Aug. 9, 2024 - Fri. of 18th Week in Ord. Time
(Opt. Mem. of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross)
May GOD continue to open your mind to the reality of Life, and may that motivate you to enrich the lives of others as you walk with them on the path of faith. A few years ago, I attended the wedding of some friends. They wanted their wedding to speak of their values: simple life, friendship, and, of course, their love. They had 20-30 guest at the wedding in a park, under the shade of a huge tree. They did not want a lavish wedding that would outdo the other weddings of some of their friends. They wanted family and close acquaintances to share their non-pretentious way of life. They chose 1 Corinthians 13 to be read at their wedding. The focus was on love – their love for each other and the closest people in their lives. They seemed to know for what they stood – life and love. We all need to focus on life and love. We are not to strive to have the most luxurious way of life, but to love and help other live GOD’s life.
Readings can be obtained from: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/080924.cfm
Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein):
https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-teresa-benedicta-of-the-cross
Readings: Nahum 2: 1, 3; 3: 1-3, 6-7; Deuteronomy 32: 35cd-36ab, 39abcd, 41;
Matthew 16: 24-28
In some ways, today’s readings portray GOD as a GOD of vengeance, a GOD Who exacts punishment on the evil and blessings on the GOoD. The First Reading from the book of Nahum describes the joyfulness of the Chosen People as they hear the proclamation that city of Nineveh and the Assyrian nation will be destroyed. The Responsorial echoes the theme of the GOD Who deals death and gives life. In the Gospel, Jesus recalls the importance of giving up of one’s life for the sake of the Gospel in order to have a better life – forever.
Nahum was a prophet in the seventh century before Jesus. He had heard of the destruction of the Northern Kingdom of Israel at the hands of the Assyrian. He is now prophesying the end of the Assyrian empire and the fall of their great city of Nineveh. The Assyrians will have to answer for the merciless ways they were destroying other nations. The Assyrians had bloodily destroyed many cities, now their city would be the place of their own bloody deaths.
The Responsorial comes from Deuteronomy and reflects a time many centuries before the end of the Assyrian empire. It speaks of the GOD of the Exodus as a GOD Who takes cares of the people chosen by GOD. GOD brings death to those who have inflicted harm upon the chosen people and GOD brings life to those who seek the LORD.
In the Gospel, Jesus says the price of life is death to self. His disciples must be willing to risk their very lives in order to follow Him. Those who seek only a life of leisure and self-gratifying ways will end up losing their lives. Jesus asks what value does an easy and fun life have if, in the end, it costs someone their very eternal existence.
The central theme of the readings for me is that GOD is a GOD Who gives life. The old philosophical question raises itself again: “What is ‘life’?” Life is not just the absence of pain and death. Life is the essence of who we are. And who we are depends on Who GOD is. GOD is the source of life and the endpoint of life. Part of having the life that GOD gives is the willingness to die to self. That may seem contradictory. Yet if we believe that true life is not what we have here on earth, but rather it is life with GOD, beginning here but lasting for eternity in heaven, then we would not become so attached to our life here.
An example of that is the saint whose memory we celebrated yesterday on August 8, St. Dominic. Dominic started out his religious life in monastic life. He wanted to spend his time alone in prayer. In combating the Albigensian heresy, he realized that he had to be an active preacher, but one who was humble and poor. He realized that he had to be in the world, but not of the world. He strove to interact with people and share the GOoD News, but also to be a person who was in touch with spiritual world.
We may not be asked to become new St. Dominics, but we are asked to die to self and remove any objects that take us away from giving our all to GOD and to the people whom GOD has called us to serve.
The important issue is how we use the material possessions we have. If we have lived a selfish, hedonistic lifestyle, especially at the expense of others (as the Assyrians lived their lives), then GOD will give us our just desserts. But if we have lived a life of giving to others and being willing to lay down our lives for the GOoD of others, then GOD will give us the divine life that the Lord Jesus has prepared for us.
It is a GOoD thing to take time, now and again, to think about the question of “What is Life?” If we see life as a gift from GOD – a sharing in the life of GOD – then we will be willing to forego some of the “niceties” of this life in order to participate in the life of GOD. We all have to face the transition from this earthly life to eternal life. Yet the attitude we have while living on earth can proclaim our belief that death is only a transition to the greater and fuller life with GOD. And for that eternal, joyous life, we should be willing to give up any material objects.
- Personal question/reflection for today: To what values of earthly life do I cling? Am I willing to die to self so as to live for GOD and for others, not just now but for all eternity? Who might benefit from my giving up part of my material possessions? How can I better manifest my belief in life of GOD and GOD of life?
Blessed are You, LORD GOD, Deliverer of death and Giver of life. Through Your GOoDness, You want to share life with all people. Some people misunderstand the meaning of life and seek only pleasure and happiness in this life, even going so far as to step on and climb over anyone else in order to get to the top of what they consider to be life. Throughout the Hebrew scriptures You have revealed the essence of what true life is – a sharing in Your very life. The greatest gift of life was in the Incarnation of Your Son, Jesus. He not only lived a human life like ours, but He died a mortal death. He became Life for us by His dying on the cross and rising from the tomb. For this we give You thanks and praise. We ask that through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, we may consciously ponder the true meaning of life. Give us the wisdom and understanding to value human life to the fullest, from conception to the grave. May we strive to improve the quality of life for others as a sign of our appreciation of the gift of life. We make this prayer in the name of Jesus, our Master-Teacher, the One Who is Life, and Who is living and reigning with You and the Holy Spirit, our one and only GOD, for ever and ever. Amen.
Song of the Day: Lay Me Down by Chris Tomlin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1N2SbY3dJuM
Take Up Your Cross by Ray Boltz: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrFO1EWB4dI
Video of the Day: Saint Edith Stein: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C43GMoGtoSU
Edith Stein: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YA3vuiTsPNY
© rjk, 01-24-23
