5th Sunday in Ordinary TimeIsaiah 58:7-10 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 Matthew 5:13-16 The Gospel this weekend is this: Matthew 5:13-16 "You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. 14 You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house. 16 Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father. The first reading is this: Isaiah 58:7-10 Sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless; Clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own. 8 Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your wound shall quickly be healed; Your vindication shall go before you, and the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. 9 Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer, you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am! If you remove from your midst oppression, false accusation and malicious speech; 10 If you bestow your bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted; Then light shall rise for you in the darkness, and the gloom shall become for you like midday; The second reading is this: 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 When I came to you, brothers, proclaiming the mystery of God, I did not come with sublimity of words or of wisdom. 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness and fear and much trembling, 4 and my message and my proclamation were not with persuasive (words of) wisdom, * but with a demonstration of spirit and power, 5 so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God. MEDITATION: This Sunday, Jesus continues his sermon on the mount. The call to be light in a dark world is clear, but to be salt? A lack of saltiness is actually one of the characteristics of the Red Sea that had to be crossed on the journey to the promised land, but I don't think that that's relevant in the Gospel of today. Salt makes food more tasty and I suppose that Christ is asking us to help make life more enjoyable for everyone. I just wish I could tell more jokes! Salt is also purifying - bugs don't live in salty water. At get-togethers we sing and tell jokes and try to spread friendship (to make life tasty!), but good Christianity should also be a voice in the world that challenges and stimulates people to kill the bugs of selfishness and sin. It's a voice plus a testimony (you can't have one without the other) and it may not please our 'taste-buds' at first (it led Jesus to Calvary and 'the wine' there was sour) but the fruit thereafter is marvelous. The call is to purify this world. It isn't a question just of what I've done wrong but also of what good I've failed to do. Are we really exercising ourselves in changing anybody or are we just 'pulling the chain' along with everybody? - along with the adds on TV and the folks in the pub? There's a lot of darkness in the world, so let's let the light shine - let's not put the candle of our Christianity under the table. But 'sheltering the homeless' (as Isaiah asks today) also means showing them their real unchanging 'home' and it was in order to lead us there that Christ gave his 'flesh and blood'. And He keeps longing to do it. He needs you and I through whom to shine now. So we say "yes" as we take communion! Let's seek for our salt to be well seasoned. He'll do it. The saints are a good bunch to follow! They don't follow the ways of the world, but I think it's good to be unconventional! Many descriptions of the Saints are written in praise of their suffering or their martyrdom, but those problems were imposed on them, as opposed to being sought by them like in some kind of psychiatric masochism, or some mistaken religiosity. After all, our lives are a gift from God, so we should use them to the best extent that we can. An imposed martyrdom can give good testimony and inspire faith, and so end up bearing a lot of fruit, but of course, the death I would like is to die to my own selfishness. Jesus himself died that way, and said that if we're attatched to him we'll also bear fruit, but separated from him, we won't (Jn 15). Unfortunately, many reject the Church because of such things as the Inquisition in the middle ages. Much harm was done, but that shouldn't make us close the door. As a small example, think of St Peter of Verona in the 13th century. He was a Dominican martyred trying to carry out the Inquisition with love. One of his murderers later changed his opinion and actually himself voluntarily became a Dominican! Spreading faith in the modern 'intellectual' world may seem challenging but St Paul puts it well today: "I came to you in weakness and fear and much trembling, and my message and my proclamation were not with persuasive words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of spirit and power, so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God' (1 Cor 2:3-5). Perhaps Paul demonstrated that power by some kind of miracles, but we can all follow - we can demonstrate true, generous, sincere love in this selfish world. That's a miracle! Let's get our salt seasoned and our light to shine! …………Dara. En ESPAÑOL: 5º Domingo: Is 58:7-10. 1ºCor 2:1-5. Mt 5:13-16 Este domingo, Jesús continúa su sermón del monte. La llamada a ser luz en un mundo oscuro está clara, pero ¿a ser sal? Una falta de salobridad es una de las características del Mar Rojo que tuvo que ser cruzado en el viaje a la tierra prometida, pero no creo que sea pertinente en el Evangelio de hoy. La comida es más sabroso con sal y supongo que Cristo está pidiéndonos hacer la vida más agradable para todos. ¡Al menos me gustaría poder contar más chistes! La sal también es purificadora. Los bichos no viven en el agua salada. En las reuniones cantamos y decimos chistes e intentamos extender la amistad (¡para hacer la vida sabrosa!), pero una Cristiandad buena también debe ser una voz en el mundo que desafía y estimula a las personas para matar los bichos de egoísmo y del pecado. Es cuestión de hablar bien y también de dar buen testimonio. Quizás no nos gusta el sabor al principio. Llevó a Jesús al Calvario y ‘el vino’ era amargo allí, pero la fruta después de esto es maravillosa. Cristo nos llama a purificar este mundo. No es cuestión solamente de lo que uno ha hecho mal sino también de lo bueno que uno ha dejado de hacer. ¿Ponemos esfuerzo en sanar al mundo o estamos siguiendo a los demás? ¿- junto con la propaganda en la televisión y con la gente en el bar? Hay mucha oscuridad en el mundo, entonces dejemos brillar la luz de Cristo en lugar de ponerla debajo de la mesa. Pero ¿albergamos a quien no tiene casa (como pide Isaías hoy)? ¿Le ayudamos a llegar al hogar eterno del Padre? Es para esto que Jesús sacrificó su carne y sangre. Sigue anhelando hacerlo. Nos necesita a ti y a mí para brillar ahora. Entonces, al comulgar hoy, ¡busquemos que nuestra sal este bien sazonada! Cristo lo hará. Los santos nos dan buen testimonio. No siguen lo normal del mundo, y ¡creo que es bueno ser original! Muchas descripciones de los santos son escritos en la alabanza de su sufrimiento o de su martirio. Tales problemas eran impuestos. No eran masoquistas, o de una religiosidad equivocada. Nuestras vidas son regalos de Dios y conviene ponerlas a buen uso. Un martirio impuesto puede dar buen testimonio y puede inspirar la fe y así dar mucho fruto, pero una muerte que necesito yo es morir a mi propio egoísmo. Jesús murió así, y dijo que unidos a él, daremos mucho fruto pero separados no. (Jn 15). Desgraciadamente, muchos dejaron la Iglesia a causa de cosas como la inquisición en la edad media. Mucho daño fue hecho, pero eso no debería hacernos cerrar la puerta. Como un ejemplo pequeño, pensad en San Pedro de Verona en el siglo XIII. Fué un Dominico martirizado intentando llevar a cabo la inquisición con amor. Uno de sus asesinos cambió su opinión después ¡y él mismo acabó siendo dominico! Compartir la fe en este mundo moderno ‘de intelectuales’ puede parecer desafiante pero San Pablo lo pone bien hoy: ‘Me acerqué a vosotros con debilidad y miedo y mucho temblor, y mi mensaje no estaba con las palabras persuasivas de la sabiduría, sino con una demostración de espíritu y poder, para que vuestra fe no se fundase en la sabiduría humana sino en el poder de Dios.’ (1ºCor 2:3-5). Quizás Pablo demostró ese poder por su fuerza de convicción que podemos todos seguir. Podemos demostrar un amor verdadero, generoso, sincero en este mundo egoísta. ¡Ése es un milagro! ¡Intentemos sazonar nuestra sal y dejar brillar nuestra luz!
Comments are closed.
|
Reflections of faithRead and be inspired by the reflections and experiences of faith, based on the Word of God. Archives
August 2016
Categories
All
|