German Evangelical Church {Evangelische Kirche In Deutschland [EKD]) Daily Readings (Evangelium Tag Für Tag) For Wednesday, 13 July (Mittwoch, 13 Juli)

From ETfT:



EVANGELIUM TAG FÜR TAG

«Herr, zu wem sollen wir gehen? Du hast Worte des ewigen Lebens.» Joh. 6,68







Mittwoch, 13 Juli 2011



Mittwoch der 15. Woche im Jahreskreis



Heiligen des Tages : Hl. Heinrich II und Hl. Kunigunde



Kommentar zum heutigen Evangelium -

Hl. Vinzenz von Paul : „All das hast du den Weisen und Klugen verborgen, den Unmündigen aber offenbart“



Buch Exodus 3,1-6.9-12.

Mose weidete die Schafe und Ziegen seines Schwiegervaters Jitro, des Priesters von Midian. Eines Tages trieb er das Vieh über die Steppe hinaus und kam zum Gottesberg Horeb.

Dort erschien ihm der Engel des Herrn in einer Flamme, die aus einem Dornbusch emporschlug. Er schaute hin: Da brannte der Dornbusch und verbrannte doch nicht.

Mose sagte: Ich will dorthin gehen und mir die außergewöhnliche Erscheinung ansehen. Warum verbrennt denn der Dornbusch nicht?

Als der Herr sah, daß Mose näher kam, um sich das anzusehen, rief Gott ihm aus dem Dornbusch zu: Mose, Mose! Er antwortete: Hier bin ich.

Der Herr sagte: Komm nicht näher heran! Leg deine Schuhe ab; denn der Ort, wo du stehst, ist heiliger Boden.

Dann fuhr er fort: Ich bin der Gott deines Vaters, der Gott Abrahams, der Gott Isaaks und der Gott Jakobs. Da verhüllte Mose sein Gesicht; denn er fürchtete sich, Gott anzuschauen.

Jetzt ist die laute Klage der Israeliten zu mir gedrungen, und ich habe auch gesehen, wie die Ägypter sie unterdrücken.

Und jetzt geh! Ich sende dich zum Pharao. Führe mein Volk, die Israeliten, aus Ägypten heraus!

Mose antwortete Gott: Wer bin ich, daß ich zum Pharao gehen und die Israeliten aus Ägypten herausführen könnte?

Gott aber sagte: Ich bin mit dir; ich habe dich gesandt, und als Zeichen dafür soll dir dienen: Wenn du das Volk aus Ägypten herausgeführt hast, werdet ihr Gott an diesem Berg verehren.







Psalm 103(102),1-2.3-4.6-7.

[Von David.] Lobe den Herrn, meine Seele, und alles in mir seinen heiligen Namen!

Lobe den Herrn, meine Seele, und vergiß nicht, was er dir Gutes getan hat:

der dir all deine Schuld vergibt und all deine Gebrechen heilt,

der dein Leben vor dem Untergang rettet und dich mit Huld und Erbarmen krönt,



Der Herr vollbringt Taten des Heiles, Recht verschafft er allen Bedrängten.

Er hat Mose seine Wege kundgetan, den Kindern Israels seine Werke.









Evangelium nach Matthäus 11,25-27.

In jener Zeit sprach Jesus: Ich preise dich, Vater, Herr des Himmels und der Erde, weil du all das den Weisen und Klugen verborgen, den Unmündigen aber offenbart hast.

Ja, Vater, so hat es dir gefallen.

Mir ist von meinem Vater alles übergeben worden; niemand kennt den Sohn, nur der Vater, und niemand kennt den Vater, nur der Sohn und der, dem es der Sohn offenbaren will.









Auszug aus der liturgischen Übersetzung der Bibel







Kommentar zum heutigen Evangelium :



Hl. Vinzenz von Paul (1581-1660), Gründer religiöser Gemeinschaften

Gespräche





„All das hast du den Weisen und Klugen verborgen, den Unmündigen aber offenbart“

Wenn ihr wüsstet, meine Töchter, wie Gott sich freut beim Anblick eines armen Mädchens vom Land, einer „Nonne der Nächstenliebe“, die sich ihm liebevoll zuwendet! Oh, dann würdet ihr euch auf den Weg machen mit einer größeren Zuversicht, als ich es für ratsam halte. Wenn ihr wüsstet, wie viel Wissen ihr daraus schöpft, wie viel Liebe und Sanftmut euch zuteil wird! Alles, meine lieben Töchter, alles werdet ihr vorfinden, denn dies ist Quelle und Brunnen allen Wissens, [aller Erkenntnis].



Woher kommt es, dass ungebildete Menschen so trefflich über Gott sprechen und die Mysterien intelligenter auslegen, als es ein Gelehrter könnte? Ein Gelehrter, der nichts hat als seine Lehre, spricht über Gott doch nur so, wie es ihm seine Lehre eben beigebracht hat. Ein Mensch des Gebets aber spricht ganz anders von Gott. Und was die beiden unterscheidet, meine Töchter: der eine spricht aus einem simplen erworbenen Wissen heraus, der andere aus einem Wissen, das ganz durchdrungen ist von Liebe. So kommt es, dass bei einem Aufeinandertreffen der beiden der Gelehrte keineswegs die größere Sachkenntnis besitzt. Und er hat den Mund zu halten vor einem Mann des Gebets, der doch ganz anders von Gott spricht, als er es könnte.

Greek Orthodox Church Daily Readings For Tuesday, 12 July

From goarch.com:

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Daily Scripture Readings and Lives of the Saints for Tuesday, July 12, 2011



Readings for today:



St. Paul's Letter to the Romans 14:9-18

Matthew 12:14-16; 22-30



Feasts and Saints celebrated today:



5th Tuesday after Pentecost

Proklos & Hilarios the Martyrs of Ancyra

Our Holy Father Michael of Maleinus

Veronica, the woman with the issue of blood who was healed by Jesus

Andre the Commander & his Companion Martyrs





Epistle Reading



The reading is from St. Paul's Letter to the Romans 14:9-18



BRETHREN, to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord

both of the dead and of the living. Why do you pass judgment on your

brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we shall all stand

before the judgment seat of God; for it is written. "As I live,

says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall give

praise to God." So each of us shall give account of himself to God.

Then let us no more pass judgment on one another, but rather decide

never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. I

know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in

itself; but it is unclean for any one who thinks it unclean. If your

brother is being injured by what you eat, you are no longer walking in

love. Do not let what you eat cause the ruin of one for whom Christ

died. So do not let your good be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of

God is not food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the

Holy Spirit; he who thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and

approved by men.



(c) 2011 Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America



Gospel Reading



The reading is from Matthew 12:14-16; 22-30



At that time, the Pharisees went out and took counsel against him,

how to destroy him. Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. And

many followed him, and he healed them all, and ordered them not to

make him known.



Then a blind and dumb demoniac was brought to him, and he healed him,

so that the dumb man spoke and saw. And all the people were amazed,

and said, "Can this be the Son of David?" But when the Pharisees

heard it they said, "It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons,

that this man casts out demons." Knowing their thoughts, he said to

them, "Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city

or house divided against itself will stand; and if Satan casts out

Satan, he is divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand?

And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them

out? Therefore they shall be your judges. But if it is by the Spirit

of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon

you. Or how can one enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods,

unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his

house. He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather

with me scatters."



(c) 2011 Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America





Proklos & Hilarios the Martyrs of Ancyra



Reading from the Synaxarion:



These Martyrs contested in Ancyra in 106, during the reign of the

Emperor Trajan. Saint Proklos was seized as a Christian and, confessing

his faith, was burned on his sides and belly, was hung upon a beam

with heavy stones tied to his feet, and finally was taken away to be

shot with arrows. As he was being led forth, his nephew Hilary

encountered him and greeted him, and was himself seized. After his uncle had

been slain with arrows, Hilarios, because he would not deny Christ,

was tormented, then beheaded.



Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone

Thy Martyrs, O Lord, in their courageous contest for Thee received as

the prize the crowns of incorruption and life from Thee, our immortal

God. For since they possessed Thy strength, they cast down the

tyrants and wholly destroyed the demons' strengthless presumption. O

Christ God, by their prayers, save our souls, since Thou art merciful.





Kontakion in the Second Tone

As kinsmen, ye did prove to be of like spirit in your life and of

one accord in all things, O renowned Martyr Proklos and godly-minded

Hilarios; for having yourselves become images of the Passion of Christ, ye

were counted worthy of glory, and ye grant divine forgiveness unto

all.





This content is under copyright and is used with permission, all rights reserved:

Reading (c) Holy Transfiguration Monastery - Brookline, MA

Apolytikion (c) Holy Transfiguration Monastery - Brookline, MA

Kontakion (c) Holy Transfiguration Monastery - Brookline, MA





Veronica, the woman with the issue of blood who was healed by Jesus

German Evangelical Church {Evangelische Kirche In Deutschland [EKD]) Daily Readings (Evangelium Tag Für Tag) For Tuesday, 12 July (Dienstag, 12 Juli)

From ETfT:



EVANGELIUM TAG FÜR TAG

«Herr, zu wem sollen wir gehen? Du hast Worte des ewigen Lebens.» Joh. 6,68







Dienstag, 12 Juli 2011



Dienstag der 15. Woche im Jahreskreis



Heiligen des Tages : Hl. Felix und Hl. Nabor, Hl. Johannes Gualbertus



Kommentar zum heutigen Evangelium -

Hl. Jakobus von Saroug : Sich bekehren und umkehren zum Herrn



Buch Exodus 2,1-15a.

Ein Mann aus einer levitischen Familie ging hin und nahm eine Frau aus dem gleichen Stamm.

Sie wurde schwanger und gebar einen Sohn. Weil sie sah, daß es ein schönes Kind war, verbarg sie es drei Monate lang.

Als sie es nicht mehr verborgen halten konnte, nahm sie ein Binsenkästchen, dichtete es mit Pech und Teer ab, legte den Knaben hinein und setzte ihn am Nilufer im Schilf aus.

Seine Schwester blieb in der Nähe stehen, um zu sehen, was mit ihm geschehen würde.

Die Tochter des Pharao kam herab, um im Nil zu baden. Ihre Dienerinnen gingen unterdessen am Nilufer auf und ab. Auf einmal sah sie im Schilf das Kästchen und ließ es durch ihre Magd holen.

Als sie es öffnete und hineinsah, lag ein weinendes Kind darin. Sie bekam Mitleid mit ihm, und sie sagte: Das ist ein Hebräerkind.

Da sagte seine Schwester zur Tochter des Pharao: Soll ich zu den Hebräerinnen gehen und dir eine Amme rufen, damit sie dir das Kind stillt?

Die Tochter des Pharao antwortete ihr: Ja, geh! Das Mädchen ging und rief die Mutter des Knaben herbei.

Die Tochter des Pharao sagte zu ihr: Nimm das Kind mit, und still es mir! Ich werde dich dafür entlohnen. Die Frau nahm das Kind zu sich und stillte es.

Als der Knabe größer geworden war, brachte sie ihn der Tochter des Pharao. Diese nahm ihn als Sohn an, nannte ihn Mose und sagte: Ich habe ihn aus dem Wasser gezogen.

Die Jahre vergingen, und Mose wuchs heran. Eines Tages ging er zu seinen Brüdern hinaus und schaute ihnen bei der Fronarbeit zu. Da sah er, wie ein Ägypter einen Hebräer schlug, einen seiner Stammesbrüder.

Mose sah sich nach allen Seiten um, und als er sah, daß sonst niemand da war, erschlug er den Ägypter und verscharrte ihn im Sand.

Als er am nächsten Tag wieder hinausging, sah er zwei Hebräer miteinander streiten. Er sagte zu dem, der im Unrecht war: Warum schlägst du deinen Stammesgenossen?

Der Mann erwiderte: Wer hat dich zum Aufseher und Schiedsrichter über uns bestellt? Meinst du, du könntest mich umbringen, wie du den Ägypter umgebracht hast? Da bekam Mose Angst und sagte: Die Sache ist also bekannt geworden.

Der Pharao hörte von diesem Vorfall und wollte Mose töten; Mose aber entkam ihm. Er wollte in Midian bleiben und setzte sich an einen Brunnen.







Psalm 69(68),3.14.30-31.33-34.

Ich bin in tiefem Schlamm versunken und habe keinen Halt mehr; ich geriet in tiefes Wasser, die Strömung reißt mich fort.

Ich aber bete zu dir, Herr, zur Zeit der Gnade. Erhöre mich in deiner großen Huld, Gott, hilf mir in deiner Treue!

Ich aber bin elend und voller Schmerzen; doch deine Hilfe, o Gott, wird mich erhöhen.

Ich will den Namen Gottes rühmen im Lied, in meinem Danklied ihn preisen.



Schaut her, ihr Gebeugten, und freut euch; ihr, die ihr Gott sucht: euer Herz lebe auf!

Denn der Herr hört auf die Armen, er verachtet die Gefangenen nicht.









Evangelium nach Matthäus 11,20-24.

Dann begann er den Städten, in denen er die meisten Wunder getan hatte, Vorwürfe zu machen, weil sie sich nicht bekehrt hatten:

Weh dir, Chorazin! Weh dir, Betsaida! Wenn einst in Tyrus und Sidon die Wunder geschehen wären, die bei euch geschehen sind - man hätte dort in Sack und Asche Buße getan.

Ja, das sage ich euch: Tyrus und Sidon wird es am Tag des Gerichts nicht so schlimm ergehen wie euch.

Und du, Kafarnaum, meinst du etwa, du wirst bis zum Himmel erhoben? Nein, in die Unterwelt wirst du hinabgeworfen. Wenn in Sodom die Wunder geschehen wären, die bei dir geschehen sind, dann stünde es noch heute.

Ja, das sage ich euch: Dem Gebiet von Sodom wird es am Tag des Gerichts nicht so schlimm ergehen wie dir.









Auszug aus der liturgischen Übersetzung der Bibel







Kommentar zum heutigen Evangelium :



Hl. Jakobus von Saroug (um 449-521), Mönch, syrischer Bischof

Gedicht





Sich bekehren und umkehren zum Herrn

Wie der verlorene Sohn will ich aufbrechen und zu meinem Vater gehen (Lk 15,18), und er wird mich aufnehmen. Wie er es gemacht hat, so will ich es tun: sollte er mich denn nicht erhören? ... Durch die Sünde bin ich nämlich gestorben wie an einer Krankheit. Hol mich heraus aus meinem Verderben, und ich werde deinen Namen preisen! Herr des Himmels und der Erde, ich bitte dich, komm mir zur Hilfe und zeige mir deinen Weg, damit ich auf dich zugehen kann. Führe mich zu dir, Sohn des besten Vaters, und schenke mir deine Barmherzigkeit in Fülle. Ich gehe zu dir und werde satt werden und jubeln. Mahle mir jetzt, in der Stunde der Erschöpfung, den Weizen des Lebens.



Ich habe mich auf die Suche nach dir gemacht, und wie ein Straßenräuber hat mich der Böse erspäht (vgl. Lk 10,30). An die Vergnügungen der bösen Welt hat er mich gefesselt und gekettet; in den Kerker seiner Lüste hat er mich geworfen und mir die Türe vor der Nase zugeschlagen. Und es gibt niemanden, der mich befreit, damit ich mich auf die Suche machen kann nach dir, guter Herr... Dir möchte ich so gerne gehören und mit dir gehen, Herr. Über deine Weisung sinne ich nach bei Tag und bei Nacht (Ps 1,2). Gib mir, wonach mich verlangt, und nimm meine Gebete an, du Barmherziger. Mach, o Herr, die Hoffnung deines Dieners nicht zunichte, denn er wartet auf dich.

Letting Go Of Spiritual Experience

from Tricycle:




Letting Go of Spiritual Experience





Stop clinging to peak moments and open to true realization.

Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche 9 Twitter

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Spiritual Experiences and Realizations

There will be all sorts of experiences on the spiritual path. Positive periods of development—those that are reassuring and comforting—are an important part of the process. It is important to realize, however, that even positive experiences will fluctuate. We will rarely, if ever, perceive a steady development of them, precisely because experiences are fickle by nature. Enjoying a series of good experiences does not ensure that they will continue indefinitely; they may stop suddenly. Even so, they remain an important part of spiritual practice, not least because they help to maintain our motivation to continue practicing.







The way in which these positive experiences arise also varies enormously. You may have some amazingly moving experiences, something like a spiritual awakening that appears to arise out of the blue. In fact, such experiences do not really come from nowhere; psychic conditions will always precede them, although they appear to our conscious experience as independent. They can also vanish just as quickly as they appear. At other times, certain experiences will grow over a period of time, peak, and then gradually fade away again.



As spiritual practitioners, we are instructed not to attach too much significance to these experiences. The advice is to resist the temptation to become fixated on the experiences themselves. Experiences will come and go. Each experience has to be let go of, or the mind will simply close down in its fixation on that experience, leaving little or no room for new experiences to arise. This is because your fixation will encourage worries and doubts to arise in the mind and interfere with the development process. If there is no fixation involved in the process, positive spiritual experiences will start to lead you to spiritual realizations.



In Buddhism, we distinguish between spiritual experiences and spiritual realizations. Spiritual experiences are usually more vivid and intense than realizations because they are generally accompanied by physiological and psychological changes. Realizations, on the other hand, may be felt, but the experience is less pronounced. Realization is about acquiring insight. Therefore, while realizations arise out of our spiritual experiences, they are not identical to them. Spiritual realizations are considered vastly more important because they cannot fluctuate.



The distinction between spiritual experiences and realizations is continually emphasized in Buddhist thought. If we avoid excessively fixating on our experiences, we will be under less stress in our practice. Without that stress, we will be better able to cope with whatever arises, the possibility of suffering from psychic disturbances will be greatly reduced, and we will notice a significant shift in the fundamental texture of our experience.



There are many accounts in Tibetan Buddhist literature of how spiritual disturbances may arise, but all point to fixation on experiences as the cause. Fixation on our experiences is seen as another variation of fixation on the self.

In the overall context of the spiritual journey, it is important to remember that self-transformation is a continuous process, not a onetime event. One cannot say, "I used to be a nonspiritual person, but now I have been transformed into a spiritual person. My old self is dead." We are constantly being transformed when we travel on the path. While we may be the same individual on one level, on another level we are different. There is always continuity, and yet at each major turning point on the journey we have become transformed because certain habits have dropped away. The spiritual journey is dynamic and always tends forward because we are not fixating on things.




Letting Go

The spiritual journey, then, is a journey of detachment, a process of learning how to let go. All of our problems, miseries, and unhappiness are caused by fixation—latching onto things and not being able to release them. First we have to let go of fixation on material things. This does not necessarily mean jettisoning all our material possessions, but it implies that we should not look to material things for lasting happiness. Normally, our position in life, our family, our standing in the community, and so forth, are perceived to be the source of our happiness. This perspective has to be reversed, according to spiritual teachings, by relinquishing our fixation on material things.



Letting go of fixation is effectively a process of learning to be free, because every time we let go of something, we become free of it. Whatever we fixate upon limits us because fixation makes us dependent upon something other than ourselves. Each time we let go of something, we experience another level of freedom.



Eventually, in order to be totally free, we learn to let go of concepts. Ultimately, we need to relinquish our fixation on the reification of concepts, of things being "this" or "that." Thinking of this and that binds us to a particular way of experiencing things. Even spiritual experiences will not be given complete, spontaneous, unmediated expression as long as the subtlest kind of conceptual distinction is present. Experience will still be mediated, adulterated, and tainted by all kinds of psychic content when we make discriminations. Therefore, it will remain impossible ever to be truly free.



The final step in the process of letting go is relinquishing the idea that material corruption and spiritual freedom are unequivocally opposed to one another and that we have to give up the former to attain the latter. While this is an important distinction to observe at the beginning of the spiritual journey, we have to overcome that duality. We have to transcend both the seduction of samsaric pleasure that turns out to be so illusory and the seduction of our spiritual goal that appears to be offering eternal happiness. Once the pull between these two poles is harmonized and transcended, we are ready to return home.



The Fruition of the Spiritual Path

The ultimate goal of the spiritual journey is to realize the union of your mind and ultimate reality. You discover eventually that not only are you in reality, but that you also embody that reality. Your ordinary body becomes the body of a buddha, your ordinary speech becomes the speech of a buddha, and your ordinary mind becomes the mind of a buddha. This is the great transition that you have to make, relinquishing your fixation on the separation of samsaric beings and buddhas. When we can talk about them as ultimately the same, when this actual transformation occurs within an individual, it is a truly great occurrence. It is remarkable because an ordinary, confused being still retains that preexisting continuity between an ordinary being and an enlightened being, in the sense that what you become is what you have always been. At the end of the journey, you are simply returning home.

Yet the journey itself was absolutely necessary. It was necessary to leave your familiar environment and venture through various trials and tribulations. It was necessary to deal with many unexpected things, to grapple with your inner demonic forces. It was necessary to go through the spiritual struggle and engage in vigorous disciplines. Spiritual struggle is valuable for the purification of the mind. Your mind has to be cleansed of the delusions and conflicting emotions that are the product of your karma, the product of the negative thoughts and actions that have accumulated in your mindstream over a long period of time.




After a point, however, you have to ease away from that struggle. As progress is made on the path, the positive qualities required for further advancement will become part of you, and you will gradually learn how to assimilate and become these positive qualities, rather than regarding them as something to be attained and possessed. So after the initial focus on learning how to replace vices with virtues, we must learn to let go of our fixation on virtues. We have to stop thinking about accumulating virtues, spiritual qualities, experiences, and realizations as if they were a form of wealth. We do not require spiritual wealth; moreover, spiritual wealth can only be accumulated by not fixating on it. All fixations lead only to all manner of trouble—envy, possessiveness, and egotism, for example. It is then that we really go astray and wander from the spiritual path.



As our virtuous qualities of love, compassion, joy, courage, determination, resolve, mindfulness, awareness, and wisdom develop, we progress further along the path. At some point, we have to accomplish one final act of detachment, which is to let go of reifying concepts altogether. Even the concepts of virtue and vice, redemption, karma, and liberation have to be relinquished. By way of illustration, I’d like to share a story from the Zen tradition.



It is not uncommon for Zen meditation students to keep in regular contact with their teachers concerning their spiritual progress. In this particular story, a Zen student has a penchant for writing to his teacher monthly with an account of his development. His letters began to take a mystical turn when he wrote, "I am experiencing a oneness with the universe." When his teacher received this letter, he merely glanced at it and threw it away. The next month the student wrote, "I have discovered that the divine is present in everything." His teacher used this letter to start his fire. A month later, the student had become even more ecstatic and wrote, "The mystery of the one and many has revealed itself to my wonderment," at which his teacher yawned. The following month, another letter arrived, which simply said, "There is no self, no one is born, and no one dies." At this his teacher threw his hands up in despair. After the fourth letter, the student stopped writing to his teacher, and after a year had passed, the teacher began to feel concerned and wrote to his student, asking to be kept informed of his spiritual progress. The student wrote back with the words "Who cares?" When the teacher read this, he smiled and said, "At last! He’s finally got it!"



At the end of the journey, you will be able to engage in everything on both the material and the spiritual planes without being tainted by them, because a spiritually realized being is no longer affected by the world in the same way an ordinary person is. Without going through the trials and tribulations of this journey, however, you will never find your home. You cannot simply stay at home and say, "I am already where I want to be." It is only the journey that makes you realize your true potential, and only at the end of the journey will you understand that the goal is not to separate from the starting point. That is the attainment of buddhahood, the natural state of your own mind.



Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche is the president and spiritual director of Kagyu E-Vam Buddhist Institute, headquartered in Melbourne, Australia. From Mind At Ease: Self-Liberation Through Mahamudra Meditation, © 2004 by Traleg Kyabgon. Reprinted with permission of Shambhala Publications.

(Dutch) Reformed Church In America Daily Prayer Request For Tuesday, 12 July

From The Reformed Church In America;

July 12 Prayer Request


Pray that new planting teams will register for the RCA/CRC Thrive training coming up in August in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Today's Scripture: Isaiah 44:6-8

Isaiah 44:6-8








Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel

and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts:

I am the first and I am the last;

besides me there is no god.

Who is like me? Let them proclaim it,

let them declare and set it forth before me.

Who has announced from of old the things to come?

Let them tell us what is yet to be.

Do not fear, or be afraid;

have I not told you from of old and declared it?

You are my witnesses!

Is there any god besides me?

There is no other rock; I know not one.

Lectio Divina For 17 July

From The American Bible Society:

July 17, 2011




Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time



LET THEM BOTH GROW TOGETHER…

Matthew 13:24-43 (Good News Translation)



24 Jesus told them another parable: “The Kingdom of heaven is like this. A man sowed good seed in his field. 25 One night, when everyone was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. 26 When the plants grew and the heads of grain began to form, then the weeds showed up. 27 The man's servants came to him and said, “Sir, it was good seed you sowed in your field; where did the weeds come from?” 28 “It was some enemy who did this,” he answered. “Do you want us to go and pull up the weeds?” they asked him. 29 “No,” he answered, ‘because as you gather the weeds you might pull up some of the wheat along with them. 30 Let the wheat and the weeds both grow together until harvest. Then I will tell the harvest workers to pull up the weeds first, tie them in bundles and burn them, and then to gather in the wheat and put it in my barn. ’ ” 31 Jesus told them another parable: “The Kingdom of heaven is like this. A man takes a mustard seed and sows it in his field. 32 It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it grows up, it is the biggest of all plants. It becomes a tree, so that birds come and make their nests in its branches. ” 33 Jesus told them still another parable: “The Kingdom of heaven is like this. A woman takes some yeast and mixes it with a bushel of flour until the whole batch of dough rises.” 34 Jesus used parables to tell all these things to the crowds; he would not say a thing to them without using a parable. 35 He did this to make come true what the prophet had said,

“I will use parables when I speak to them;

I will tell them things unknown since the creation of the world.” 36 When Jesus had left the crowd and gone indoors, his disciples came to him and said, “Tell us what the parable about the weeds in the field means.” 37 Jesus answered, “The man who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man; 38 the field is the world; the good seed is the people who belong to the Kingdom; the weeds are the people who belong to the Evil One; 39 and the enemy who sowed the weeds is the Devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvest workers are angels. 40 Just as the weeds are gathered up and burned in the fire, so the same thing will happen at the end of the age: 41 the Son of Man will send out his angels to gather up out of his Kingdom all those who cause people to sin and all others who do evil things, 42 and they will throw them into the fiery furnace, where they will cry and gnash their teeth. 43 Then God's people will shine like the sun in their Father's Kingdom. Listen, then, if you have ears!

Other Readings: Wisdom 12:13, 16-19; Psalm 86:5-6, 9-10, 15-16; Romans 8:26-27;



Lectio

If we were to sum up the content of this Sunday, we could do so with a simple word: patience. In our society, haste, immediateness, are to a large extent the two traits which describe our approach to any problem, situation or difficulty. Everything must be done at once:. We have ‘fast-food’, ‘fast-lanes‘, ‘ready-made’ goods, ‘no-delay delivery.’ Unfortunately, that approach also influences the way in which we consider and pass judgement on events, problems and even people. Today’s readings insist, on the contrary, on the ability to take things in a more ‘relaxed’ way. The parable of the weeds and the good seed, explained once again by Jesus himself, provides us with a good example. Our natural trend, like that of the servants in it, is to act at once. Someone else’s mistakes must receive a negative sentence, prompt correction, and punishment without delay. Much too easily we become prosecutors, judges and executioners. The first reading, we must remember, describes God as the one who gives humans ‘every opportunity to give up their sinful ways’ (Wisdom 12:19). He allows wheat and weeds ‘to grow together until harvest’, setting an example of patience and confidence in our ability to repent and change our sinful way of life. Besides that attitude of mercy and compassion from God that we should show towards others, there is still another kind of patience. The two shorter parables included in the passage from Matthew’s Gospel provide us with a humble approach to the development and growth of God’s Kingdom. When we see how slowly and how poorly that Kingdom advances; when we consider the shortcomings, faults and sins in ourselves individually and in the Church as such; when we feel tempted to give up every commitment to our community and even to our own faith… it is then that we must remember the two tiny realities with which Jesus compares the Kingdom of heaven. A mustard seed and a portion of yeast, being so small, do not have weighty importance by themselves. In fact, yeast must dissolve in the dough, and the seed must ‘die’ in order to be transformed into a loaf of bread to feed humans, or a tree in which birds may nest. It is honest and legitimate to desire our churches to grow, develop and become mighty realities in our world. Actually, we are accustomed to a Church that, at a given time, was the ‘Great Christendom’ of the West. It is hard for us to accept a secular society in which our witness to the Gospel seems irrelevant, misunderstood, and almost invisible. But it is through humility, without recurring to worldly might or material resources, that we can make the Kingdom grow in fidelity to Jesus’ words. That is the kind of patience we must pray for; not only tolerance and mercy for others, but also towards ourselves and towards our efforts to become more and more faithful to the Lord.



Meditatio

Consider ‘the weeds and the wheat’ in the field of your life. Are your sure you can see the difference between them? Try to remember some event in your life which, though negative at first sight, turned out to be a real blessing from God. What are your mustard seeds and yeast in your life? Try to find the values of the Kingdom existing in you. How can you make them grow, and shelter the distressed around you? Or make it ‘rise’ and transform your social ‘dough’?



Oratio

Pray that the Spirit of God, not your immediate needs or problems, may be the source and soul that inspires your prayers. Pray to attain the docility and obedience to the Spirit that can make you able to pray for what you and others really need.



Contemplatio

Read once again 1 Corinthians 1:18-31. When we feel that the Kingdom is not as strong or firm as we would like, it is important to remember that God’s action, hidden and silent, is the real source of our strength.



Reflections written by Revd. Fr. Mariano Perrón Director of Inter-Religious Affairs Archdiocese of Madrid, Spain



© 2010 American Bible Society.

The Netherlands: Lower House Of Dutch Parliament Votes To Outlaw Kosher And Halal Slaughter

From Religion Clause:

Wednesday, June 29, 2011


Lower House of Dutch Parliament Votes To Outlaw Kosher and Halal Slaughter

According to AP and Reuters, the House of Representatives of the Dutch Parliament yesterday passed, by a vote of 116-30, a bill that bans kosher and halal slaughter of animals. The bill accomplishes this by eliminating a provision in current law that exempts ritual slaughter from the requirement that animals be stunned before they are killed. The bill still must be approved by the Dutch Senate, and this is unlikely before Parliament's summer recess. Also enforcement of the law, if it finally passes, is complicated by an amendment added last week that allows religious groups to continue ritual slaughter if they can prove it is no more painful than stunning. No one seems to know how this would be shown. The bill was introduced by the small Animal Rights Party. Netherlands' Muslim and Jewish communities say the ban is an infringement of their religious freedom. According to AP: "Support for the ban came from the political left, which sees ritual slaughter as inhumane, and from the anti-immigration right, which sees it as foreign and barbaric. Only Christian parties were opposed, arguing the ban undermines the country's long tradition of religious tolerance." (See prior related posting.)



The European Jewish Congress-- the umbrella organization of Jews in Europe-- is considering taking legal action at the European Union level to challenge the bill before the Dutch Senate votes, according to Yeshiva World.