist that he would found at the Last Supper, in which nosotros still participate on a daily basis in the Church in every corner of the world today. Indicating that the Passover is near, we are given a hint that the re-signifying of the Passover, that Jesus will initiate the night before his Passion, is beginning to unfold, is beingness anticipated, even at present. Taking up the 5 loaves and ii fish, which come from the people assembled in that location, he immediately gives thanks to his Father, just as the priest does every twenty-four hour period at the beginning of the liturgy of the Eucharist. The abundance of the Male parent'south goodness is revealed in the fragments left over after the five thousand had eaten.

In case we are not getting the pic through these concrete stories of the hungry beingness fed, we are given a blunt theological truth right in the midst of the liturgy of the Word. The psalm today reiterates this truth, equally the whole congregation proclaims: "The hand of the Lord feeds usa; he answers all our needs." That sounds similar a nice sentiment, simply information technology points to a more than difficult truth. It is the hand of the Lord, non our own hand, that is able to feed. We are unable to feed ourselves on our own. This is the truth of our existence. It is what it means to be a child of God, which is the "call we have received" that Paul refers to in the epistle. In club that we might deepen that sensibility of the ultimate truth of our beingness, it is necessary that, on a day-to-day basis, we practise living out of this truth in our ordinary relationships. He urges that we "deport with one some other" with great humility, gentleness, and patience. Existence fed by the Lord has consequences on a social plane, every bit well. We must bear with i another because we are in this together. God desires to relieve u.s. together. Nosotros do not have the liberty to cast aside those who are inconvenient or even annoying. This is office of our poverty that we realize in ordinary, daily living. Nosotros are e'er poor. We are always hungry. It is merely the Lord who tin, and will, feed us, together.

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Source: https://www.hprweb.com/2018/06/homilies-for-july-2018/

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