Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 16, 2023

What words of Jesus have stayed with me, what words have not?

Matthew 13:1–23

On that day, Jesus went out of the house and sat down by the sea.

Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd stood along the shore. And he spoke to them at length in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep, and when the sun rose it was scorched, and it withered for lack of roots. Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it. But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold. Whoever has ears ought to hear.”

[The Purpose of Parables]
The disciples approached him and said, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” He said to them in reply, “Because knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been granted to you, but to them it has not been granted. To anyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is why I speak to them in parables, because ‘they look but do not see and hear but do not listen or understand.’ Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled in them, which says: ‘You shall indeed hear but not understand, you shall indeed look but never see.
Gross is the heart of this people,
they will hardly hear with their ears, they have closed their eyes,
lest they see with their eyes
and hear with their ears
and understand with their heart and be converted,
and I heal them.’

[The Privilege of Discipleship]
“But blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear. Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.

[The Explanation of the Parable of the Sower]
“Hear then the parable of the sower. The seed sown on the path is the one who hears the word of the kingdom without understanding it, and the evil one comes and steals away what was sown in his heart. The seed sown on rocky ground is the one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy. But he has no root and lasts only for a time. When some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, he immediately falls away. The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word, but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word and it bears no fruit. But the seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.”

Further study:

Matthew chapter 13 >> [usccb.org]

We will be reading this chapter in Matthew for this Sunday and the two following Sundays… The discourse in parables is the third great discourse of Jesus in Matthew and constitutes the second part of the third book of the gospel. Matthew follows the Marcan outline (Mk 4:1–35) but has only two of Mark’s parables, the five others being from Q and M. In addition to the seven parables, the discourse gives the reason why Jesus uses this type of speech (Mt 13:10–15), declares the blessedness of those who understand his teaching (Mt 13:16–17), explains the parable of the sower (Mt 13:18–23) and of the weeds (Mt 13:36–43), and ends with a concluding statement to the disciples (Mt 13:51–52).

Music Meditations

• “Lord, You Have the Words” (music by Tony Alonso) [YouTube]
• “Open My Eyes, Lord” (by Jesse Manibusan) [YouTube]
• “Psalm 19” (Acapeldridge) [YouTube]
• “The Lord Is My Light” (sung by The New Jerusalem Baptist Church Choir) [YouTube] (a long recording—10 minutes)
• “Be Thou My Vision” (sung by Nathan Pacheco) [YouTube]
• “Be Thou My Vision” (sung by 4Him) [YouTube] (a Celtic version)

Opening Prayer

Dear Lord: Open the eyes of my heart so that I both see and know how to find your wisdom and your hope in my everyday life. Help me to make space in my heart for the word of God. May I always seek your advice, even when my life is crowded with distractions and worries. Teach me the secrets of your Kingdom. Teach me how to be your disciple.

Companions for the Journey

In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus is portrayed as the New Moses, who has come to fulfill the law and the promise of the Jewish scriptures. There are five distinct teaching segments in the gospel, designed to make a direct reference to the five books of the Jewish Torah. The term Five Discourses of Matthew refers to five specific teaching occasions by Jesus within this gospel, and these discourses are used by Matthew to retell the entirety of the Old Testament, demonstrating that Christ is the fulfillment of all that was promised therein. The five discourses are listed as the following: the Sermon on the Mount (5-7), the Missionary Discourse, (10) the Parables of the Kingdom Discourse (13), the Discourse on the Church (18), and the Discourse on End Times (23-25). The parabolic discourse demonstrates how Jesus uses parables to get his message out to those who will hear.

The following commentary for preachers on today’s section of chapter 13 is from Elizabeth Johnson, Professor at Lutheran Seminary:

It is not difficult to find contemporary examples of the various responses to the word depicted in Jesus’ parable. Having the word choked out by “the cares of the world and the lure of wealth” seems to be a particular problem in North America. One should be careful, however, to avoid equating the various types of soil with a particular person or group, and especially to avoid equating oneself or one’s community with the good soil.

If we are honest with ourselves, we can probably find evidence of several kinds of soil in our lives and in our congregations on any given day. It is noteworthy that Jesus does not use the parable to exhort hearers to “be good soil,” as though we could make that happen. If there is any hope for the unproductive soil, it is that the sower keeps sowing generously, extravagantly, even in the least promising places. Jesus’ investment in his disciples shows that he simply will not give up on them, in spite of their many failings. We trust that he will not give up on us either, but will keep working on whatever is hardened, rocky, or thorny within and among us. We trust in his promise to be with us to the end of the age.

As those entrusted with Jesus’ mission today, we might consider the implications of this parable for how we engage in mission. Too often we play it safe, sowing the word only where we are confident it will be well received, and only where those who receive it are likely to become contributing members of our congregations. In the name of stewardship, we hold tightly to our resources, wanting to make sure that nothing is wasted. We stifle creativity and energy for mission, resisting new ideas for fear they might not work – as though mistakes or failure were to be avoided at all costs.

Jesus’ approach to mission is quite at odds with our play-it-safe instincts. He gives us freedom to take risks for the sake of the gospel. He endorses extravagant generosity in sowing the word, even in perilous places. Though we may wonder about the wisdom or efficiency of his methods, Jesus promises that the end result will be a bumper crop.

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

Whoever has ears ought to hear.

Living the Good News

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion?

Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow:

Reflection Questions

• What kind of heart/mind does it take to understand the parables?
• Are there parts of my heart that are open/welcome to God’s word?
  Are there parts of my heart that find certain parts of the word of God more difficult?
• Are there some teachings that I just cannot get on board with?
• Has there ever been a teaching/command of Jesus that took a long time to grow in my heart?
• Have there ever been projects about which I was enthusiastic initially, but languished after I got bored or distracted?
• Do we sometimes get so tired of hearing the same old things from friends, family, God that we eventually stop listening?
• Do I feel fortunate to have been exposed in a deeper way to the teachings of Jesus, either through prayer, or through a reading or discussion group?
• Who have been the moral advisors in my life?
  Have I dismissed them out of hand?
  Have I responded by taking their words to heart?
  Have I outgrown their teaching/world view?
• What does it mean to me to have “ears to hear”?
• How receptive is my heart at this moment to learn, to grow, to change?
  Which is the hardest to do?
• Has there ever been a time when I heard the message of Christ, but let it lie on the edge of my consciousness where it withered?
  Did I say that I had “outgrown” it?
• Do I share Jesus’ optimism about the Kingdom?
• Do I get discouraged when my do not bear fruit?
  How does “herd mentality” affect my decisions?
• Have I ever planted a seed of wisdom in someone else’s heart and help him/her with discernment?
  How did it make me feel?
• Have the four stalking horses of defeat (skeptical observations, cynical comments, despairing attitudes or unkind words) ever caused my faith or my optimism to wither and die? Have I ever spoken in such ways and thus discouraged another’s optimism or faith?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions:

This parable contain the four outcomes of the breaking of God’s word in our lives.

Sometimes, God’s message gets destroyed by our culture or our own selfishness so that it never had a chance to thrive. When in my life have I simply brushed off the teaching of Jesus before really listening because it did not fit my world view or my lifestyle?

Other times, God’s message falls on rocky ground, where the roots are not strong enough to sustain it. How many times have I embarked on a promise or obligation, but did not follow through because my heart was not really into it?

Again, God’s message could also fall among thorns which choke out God’s words. How often have my own good intentions gotten lost in the din of the conflicting messages the world has to offer?

And finally, God’s word falls on deep rich soil, where they take root and grow into something truly wonderful. When in my life have I experienced the satisfaction and joy of seeing my life or that of another completely turn around because the message of Jesus got through and actually blossomed?

Think of a time in which God was speaking to you in the events of your life. Were you aware of it at the time? How did you respond? What words of Jesus have actually taken root in your life, and which are struggling to survive?

A Meditation in the Ignatian Style/Imagination:

Adapted from “Sacred Space”, a service of the Irish Jesuits:

I allow my imagination to dwell with the scene that Jesus presents, picturing the growth, identifying threats to it. I take care not to allow the weeds and barrenness to dominate but accept that God pictures a flourishing harvest and never gives up that hope for me.

As I think of myself as the field in which the word of God is scattered, I may recognize the barren places, the dry patches and the fertile parts. To which do I pay attention? I take some time to appreciate where God’s word has found a root in me and I ask God’s help to remain open to such seed as may be scattered again today.

I read this passage slowly as if I am looking at the mirror of my heart. I probably discover that I have at different moments all the four reactions Jesus describes in the parable. I ask myself how I can grow in my freedom to accept God’s word to me, precisely where the challenge is greatest.

A Meditation in the Augustinian Style/Relationship:

Psalm 65 is a great hymn of praise, marveling that God hears our prayers, that God answers our prayers, and that God’s grace is visited upon the earth resulting in abundance. Think of things you have prayed for. Have your prayers been answered? In the way you expected or in some greater way? Then look at the world around you. What examples do you find of God’s enrichment of the earth? Take a walk, just concentrating on the beauty of God’s ongoing care for the natural world. Write your own psalm of thanksgiving, using the insights you have gathered from your meditations.

Poetic Reflection:

Here, in a poem by Father Ed Ingebretsen, S.J., is a commentary/meditation on the parables of Jesus:

“The Jesus Prayer” (II)

Jesus taught in parables
and made geography
our greatest—
the precise placing of God
astride the master boat
disarming the wind
riding the road into rock
shaping the one word
needed to free death.

In parables
of ropes, nets and fish,
in the tangle of catching
and feeding, in sowing,
in graces of going
to hear stones sing lakeside—here
Jesus took our name
and wore it
like a fine love.
This, his
major parable.

Closing Prayer

Dear Lord, this is a message of hope for us all. Our hearts contain all four sorts of ground, being more or less open to what your told us so long ago and what you are telling me now. We need to focus on all of the places in our hearts and the hearts of others where your word has taken root. Keep me from discouragement when I see that your words have not borne fruit, either in my own soul or in the world at large. Give me the eyes to see where good things are happening and help me to be optimistic about the future of my own life and the life of this planet

Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 9, 2023

God will help us with the burdens we carry in this life

Matthew 11:25–30

At that time Jesus said in reply, “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.

“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”

Music Meditations

• “Ubi Caritas” (Taizé) [YouTube]
• “Come to Me” (by Aaron Shust) [YouTube]
• “I Have Loved You” (by Michael Joncas) [YouTube]
• “On Eagle’s Wings” (by Michael Joncas and Craig Kingsbury) [YouTube]
• “The Ground” (“Pleni sunt caeli”) (composed by Ola Gjeilo)

Opening Prayer

I ask, Lord, for the grace to be among the little ones, able to thank you for your greatness and to wonder at your love for me. Give me, as well, the grace to recognize my own arrogance and exaggerated sense of self-worth based upon what I know or my position in life. Help me to be open to your invitation to lay down my burdens and rest in the peace of your presence in my life. Help me to be a place of refuge for others who are burdened at this time with worry or grief. Give me your compassionate heart.

Companions for the Journey

From “First Impressions” 2023, a service of the Southern Dominican Province:

There is a tone of mystery in the opening verse of today’s gospel as Jesus praises God for having, “hidden these things from the wise and learned....” What does he mean and why would God do that? Jesus has just finished speaking to his disciples – the “little ones.” They have received his message and are about to go out to spread it. The gospel begins with verse 25, but it always helps to check the context from which a passage is taken. Looking back at the sequence leading up to today’s passage we notice: John the Baptist is in prison (11:2) and Jesus responds to criticism against himself with the complaint that his generation acts like finicky and self-willed children (vs. 16-19), who want things their way and no other. Both John and Jesus just haven’t conformed to the people’s expectations about what God’s salvation should look like. So, Jesus accuses them of being stubborn. He tells them that they are never satisfied: they didn’t accept a strict John the Baptist, nor a freer Jesus, who opened his arms to sinners and sat at table with those beyond the religious pale.

It’s obvious that finicky religious people didn’t just exist 2,000 years ago! People (us too?) never seem satisfied with the way the church and local parish are. There is always much to criticize and we have plenty of excuses to hold back fuller participation. It’s possible though, that our closer involvement might help the community and the leadership we criticize become a better reflection of Christian living and worship. Or, are we also guilty of Jesus’ charge against the stubborn generation? It’s true we don’t have a perfect church, or world. So, what are we going to do about it? One response, in the light of today’s gospel, is to pray for a deeper commitment and response to Christ and to ask to be open to the revelation he has for us this day. How can we be less stubborn and more fully responsive to his invitation, “Come to me...”?

We learn still more about today’s gospel by looking back to what leads up to it. Jesus has met rejection in Galilee by a stubborn generation. Hostility is growing, particularly from the religious leaders, the very ones who, if they had accepted him, could have promoted his message to the ordinary people. Jesus hoped for a better response to his ministry, how hard it must have been for him to see his project of spreading the good news thwarted. From this point in Matthew’s gospel those who accept Jesus are fewer in number. It looks like the result of his work is on a downward curve. Nevertheless, what sounds mysterious to us is that he gives thanks to God for those few who are receiving him and his message. He isn’t focused on the many who are rejecting, but on the few who are accepting him. They are the ones he calls, the “little ones” – little in religious and social importance, and little/few in numbers.

In his prayer, Jesus shows his acceptance of God’s plan. The episode opens with, “at that time....” What time is that? It is the time when: Jesus’ Galilean ministry is facing the population’s rejection and his message (”these things”) is “hidden...from the wise and learned.” But the “little ones,” who know nothing about the fine points of theology and few things of religion, who are considered unclean and sinners by the establishment – they get the message. They hear what it offers, God’s grace for them through Jesus, and they accept it. The sinners, prostitutes and tax collectors, who don’t even know religious law, much less keep it, are the ones to receive forgiveness and welcome at Jesus’ table.

There are “little ones” a preacher meets along the way. Some may be very educated, others may not have much education, or sophistication in religious matters. But they do seem to have grasped the essence, or heart of Jesus’ teachings. They possess a wisdom, given them through their life experience which enables them, as if by second nature: to know right from wrong; respond heroically to those in need; make large sacrifices of time, energy and money for their families and community and take the side of the outsider, poor and vulnerable. Jesus says, “No one knows the Son except the Father and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal God.” When we meet a “little one,” we sense they “know” Jesus and his Father in a unique and intimate way. These are the kind of people over whom Jesus rejoices today, they are the gifts God gave to Jesus in his lifetime and continues to give now. For them, then and now, Jesus is most grateful and filled with joy, even though he has plenty of reason to be disappointed in the response he is getting more and more from his contemporaries.

Today we sense the relationship Jesus has with his Father. When he talks about “knowing” the Father and “knowing” Jesus, he is talking about knowledge in the biblical sense. While we know topics by studying and though we can even know a person by reading and getting information about him or her, to “know” someone in the bible is to have an experience of them. So God’s knowledge of Jesus is very personal and direct, as is Jesus’ knowledge of God. Jesus says to his disciples, the “little ones,” by their coming to know him, they now know God. They know, through Jesus, that the Father has the same concern and love for us that Jesus showed. We too “know” God because of the life Jesus has lived for us and the relationship he offers us. There is an equality between Jesus and his Father, they know each other intimately and are working “hand in glove” together for our well being.

Religion could be a terrible burden for the unlettered and untutored of Jesus’ day. So much to know and, for desperately poor peasants, so little leisure time to learn. For those who were burdened by the guilt incurred by numerous violations of religious law, the “yoke” Jesus offers is his own “yoke.” It is rest and welcome for the religious outsider. The very ones religion considers unworthy of God are the ones Jesus is reaching out to welcome, “Come to me all who labor and are burdened....Take my yoke....” What book would someone study who wants to follow Jesus’ way? What tomes, laws and religious commentaries? How will they get his way right?

Jesus invites the “little ones” to come to him – to “read” and “study” him. Matthew’s gospel has a strong wisdom theme, reminiscent of the wisdom books of the Hebrew scriptures. Jesus is a wisdom teacher and today’s reading captures a moment in which he is teaching us wisdom. “Come to me,” he is saying, “and in me you will discover divine wisdom.” “What must I know?” we might ask. “Know me,” would be his response.

It is sobering to realize that Jesus’ wisdom was rejected by those in the know and yet accepted by the “don’t knows.” Today’s gospel passage calls us to another kind of wisdom than what mere information and learning give. The wisdom Jesus offers is not a series of teachings, things we must learn or achieve through our own pursuits. The wisdom he offers is not book knowledge, but a Person – himself. We get that wisdom by following and staying close to him; observing his actions; listening to his words; imitating him and seeing the world from his perspective. That’s what makes the “don’t knows” wise and those who claim they know, foolish. What a twist; but it is a gospel twist: the wise are foolish, and the “little ones” wise; or put in another way, the first shall be last and the last shall be first.

Further reading:

• Matthew Chapter 11 >>
• What Is a Yoke? >>

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

My yoke is easy and my burden light

Living the Good News

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion?

Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow:

Reflection Questions

• Do I consider myself one of Jesus’ “little ones”?
  What would give me “rest”?
  How am I burdened by the unknown?
  Do I talk to God honestly about what is worrying me?
  Is there resistance in me to sharing this with Jesus?
  What causes this resistance (shame, guilt, pride, stubbornness)?
• Being really angry with someone is a deep burden. Can I bring my troubles and failings in this regard to Jesus?
• Do I think Jesus understands weaknesses, struggles or disappointments?
  Did he have any in his life?
  What can I learn about better behavior from watching Jesus?
• How can prayer give me perspective?
  How can prayer lead to acceptance?
• What do I really want?
  What are my deepest desires?
  Are they a comfort or a burden to me?
• Are there religious or civil rules that are personally burdensome and troubling to me?
• What is my personal comfort zone (what situations have to exist for me to avoid stress)?
  Am I out of my comfort zone often? Right now?
• How does lack of control over the events of one’s life become a burden?
  How great is my need for control?
• How often am I tempted to use force and intimidation to get my way?
• I think of a time in my life when I was “burdened”?
  Did I share my troubles with anyone?
  What happened?
• What burden am I carrying that I want to lay at the feet of Jesus?
• Do I know of someone who is particularly burdened right now?
• Whose burden can I relieve or take away?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions:

We can divide our human burdens into three categories.

The first is the burden of daily irritations—standing in line at the post office, wearing a mask outside, being on endless hold listening to bad elevator music, trying to figure out legal forms, watching bad behavior of an out-of-control child, being the embarrassed parent of said child. The list goes on. And the more stressed we are, the more these irritations are, well, IRRITATING!

The second burden includes some serious worries like money, illness, job loss, a bad relationship, hurts we can’t heal, anger that won’t go away. Some of these issues may be ours or they may be serious issues for someone we love. In any event, these things burden us and sometimes, make us a burden to others.

The third burden runs the deepest, often because we suppress it. It is the burden of personal identity. Who am I? We live in a world that tells us we are what we have; we are what we do; we are what we look like; we are what degrees we possess; we are what others say about us. We put an awful lot of energy into maintaining our beliefs about identity. It is exhausting. And scary. What happens when I lose what I have, lose what I do, or lose what I look like? What happens when I have shaped my identity to impress or please others? How does this erode my sense of my true self? Jesus’ temptation in the Desert was basically all about these identity issues. How did he respond? What difference did it make to Jesus what others said about him? How did his relationship with his father (His ABBA) sustain him in difficult and burdensome times?

Questions:
Which of these burdens is troubling me most right now?
Do I believe that God wishes to lighten my personal burden?
Do I believe I am beloved of God?
Do I believe that what I have or do does not matter to God?

Prayer:
I ask God for the reassurance of being blessed
I ask God for patience with myself and others
I ask God for hope: trust that God is looking out for me

A Meditation in the Ignatian Style/Imagination:

Parables help us to see life from another person’s point of view and, using our imagination, to examine our own lives: The Parable, the Return of the Prodigal Son from Luke, illustrates the burdens of insecurity that we all carry, and how God is there to reassure us that we are the beloved, just as we are. Father Henri Nouwen reflects on this parable in light of Jesus’ own experience, Nouwen’s own experience, and Rembrandt’s vision:

Soon after Jesus had heard the voice calling him the beloved, he was led to the desert to hear those other voices. They told him to prove that he was worth love in being successful, popular, powerful.

Almost from the moment that I had ears to hear, I heard those voices and they have stayed with me ever since. The have come to me through my parents, my friends, my teachers, and my colleagues, but most of all, they have come and still come through the mass media that surround me. And they say: Show me that you are a good boy. You had better be better than your friend! Be sure you can make it through school! I sure hope you can make it on your own! Are you sure you want to be friends with those people? These trophies certainly show what a good player you were! Don’t show your weakness, you’ll be sued! When you stop being productive, people lose interest in you”. Parents, friends, and teachers, even those who speak to me through the media, are mostly very sincere in their concerns. In fact, they can be limited human expressions of an unlimited divine love. But when I forget that voice of first unconditional love, then these innocent suggestions can easily start dominating my life and pull me into a “distant country”. (40-41)

The world says: “Yes, I love you if you are good-looking, intelligent, and wealthy. I love you if you have a good education, a good job, good connections. I love you if you produce much, seek much, buy much. There are endless “ifs” hidden in the world’s love....The world’s love is and always will be, conditional.

As long as I keep looking for my true self in the world of conditional love, I will remain “hooked” to the world (42)….I am the prodigal son every time I search for unconditional love where it cannot be found….I am constantly surprised at how I keep taking the gifts God has given me—my health, my intellectual and emotional gifts—and keep using them to impress people, receive affirmation and praise, and compete for rewards, instead of developing them for the glory of God. Yes, I often carry them off to a “foreign country” and put them at the service of an exploiting world that does not know their true value. (43)

Jesus has made it clear to me that the same voice he heard at the River Jordan and on Mount Tabor can also be heard by me. Faith is the radical trust that home has always been there and always will be. The somewhat stiff hands of the father rest on the prodigal’s shoulders with the everlasting blessing: “You are my beloved, on you my favor rests.” Yet over and over again I have left home. I have fled the hands of blessing and run off to faraway places searching for love! This is the great tragedy of my life and of the lives of so many I meet on my journey. Somehow I have become deaf to the voice that calls me the Beloved, have left the only place where I can hear that voice, and have gone off desperately hoping that I would find somewhere else what I could no longer find at home.

Rembrandt’s painting of the father welcoming the son displays scarcely any external movement….(this painting is one of utter stillness.) The father’s touching the son is an everlasting blessing; the son resting against his father’s breast is an eternal peace. Jakob Rosenberg summarizes this vision beautifully when he writes: “the group of father and son is outwardly almost motionless, but inwardly all the more moved….the story deals not with the human love of an earthly father….what is meant and represented here is the divine love and mercy in its power to transform death into life.”

“Coming home” meant for me, walking step-by-step toward the One who awaits me with open arms and wants to hold me in an eternal embrace.

A Meditation in the Franciscan Style/Action:

Read the following excerpt from Father Thomas Keating’s book Intimacy with God, pp 159-160:

Prayer cannot stand alone without action emerging from it. Contemplative prayer without action stagnates, and action without contemplative prayer leads to burn-out or running around in circles. Contemplative prayer sifts our contemplative vision and our ideas about what we should be doing…. We are coming from an inner freedom that more and more without our thinking about it, expresses the mind of Christ in our particular daily lives through the welling up and flowing over of the fruits of the Spirit and the Beatitudes.

After reflecting on the scriptures, what action can you take this week to lift the burden of someone you know—family member, friend, someone in the larger community who is weighed down by poverty, fear, sadness or doubt? If you do not know anyone personally, get in touch with Catholic Worker House in Redwood City, a group that cares for those who have no one to care about them. In the Franciscan manner, roll up your sleeves and be Jesus for someone in need of a helping hand to carry his cross.

Poetic Reflection:

This poem from Ed Ingebretzen, S.J. reminds us that God does not wish to burden us, but to comfort and mother us:

“From Narrow Places”

From narrow places
the strength of our voice
rises:

our every breath
is prayer,
the great poem of need,
a constant scattering
of praise.

Early
we reach to God
in the claim of our hearts,
while he,
our father,
mothers us
in his

A Meditation in the Augustinian Style/Relationship:

This Sunday’s psalm is 145. It is a message of hope in these troubled days. Read it to yourself several times, picking out the phrases which have the most meaning for you. Then write your own thank-you note to God for the times you have been sustained when you have felt burdened or troubled:

Psalm 145

1I will extol you, my God and king, and bless your name forever and ever.
2I will bless you day after day, and praise your name forever and ever.
3The LORD is great and highly to be praised; his greatness cannot be measured.
4Age to age shall proclaim your works, shall declare your mighty deeds.
5They will tell of your great glory and splendor, and recount your wonderful works.
6They will speak of your awesome deeds, recount your greatness and might.
7They will recall your abundant goodness, and sing of your just deeds with joy.
8The LORD is kind and full of compassion, slow to anger, abounding in mercy.
9How good is the LORD to all, compassionate to all his creatures.
10All your works shall thank you, O LORD, and all your faithful ones bless you.
11They shall speak of the glory of your reign, and declare your mighty deeds,
12To make known your might to the children of men, and the glorious splendor of your reign.
13Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom; your rule endures for all generations.
The LORD is faithful in all his words, and holy in all his deeds.
14The LORD supports all who fall, and raises up all who are bowed down.
15The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season.
16You open your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.
17The LORD is just in all his ways, and holy in all his deeds.
18The LORD is close to all who call him, who call on him in truth.
19He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and he saves them.
20The LORD keeps watch over all who love him; the wicked he will utterly destroy.
21Let my mouth speak the praise of the LORD; let all flesh bless his holy name forever, for ages unending.

Closing Prayer

Teach me to go to this country beyond words and beyond names.
Teach me to pray on this side of the frontier, here where these woods are.
I need to be led by you.
I need my heart to be moved by you.
I need my soul to be made clean by your prayer.
I need my will to be made strong by you.
I need the world to be saved and changed by you.
I need you for all those who suffer, who are in prison, in danger, in sorrow.
I need you for all the crazy people.
I need your healing hand to work always in my life.
I need you to make me, as you made your Son, a healer, a comforter, a savior.
I need you to name the dead.
I need you to help the dying cross their particular rivers.
I need you for myself whether I live or die.
It is necessary.
Amen.

—“Litany” by Thomas Merton

Matthew Chapter 11

When Jesus finished giving these commands to his twelve disciples,*he went away from that place to teach and to preach in their towns.

2* a When John heard in prison* of the works of the Messiah, he sent his disciples to him

3* with this question, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?”

4Jesus said to them in reply, “Go and tell John what you hear and see:

5* the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.b

6And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.”

7As they were going off, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John, “What did you go out to the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind?c

8Then what did you go out to see? Someone dressed in fine clothing? Those who wear fine clothing are in royal palaces.

9Then why did you go out? To see a prophet?* Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.

10This is the one about whom it is written: “Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare the way before you.”

11Amen, I say to you, among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.*

12From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffers violence,* and the violent are taking it by force.e

13All the prophets and the law* prophesied up to the time of John.

14And if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah, the one who is to come.f

15Whoever has ears ought to hear.

16g “To what shall I compare this generation?* It is like children who sit in marketplaces and call to one another,

17‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance, we sang a dirge but you did not mourn.’

18For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they said, ‘He is possessed by a demon.’h

19The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they said, ‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is vindicated by her works.”i

20j Then he began to reproach the towns where most of his mighty deeds had been done, since they had not repented.

21“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon,* they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes.k

22But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you.

23* And as for you, Capernaum:

‘Will you be exalted to heaven?l

You will go down to the netherworld.’

For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.

24But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.”m

25n At that time Jesus said in reply,* “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike.

26Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.

27All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.o

28* “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,* and I will give you rest.

29* p Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves.

30For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”

What Is a Yoke?

A yoke is a wooden frame fitted on working animals to evenly balance the load on each individual animal and allow them to work as a team. Jesus wears the yoke and we are yoked to him.

A teacher read to her class the text, “My yoke is easy.”

“Who can tell me what a yoke is?” she asked.

A boy said, “A yoke is something they put on the necks of animals.”

Then the teacher asked, “What is the yoke God puts on us?”

A little girl said, “It is God putting His arms around our necks.”

Jesus’s yoke helps us to lay-down unnecessary burdens; to illustrate:

Dr. George McCauslin was a very effective YMCA director. But some years ago, he was selected to serve at a particularly challenging YMCA in western Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh. And that western Pennsylvania YMCA was losing membership, had financial difficulties and a multitude of staff problems, so George McCauslin found himself working 85 hours a week. He found himself getting little sleep at night. He took little to no time off. And when he was not working, he was worrying and fretting about the problems at his job.

He went to a therapist who told him he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. He realized that he had to learn somehow to let go and let God into his problems. He didn’t know quite how to do that.

So George McCauslin took an afternoon off, took a pad and paper, and took a long, unhurried walk in the western Pennsylvania woods. As he walked through the cool woods, he could eventually start to feel his tight body and his tight neck start to relax. He kept walking, and eventually sat down under a tree and just sighed and breathed deeply. For the first time in months he felt relaxed.

He got out his pad and paper, and he decided that although he would keep his job, he would release his mental “over-control” in trying to manage every detail. He wrote God a letter. He said, "Dear God, today I hereby resign as general manager of the universe. Love, George."

Then, with a twinkle in his eye, George McCauslin said, "And wonder of wonders, God accepted my resignation."

George McCauslin stopped his obsessive work habits. One lesson George teaches us is that if our religion is primarily about obsessively or fearfully meeting religious duties and other obligations, then it is indeed a hard yoke and heavy burden.

Jesus wanted to free us from the burdensome religious and legal interpretations of the scribes and Pharisees, and our own.

It is an act not of juggling balls on a stage, but of carrying eggs from a barn.

Make no mistake: it is sometimes the act of carrying a cross. But it is "light" in the sense when our purpose and priorities in life are clear.

Regarding George’s case, sometimes, among devout or practicing religious people, there can be a resistance to self-care because of fear of putting “self” at the center, as in self-centeredness. They would make the argument that we’re not the priority: the people we serve are. Yet, this concern may reflect an individualistic understanding of “self” shaped by the dominant culture.

Self-care is not self-absorption or isolation, and self-care emphasizes the importance of relationships and community in the way we do self-care. The purpose of self-care is to put vitality back into one’s ministry and vocation over time.

Like a woman who said that she used to obsess over her daughter’s mental illness, believing that the right combination of labels would lead to her daughter’s healing. The daughter now is hopefully receiving treatment, and the mother is hopefully leaving the labels or diagnosis to doctors so she can just concentrate in loving her daughter as a labor of love. The difficulty is when we take up the labor before love. When we get it right, the work of love is hardly work at all.

What other “yokes” need to be broken today besides workaholism , and over-functioning by care-givers?

2.The greatest yoke is the oppression and slavery of sin. It’s like “you used to hold the Yoke but now the Yoke holds you.”

I am speaking of those who are tired and weighed down with the burden of self, those who want to be rid of the load but can’t. It’s a tiredness of spirit. It’s a call to those who are trapped in the prison of self by sin but know no way out. It’s okay to be absolutely powerless over self. This is where we join the human race. There is the help of grace that comes through powerlessness, because we are yoked to Jesus who is our highest power.

Notice that, like George McCauslin, we first must come to the admission of powerlessness over our afflictions and powerlessness over our defects.

E.g. Our Second Reading speaks of being freed from being “debtors to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.” The word in Greek is “sarx” which means the whole fleshy existence of persons, including all the human passions and emotions, which can range from greed, prestige to jealousy, and any kind of temptation such as the list given in Galatians 5:19.

In that verse, St. Paul is telling of his response to God from his sin-enslaved “I” who cried for deliverance, and God’s intervention. Such a cry is the point where self-honesty begins to grow, e.g. in our Opening Prayer, we hear through the humiliated God, who was an “abasement,” a fallen world was raised up.

So too with us, it is only by the humility of heart to make an admission of powerlessness over what afflicts us and then receiving victory through the grace of God, will we feel yoked to Jesus as our higher power.

It is only by the Spirit, not raw willpower, that the deeds of the body are put to death or quieted. Galatians 5:22 is very enlightening: among the gifts of the spirit is love, generosity, self-control.

It is true that spiritual warfare is part of our daily Catholic faith simply because fighting temptation and striving for virtue are themselves forms of spiritual warfare.

Thankfully, God promises in Ezekiel 34:27, “I break the bars of their yoke and rescue them from the hands of those who enslaved them.” The enemy is constantly trying to force his own yoke upon us—a yoke of slavery and bondage of sin.

In the Aramaic tradition, "yoke" and "lordship" were seen to be synonymous ideas.

Jesus’ yoke helps us hold our tongue or choose encouraging words, to be giving to a person in material need, keeping holy the Sabbath by the Sunday Mass obligation. An easy yoke means we are not afflicted by an onslaught of greed, envy, greed, etc.; it’s the joy of a quiet conscience.

Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 2, 2023

To be a disciple is to identify with Jesus

Matthew 10:37–42

Jesus said to his Apostles: 37 Whoever prefers father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever prefers son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me;
38 and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me.
39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
40 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.
42 And 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.

Music Meditations

• “Whatsoever You Do” (sung by Robert Kochis) [YouTube]
• “Jesus” (by Chris Tomlin) [YouTube]
• “Be Thou My Vision” (John Rutter; sung by Cambridge Singers) [YouTube]
• “I Have Loved You” (by Michael Joncas) [YouTube]
• “Come to the Water” (by John Foley; sung by Matt Maher) [YouTube]
• “We Remember” (by Marty Haugen) [YouTube]

Opening Prayer

Lord, being disciple is demanding and fulfilling. Help me to receive your word graciously and openly, to give freely and receive fully, when needed. I ask for the humility to listen, to hear, to notice, and to respond to those requests of me as disciple.

Companions for the Journey

Adapted from a commentary in 2014 by Alice McDermott:

We all like to be rewarded for our efforts. Gold stars on our school papers as children. Praise from parents and teachers as we get older. Money as payment for our expenditure of our time and talents in our work. Perhaps being recognized publicly with a plaque or round of applause for our community service. We all appreciate recognition and benefits from our actions.

Jesus is promising a reward for those who welcome prophets and righteous persons to the community, and for those who offer small kindnesses to the vulnerable in their midst. That reward is participation in the kingdom of God, which has both a present and a future component.

This text comes after Jesus’ promise that those who lose their life for his sake will find it (Mt. 10:39). It’s an answer to the question, “What is our reward for risking the loss of our lives as we know them for you?” Or, as Simon Peter so pragmatically puts it, “Look, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?” His question and Jesus’ answer show up three times in almost exactly the same wording in Matthew 19:27, Mark 10:28, and Luke 18:28. In Matthew 10:42, Jesus refers to “the reward of the righteous.” It appears to be a bountiful compensation for the sacrifices we have made in this life, one that has both a worldly and eternal life component (Mt. 19:29; Mk. 10:29-30; Lk. 18:29-30).

What are those addressed by this text going to be rewarded for? Since Jesus sends his disciples to act on his behalf, those who receive them also receive Jesus (10:40a). And in receiving Jesus they also receive God, the one who sent him. Underlying this saying is the shaliach conception of ancient Jewish law, according to which a man’s duly authorized messenger “is as the man himself.” (Hare, Interpretation Commentary on Matthew, 118) The one sent out represents the one who sent him, so that to receive a disciple of Christ is to receive Christ and to receive Christ is to receive God. (Argyle, Cambridge Commentary on Matthew, 83-4)

Participation in the kingdom of God is the reward of the righteous person. It is not wholly extrinsic like the gold stars and the round of applause. The righteousness Jesus is talking about in Matthew carries with it an intrinsic reward, one that is an integral part of the action of welcome and kindness. Such righteous acts participate in and point us toward God, toward the Kingdom which is now and not yet.

Those who receive the disciples also receive the same benefits or reward they receive, the blessing of participation in the kingdom of God as outlined by Jesus by way of Matthew in the Beatitudes (Mt. 5:3-10). The Beatitudes have a future, but also a present reference. The poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake—all participate in the present in the blessings of divine presence, comfort, wisdom, forgiveness, which are the realities of the reign of God now and forever.

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

Do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

Living the Good News

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion?

Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow:

Reflection Questions

• Have I ever been in relationship that was so all-consuming that I lost myself in the process?
• To what/whom am I attached so firmly that it interferes with my relationship God or with others in my life?
  Has there been an attachment to a person, a habit, a conviction or a principle that has estranged me from others or my own self?
• Jesus does not advocate armed conflict, but divisions might occur when people are forced to decide between the words of Jesus and the words of those we love. When could there be a conflict between our love for another and our love for God?
  Are there times, however, when I alienate people I love by rendering an opinion that is unjust or too harsh?
  Have I ever assumed I was saying something for someone’s else’s good, but it was really for my personal satisfaction that I spoke?
  How do I discern between my opinion/prejudices and God’s?
• Have I ever received opposition for my beliefs from someone I loved?
  What did I do?
  Have I ever suffered the rupture of a relationship because of my relationship with Jesus?
• Do I truly see myself as a disciple of Jesus?
  What is the cost to me for being a disciple?
• What is the difference between adherence to a moralistic law or system of rules and the interior freedom that comes for knowing God’s sill and doing it?
• Am I ever motivated in my actions by the hope of a later reward or is my motivation rooted in a desire to be closer to Jesus right now?
• What, exactly, is my relationship with God, with my fellow disciples, with the desperate?
• What is my role of “welcoming others” that I see in this reading?
• Do I think of being disciple as a large dramatic gesture/choice, or can I look at my small efforts to help others and myself as discipleship?
  When did I last buy a poor person a cup of coffee?
• Do I expect happiness, or at least a cessation of anxiety or unhappiness as a result of doing God’s will?
• What does it mean, in the lives of us ordinary saints, to “lose one’s life”?
  What does it mean, in the lives of us ordinary saints, to “save one’s life”?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions:

Participation in the Kingdom of God is the reward of the person who is a true disciple. What follows are some quotes from thinkers who seem to have taken seriously the message of Jesus in this passage. They are talking about giving one’s life away for some purpose beyond oneself that, paradoxically, results in a gain. As Christians we would call that the reward of the righteous. Which of the following do you agree with? Do any surprise you? Examine your motivations for doing God’s will and making sacrifices in the process:

• “The highest reward for a person’s toil is not what they get for it, but what they become by it”—John Ruskin
• “Happiness is a virtue, not its reward”—Baruch Spinoza
• “If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed”—Albert Einstein
• “Love seeks one thing only: the good of the one loved. It leaves all the other secondary effects to take care of themselves. Love, therefore, is its own reward”—Thomas Merton

A Meditation in the Franciscan Style/Action:

We are rarely asked for a cup of water. We live in a more complex society, but the same care and generosity to which Jesus calls us in verse 42 to are found in all walks of life. There are those who work for clean healthy water in a thousand hidden ways, for instance maintaining a city water system, or caring for public hygiene, as civil servants, plumbers, activists, engineers, scientists, and street cleaners.

Wherever people devote themselves to the service of others by caring for the environment, by creating safe and good schools, by working toward affordable healthcare and affordable housing for everyone somehow, by making our governmental systems, local and national, ensure safety for all, we are, in effect, giving someone who needs it a drink of water.

So verse 42 is a metaphor for doing things for others in the name of Jesus. And the rewards promised by Jesus are entrance into the Kingdom of God. Our first job, then, is to be aware of the opportunities and desperate needs that are out there. But we need to go further. Undeterred by the sheer enormity of the task, we must start somewhere. Do I look for the grand gestures instead of offering a simple “cup of water”? How does giving someone a cup of water play out in practical terms: is it a hug, or a listening ear, or giving someone a ride, or giving a small donation to an agency like CRS? Do I believe that each act of mercy, no matter how insignificant, can make a difference that really matters? Mother Teresa said that we are not called to do great things, we are called to do small things with great love. We need to go beyond studying the issues to actually help in in some small way to alleviate the thirst for water, for food, for justice, for safety. What can I do? What can I do this week?

Poetic Reflection:

We turn to a tried-and-true reflection written by Thomas Centollela, a former Stegner fellow. He encourages us to do even more than the minimum of giving a cup of water to “one of these little ones.” How can you live “further in?”:

“At Big Rec”

A few hours spent in the dry rooms of the dying.
Then the walk home, and the sudden rain
comes hard, and you want it coming hard,
you want it hitting you in the forehead
like anointment, blessing all the days
that otherwise would be dismissed
as business as usual. Now you’re ready
to lean on the rail above the empty diamonds
where, in summer, the ballplayers wait patiently
for one true moment more alive than all the rest.
Now you’re ready for the ancient religion of dogs,
that unleashed romp through the wildness, responding
To no one’s liturgy but the field’s and the rain’s.
You’ve come this far, but you need to live further in.
You need to slip into the blind man for a while,
tap along with his cane past the market stalls
and take in, as if they were abandoned,
the little blue crabs which within an hour will be eaten.
You have to become large enough to accommodate
all the small lives that otherwise would be forgotten.
You have to raise yourself to the power of ten.
Love more, require less, love without regard
For form. You have to live further in.

Closing Prayer

I give thanks to you, Lord, for what I have learned about myself and about you in my prayer this week. I pray also for the courage I need to let my experience of you, Jesus, be evident in my life. Help me to turn fear into resolution, turn despair and hopelessness into joy.