Scripture readings for today's reflection can be found at Friday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time | USCCB
Our readings for today’s mass, from Exodus and from
the Gospel of St. Matthew, is about how to live a life in relationship with God
and with those people we come into contact with in our day to day living.
In our first reading we hear the 10 commandments as
given to Moses. The commandments go into great detail as to how we should live
our lives. In the gospel of St. Matthew, 22:36-40, when the Lord was asked what
the greatest commandment was, Jesus responded, “Love the Lord your God with all
your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and
greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.”
As people attempting to live a God centered life, this is how we are to live:
love of God and love of neighbor. It’s not easy, but that is what God is
calling us to do.
In the gospel, we hear from Jesus as to how hard it is
in living out our lives in obedience to these commandments of God. In our lives
we have distractions from the glamours and riches of this world as well as the
various problems of our lives that takes our attentions from the fact that God
should be the center of who we are. In the past year we dealt with the
distraction of the pandemic that caused so many deaths of people we knew and
loved. It’s times like this that our Lord was referring to when he indicated
that worldly anxiety would choke the word of God in us. We were worried about
our own health and well being and that of those we hold dear. We may have
started to feel that God was not present to as we dealt with this deadly
disease. We may have questioned as to why God would allow such horrible things
to happen. The answer is not always clear. It’s hard to understand and to trust
that God is present when so much suffering and death has occurred.
As challenging as it is, we are called to take our
faith in Jesus Christ and face these problems with trust that God will always
be with us, even in times of suffering and pain. We need to place our cares and
concerns into His loving hands to ask for healing and understanding.
We are called to be open and trusting of God is in our
lives, even when things happen that we don’t understand. It is through the reading of the Word of God
in Scripture that can receive understanding of what God is trying to teach us, and
then we can bear fruits and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.
Lord Jesus, help us to remove any obstacles to your
word in our hearts and help us to bear great fruit for you! Amen!
True. The circumstances of our lives challenge us & help determine what sort of Christians & what sort of soil we are. I have heard some homilies that explain that the types of soil do not merely represent different kinds of people but different responses from ourselves at different times.
ReplyDeleteTimes of suffering & sadness can either uproot us or, preferably help our roots dig down deeper in CHRIST. St. Paul in his letter to the Colossians (a reading given to me at my Baptism in the Holy Spirit in my Catholic Charismatic prayer group) reminds us to hold fast to the faith that we were taught, being rooted & grounded in CHRIST & overflowing with gratitude. God wants us to be faithful friends & not merely "fair weather friends" who "bail" when times are not so happy. He wants us to allow our roots to grow deeper in Him & to grow in faith.
YES, many concerns can distract us from our focus on the LORD & our trust in Him. Concern about loved ones who are immune compromised & more vulnerable to catching COVID-19, concern for patients in hospitals, rehabs & nursing homes who could be exposed to COVID-19 positive patients, concern that COVID regulation were prohibiting us from visiting our loved ones & from being the strong advocates we need to he to ensure they receive the best of care & fear that our loved ones would feel abandoned by us because they might not fully understand why we could not visit them. (I am grateful that the LORD took my Mom home 8 months before the COVID-19 crisis & quarantines hit, because if COVID had hit in 2018 when she was in rehab I fear my Mom would have died of a broken heart if she couldn't see me &/or of COVID-19 that was raging in rehab facilities in NY). Worries about possible exposure to COVID-19 & if we were doing enough to protect ourselves & others. Various opinions about the vaccine. Not easy but all we could do was to do our best & leave the rest in God's hands.
If we keep trying & keep praying & keep doing what God asks us to do & keep trying to trust the LORD even when it seems most difficult, then we will become the good soil & bear much good fruit.