presence of god

REFLECTION ON THE DAILY GOSPEL AND READINGS 8 JULY 2013

/ Michael J. Cunningham / Leave a comment

Not sure if there is anyone in the congregation that sells insurance? I remember when I first attended some basic sales training in the UK, and an insurance salesman described his technique. He would “by hook or by crook” get an appointment with the husband and wife who didn’t have insurance.

Then he would bring a box that he would put on top of the TV set in their living room, and tell them about it.

The box was their living wages, that either or both parties relied on each week to provide for themselves, their family, for food, a car, vacations when times were good, and a little savings for the unexpected.

They invariably agreed that this model represented their lives, and kept it in balance.

Then he took the box away, something bad happened, a lost job, health problems, even death, how would they manage without the box.

Did they love their kids, each other enough to ensure that the box would be there is when were gone?

A simple strategy for protection of all things physical in our lives.

This man sold a lot of policies, because his message was compelling, but also based on fear and uncertainty. Most of us want to reduce risk, and money may not be the only thing that is important, but when you have none at all, life becomes very difficult.

Now if we consider our spiritual life, what is it going to cost us to sign up for a policy that doesn’t just last a lifetime, but eternity?

Would we be interested in this policy with such a guarantee that by following the rules of the policy, which were simply based around faith and love, results of which you were going to have life everlasting in the presence of God.

Where do I sign?

It is that I want to discuss today from our readings and the Gospel.

Have you ever had a dream where you think that God was communicating something directly to you? I am sure that this happens more frequently that we think. The bible is full of appearances, voices and dreams where God communicates directly with those that need it. In Jacob’s dream he is awakened to the importance of this place and began to build a temple up on that spot.

We hear of Jacob’s ladder from this dream, which most biblical scholars know to mean that this was a stairway that would be a part of Mesopotamian temple towers of the time, where at the top the worshippers would climb and their deity would communicate with them directly.

As a result of the dream, Jacob now does not need faith, because he has been assured of God’s divine presence from his dream. He has experienced God while still on earth.

What a delight that is, to know God, in your mind and soul.

For this reason, Jacob then declares the place sacred and sets the first pillar in a new temple. He has gone way past signing up for the insurance policy; he is going to sell it to others. He cannot do anything but God’s will as he has experienced his presence.

However, this was a big deal at the time, because pillars were also used extensively in pagan worship at the time, where stones were worshiped as pagan deities. The cultic nature is further reinforced by the anointing of the stone.

Nothing is going to stop Jacob on his mission. The angels represent the messenger and communication with man and God in this dream. This communication would be repeated many times.

God’s insurance policy of trust again appears in the direct communication in the Psalms in the second reading. The promise of divine protection is given to anyone who “cleaves to me in love, I will deliver him, I will protect him.” This is a direct communication with God – an oracle of salvation for his people.

So the rules are simple, love me and I will deliver you, I will protect you. How beautiful is that.

As God made man incarnate, Jesus Christ wanted to further remove any doubt of His message. He was here to save mankind, not physically, but spiritually, the saving that really counts. The one that goes on FOREVER.

That is a word that is used extensively and incorrectly.

If we use the word forever in the spiritual sense, not in the sense that this reflection is going on “forever”, it takes a different meaning.

Forever is an eternity, but eternity does not even begin to describe the word, because we still think of things having a beginning and an end, but there will be no end to eternity, so it’s important that we are on the right side of any fences that might be present out there, and receive our reward for our faithfulness, to see the face of God.

The Gospel today shows the healing power of Jesus in the two miracles. Jesus gives back the physical life of a man’s young daughter and heals another woman who has been sick for twelve years.

However the physical healing is there to show that God has the power to do anything.

It’s a means to show that He is the one people should be paying attention, not because He has to save us but rather He loves us so much that He will endure the most painful and humiliating death to show us that he loves us, and pave a way for us to change our ways in the world.

So back to the insurance policy. Sign here for faith and love, and oh by the way, I will provide you with the bonus of supernatural grace which providing you are keeping to the main rules, (e.g. not in a state of mortal sin) you can receive every day of your life if you like.

Today we have such an opportunity again to share this perpetual love that He provides us with. The Eucharist is our greatest means to stay close to Him, it’s a gift of grace because of our faith until we have that time when we see or feel His presence.

THE DAILY GOSPEL AND READINGS 22 SEPTEMBER 2012

/ Michael J. Cunningham / Leave a comment
Saturday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 448

Reading 1 1 Cor 15:35-37, 42-49

Brothers and sisters:
Someone may say, “How are the dead raised?
With what kind of body will they come back?”
You fool!
What you sow is not brought to life unless it dies.
And what you sow is not the body that is to be
but a bare kernel of wheat, perhaps, or of some other kind.
So also is the resurrection of the dead.
It is sown corruptible; it is raised incorruptible.
It is sown dishonorable; it is raised glorious.
It is sown weak; it is raised powerful.
It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body.
If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual one.
So, too, it is written,
“The first man, Adam, became a living being,”
the last Adam a life-giving spirit.
But the spiritual was not first;
rather the natural and then the spiritual.
The first man was from the earth, earthly;
the second man, from heaven.
As was the earthly one, so also are the earthly,
and as is the heavenly one, so also are the heavenly.
Just as we have borne the image of the earthly one,
we shall also bear the image of the heavenly one.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 56:10c-12, 13-14

R. (14) I will walk in the presence of God, in the light of the living.
Now I know that God is with me.
In God, in whose promise I glory,
in God I trust without fear;
what can flesh do against me?
R. I will walk in the presence of God, in the light of the living.
I am bound, O God, by vows to you;
your thank offerings I will fulfill.
For you have rescued me from death,
my feet, too, from stumbling;
that I may walk before God in the light of the living.
R. I will walk in the presence of God, in the light of the living.

Gospel Lk 8:4-15

When a large crowd gathered, with people from one town after another
journeying to Jesus, he spoke in a parable.
“A sower went out to sow his seed.
And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path and was trampled,
and the birds of the sky ate it up.
Some seed fell on rocky ground, and when it grew,
it withered for lack of moisture.
Some seed fell among thorns,
and the thorns grew with it and choked it.
And some seed fell on good soil, and when it grew,
it produced fruit a hundredfold.”
After saying this, he called out,
“Whoever has ears to hear ought to hear.”
Then his disciples asked him
what the meaning of this parable might be.
He answered,
“Knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of God
has been granted to you;
but to the rest, they are made known through parables
so that they may look but not see, and hear but not understand.
“This is the meaning of the parable.
The seed is the word of God.
Those on the path are the ones who have heard,
but the Devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts
that they may not believe and be saved.
Those on rocky ground are the ones who, when they hear,
receive the word with joy, but they have no root;
they believe only for a time and fall away in time of temptation.
As for the seed that fell among thorns,
they are the ones who have heard, but as they go along,
they are choked by the anxieties and riches and pleasures of life,
and they fail to produce mature fruit.
But as for the seed that fell on rich soil,
they are the ones who, when they have heard the word,
embrace it with a generous and good heart,
and bear fruit through perseverance.”

Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition, Copyright © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; Psalm refrain © 1968, 1981, 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved. Neither this work nor any part of it may be reproduced, distributed, performed or displayed in any medium, including electronic or digital, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

THE DAILY GOSPEL AND READINGS 9 JUNE 2012

/ Michael J. Cunningham / Leave a comment
 
Saturday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 358

Reading 1 2 Tm 4:1-8

Beloved:
I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus,
who will judge the living and the dead,
and by his appearing and his kingly power:
proclaim the word;
be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient;
convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching.
For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine
but, following their own desires and insatiable curiosity,
will accumulate teachers and will stop listening to the truth
and will be diverted to myths.
But you, be self-possessed in all circumstances;
put up with hardship;
perform the work of an evangelist;
fulfill your ministry.
For I am already being poured out like a libation,
and the time of my departure is at hand.
I have competed well;
I have finished the race; I have kept the faith.
From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me,
which the Lord, the just judge,
will award to me on that day, and not only to me,
but to all who have longed for his appearance.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 71:8-9, 14-15ab, 16-17, 22

R. (see 15ab) I will sing of your salvation.
My mouth shall be filled with your praise,
with your glory day by day.
Cast me not off in my old age;
as my strength fails, forsake me not.
R. I will sing of your salvation.
But I will always hope
and praise you ever more and more.
My mouth shall declare your justice,
day by day your salvation.
R. I will sing of your salvation.
I will treat of the mighty works of the Lord;
O GOD, I will tell of your singular justice.
O God, you have taught me from my youth,
and till the present I proclaim your wondrous deeds.
R. I will sing of your salvation.
So will I give you thanks with music on the lyre,
for your faithfulness, O my God!
I will sing your praises with the harp,
O Holy One of Israel!
R. I will sing of your salvation.

Gospel Mk 12:38-44

In the course of his teaching Jesus said,
“Beware of the scribes, who like to go around in long robes
and accept greetings in the marketplaces,
seats of honor in synagogues,
and places of honor at banquets.
They devour the houses of widows and, as a pretext,
recite lengthy prayers.
They will receive a very severe condemnation.”
He sat down opposite the treasury
and observed how the crowd put money into the treasury.
Many rich people put in large sums.
A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents.
Calling his disciples to himself, he said to them,
“Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more
than all the other contributors to the treasury.
For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth,
but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had,
her whole livelihood.”

Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition, Copyright © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; Psalm refrain © 1968, 1981, 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved. Neither this work nor any part of it may be reproduced, distributed, performed or displayed in any medium, including electronic or digital, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.