For your easy reference, the following is a list of weeks and years with their corresponding date:
13 July 2014 – 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A
14 July 2014 – Monday of Week 15 Year 2
15 July 2014 – Tuesday of Week 15 Year 2
16 July 2014 – Wednesday of Week 15 Year 2
17 July 2014 – Thursday of Week 15 Year 2
18 July 2014 – Friday of Week 15 Year 2
Some people can go to extremes in their behaviour and attitude, especially when it comes to the sabbath. For some, sabbath is a time where absolutely no work is done. In some hotels, it seems that during the sabbath, the lift to the rooms is programmed so that it would stop at each floor. Seems like even pressing a button to go to a particular floor is considered work. On the other hand, there are people who do not bother about the sabbath. They continue to go about in their business even during the sabbath. To them, the sabbath is an especially good time to make money or to do other things.
In today’s Gospel, we see the Pharisees who have taken the observance of the sabbath to the extreme. Even doing good is forbidden to them. This is why Jesus reminded them: “What I want is mercy, not sacrifice.” In our lives, are we observing the sabbath for the right reasons? Or have we become like the Pharisees, only observing but without love or compassion towards others?
What do we look for when we feel burdened or worn out? Some people resort to substances to calm them down and may risk the danger of abusing such substances and becoming addicted. Some may resort to certain forms of entertainment which may be harmful to our health. Some may feel depressed and may despair, thinking there is no other way out and may do something drastic. How many of us are humble and willing to turn to God for help?
In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us: “Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest. Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light.” Jesus is inviting us to turn to Him and let Him care for us and guide us through our difficulties and challenges. Are we still so stubbornly trying to do things our way, or have we begun to trust in Jesus’ way?
When a person is quite highly educated, there is sometimes the temptation to show how great one is or how smart or accomplished one is. Pride and arrogance may begin to manifest. The same situation also could happen when a person has achieved a high position or status, or a person has been successful in his or her career or business, or a person has accomplished some great feat.
What some people fail or refuse to realise is that whatever they have achieved are merely temporary things. When people are in this sort of attitude or situation, it becomes quite difficult for them to change for the better. This is why in today’s Gospel, Jesus said: “I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to mere children.” When we are proud and arrogant, or when we think we know it all, we may fail to listen to God’s voice. It is when we are like little children: humble, vulnerable, dependent on God’s care and providence, that we will realise what our priorities ought to be. The question we need to ask ourselves sincerely is this: how long will our fame, wealth, popularity, status, etc. last? Are we focusing too much on what is temporary, only to the detriment of our eternal future?
Throughout the centuries, God has assured us over and over again that He will be there for us and will not let us fall away. Ultimately, it is us who choose to hide from God or avoid Him, and it is us who choose to fall away. Today’s reading reminds us that God is there for us, just as He was there for the Israelites when they were besieged by Aram. In the reading, God tells Ahaz, king of Judah: “Pay attention, keep calm, have no fear, do not let your heart sink…”
However, God also reminds us as He reminded the Israelies: “But if you do not stand by me, you will not stand at all.” God is there for us if we choose to remain in His love and walk in His ways. It is when we refuse to listen to His voice, when we stubbornly want to do things our way, that we may end up “not standing at all” in God’s sight. Do we trust God enough to let Him handle the situation for us? Are we ending up trying to take matters in our own hands?
There are times in life where our relationship with God and our relationship with our family members and loved ones may come into conflict. We hope that we would be able to continue loving God and loving our family and loved ones in harmony, but when we are faced with a difficult situation where we have to choose between God and family members or loved ones, what would we do? If we say we love God, then we may be causing tension and possibly disharmony in the family. On the other hand, if we love our family and loved ones and do as they tell us, we may be committing sin against God and His commandments. A sticky and tough situation indeed.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus warns us: “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth: it is not peace I have come to bring, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man’s enemies will be those of his own household. Anyone who prefers father or mother to me is not worthy of me. Anyone who prefers son or daughter to me is not worthy of me. Anyone who does not take his cross and follow in my footsteps is not worthy of me. Anyone who finds his life will lose it; anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it.” Sometimes our family members and loved ones may demand that we do something, for example, to uphold the family honour. Are we going to do what our family members and loved ones expect of us, and in doing so ruin our relationship with God? The choice is indeed a difficult one, but we must choose wisely for our eternal future.
How important is the Word of God to us? Some of us treat the Word of God with such great importance, but we do so only for show or for decoration by putting the bible on a fancy stand and perhaps place the bible at the family altar, probably only to slowly collect dust. Some read the Word of God like a story book, but do not grasp its meaning and some do not even bother to find out more about what the passage is really trying to teach us. Some read the bible and reflect on the words reverently and prayerfully, taking time and effort to digest the meaning.
The Word of God is special nourishment for our soul. It is like soil which enables our soul to gain necessary and essential nutrients for growth so that we could bear good fruit. But for us to benefit from the Word of God, we need to examine ourselves. Today’s Gospel speaks about seeds falling on different types of environments with different soil conditions. Each environment could be linked to our condition and the condition of our soul.
The first environment (edge of the path) is like people who are not the least bit interested in the Word of God. They come late for Mass, or sometimes come only for certain major occasions like Christmas and Easter. Some may say that these sort of people have a hatch, match and detach mentality, meaning that they come to church only when they are being baptised as infants, when they get married and when they are carried or wheeled in for their funeral. On other occasions, they are like “chipsmore,” now you see them, now you don’t. These people are also sometimes impatient, just waiting to get out of the church after Mass, or perhaps looking elsewhere or doing other things or thinking of other things, just to while away the time. They seem more interested in other things and come to church just to fulfil the Sunday obligation (with great difficulty at times).
The second environment (patches of rock with little soil) is like people who have superficial or shallow faith. They select only bits and pieces of the Word of God, avoiding or ignoring those parts which are unpleasant or that which they think are not relevant to them. We call this group of people folks with selective hearing, only wanting to hear some things and become deaf with other things. When some challenge occurs or when they face some difficulty, their faith withers away.
The third environment (fell among thorns) is like people who listen and accept the Word of God, but so many other things, worries, pressures and distractions cause them to lose focus. As a result, they feel as if God has abandoned them and they fall away, when in actuality, it is they who have abandoned God. They lack trust, perseverance and patience to press on and finish the race.
Naturally, we hope and pray that we will be like the fourth environment, where we gain access to rich soil. People who are in this fourth environment thrive and flourish, producing good fruit and giving glory to God.
The question is this: which environment are we presently in? Are we stuck in a particular environment? It takes God’s Grace and providence to help us make a change and begin producing good fruit, but we must also make effort and do our part. We must come out of our comfort zone and be willing to be more trusting and dependent on God. Are we humble and willing enough to let the rich soil God is offering us through the His Word and also through the Eucharist, nourish us?
For your easy reference, the following is a list of weeks and years with their corresponding date:
6 July 2014 – 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A
7 July 2014 – Monday of Week 14 Year 2
8 July 2014 – Tuesday of Week 14 Year 2
9 July 2014 – Wednesday of Week 14 Year 2
10 July 2014 – Thursday of Week 14 Year 2
11 July 2014 – Friday of Week 14 Year 2
Whenever we are faced with persecution or difficulties, we may be inclined to try and come up with a good defence. Some of us may start to think of all sorts of ways and means to counter our accusers. Some may decide to keep silent and wait and see. At the end of the day, would we really be able to adequately and effectively defend ourselves? Could we be making matters worse when we try to come up with solutions on our own?
In today’s Gospel, Jesus assures us: “But when they hand you over, do not worry about how to speak or what to say; what you are to say will be given to you when the time comes; because it is not you who will be speaking; the Spirit of your Father will be speaking in you. Brother will betray brother to death, and the father his child; children will rise against their parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by all men on account of my name; but the man who stands firm to the end will be saved.” If we are firm in faith and trust in Jesus, we have no reason to fear or worry, for we know that He will guide and protect us. Are we willing to leave it in the hands of the Lord and let Him save us? Or are we still trying to save our skin or do things our way?
In our efforts to proclaim the Good News, we may have become distracted with so many other things. We begin to think about what we should bring, where we should stay, how we should go about, how long we should be at a certain place; so many things begin to cloud our minds, divert our attention and distract us. Instead, we should be focusing on going forth to preach the Good News.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus instructed the Twelve as follows: “As you go, proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is close at hand. Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out devils. You received without charge, give without charge. Provide yourselves with no gold or silver, not even with a few coppers for your purses, with no haversack for the journey or spare tunic or footwear or a staff, for the workman deserves his keep. Whatever town or village you go into, ask for someone trustworthy and stay with him until you leave. As you enter his house, salute it, and if the house deserves it, let your peace descend upon it; if it does not, let your peace come back to you.” This shows that Jesus wanted us to be free from so many unnecessary worries and concerns, so that we would concentrate more on preaching the Good News. Let us not be distracted with other things as we go forth to preach the Good News. Are we not trusting enough that Jesus would care and provide for our needs?
