Daily Reflection | Gospel Reading | RVA

Gospel: Luke 6:17, 20-26
Coming down the hill with them, Jesus stood in an open plain. Many of his disciples were there, and a large crowd of people, who had come from all parts of Judea and Jerusalem, and from the coastal cities of Tyre and Sidon. Then, looking at his disciples, Jesus said, “Fortunate are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours.

Fortunate are you, who are hungry now, for you will be filled. Fortunate are you, who weep now, for you will laugh. Fortunate are you, when people hate you, when they reject you and insult you and number you among criminals, because of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for a great reward is kept for you in heaven. Remember, that is how the ancestors of the people treated the prophets. But alas for you, who have wealth, for you have been comforted now. Alas for you, who are full, for you will go hungry. Alas for you, who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. Alas for you, when people speak well of you, for that is how the ancestors of the people treated the false prophets.

Lectio Divina
READ: Jeremiah contrasts those who “trust in men” with those who trust in God the latter, like a tree planted by the water. For Christians, according to Paul, that means trusting in Christ’s resurrec­tion. Jesus also contrasts those who put their trust in worldly wisdom instead of in God’s promises.
REFLECT: A tree planted in dry land is an apt reference for those who seek happiness or fulfillment in the things of this world. Similarly, for those who seek success only in this life. Such, according to St. Paul, are “the most unfortu­nate of men.” They are plan­ting a tree amidst thistles, in parched desert land. Jesus instead blesses those who are poor, who hunger, who weep, who face insults and persecution. To follow Jesus is to enter an upside­down kingdom, where what was up is down; what seemed like solid ground is now over our heads; where what was dead is now alive!
PRAY: Lord, let us feast in hope, laugh and rejoice in your promises, and believe in the good news that Jesus is truly risen!
ACT: Think of an experience of success; think of an experience of failure? How would God’s perspective on these experiences differ from the judgment of “the world?”

© Copyright Bible Diary 2019

Gospel: Mark 8:1-10
Jesus was in the midst of another large crowd, that ob­viously had nothing to eat. So he called his disciples and said to them, “I feel sorry for these people, because they have been with me for three days and now have nothing to eat. If I send them to their homes hungry, they will faint on the way; some of them have come a long way.” His disciples replied, “Where, in a deserted place like this, could we get enough bread to feed these people?”

He asked them, “How many loaves have you?” And they answered, “Seven.” Then he ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground. Taking the seven loaves and giving thanks, he broke them, and handed them to his disciples to distribute. And they distributed them among the people. They also had some small fish. So Jesus said a blessing, and asked that these be shared as well.The people ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. Now those who had eaten were about four thousand in number. Jesus sent them away, and immediately got into the boat with his disciples, and went to the region of Dalmanutha.

Reflections:
“How many loaves have you?"
In the memory of the disciples there were many things that “hap­pened.” “Remember the amazing time when he fed a crowd with seven loaves of bread?” But there must have come a time when they realized that these were also signs that fit to­gether in a deep pattern that couldn’t be discerned in the mo­ment. Surely something more was happening that day than just a miraculous meal. In time the disciples would struggle to put these memories together. They remembered his prayer, “Give us this day our daily bread.” They remembered his mys­terious blessing of the Passover bread at his Last Supper. All these memories must have come toge­ther with the recollection of an im­promptu banquet when “the peo­ple ate and were satisfied.” Jesus didn’t just offer bread; he offered life, sustenance, blessing—an an­swer to people’s deepest hunger. They could not of course envi­sion how this meal would be seen­ acted one day in huge outdoor Masses: the long lines at various stations, the faithful proceeding patiently to receive the Bread of Life. But it is also reenacted in the most ordinary liturgy, whenever two or three are gathered toge­ther in his name. We remember. And we are satisfied.

© Copyright Bible Diary 2019

Gospel: Mark 7:31-37
Again, Jesus set out: from the country of Tyre he passed through Sidon and, skirting the sea of Galilee, he came to the territory of Decapolis. There, a deaf man, who also had difficulty in speaking, was brought to him. They asked Jesus to lay his hand upon him.Jesus took him apart from the crowd, put his fingers into the man’s ears, and touched his tongue with spittle.

Then, looking up to heaven, he said with a deep sigh, “Ephphata!” that is, “Be opened!” And immediately, his ears were opened, his tongue was loosened, and he began to speak clearly. Jesus ordered them not to tell anyone about it; but the more he insisted, the more they proclaimed it. The people were completely astonished and said, “He has done all things well; he makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak.”

Reflections:
“Be opened!”
On one level there is a certain sameness to many of the hea­ling miracles of Jesus. A blind man, a deaf man, a sick child, a woman with a flow of blood, a man possessed with demons: Jesus encounters them, they are restored to health, the people are astonished. Yet there are notable variations. Sometimes Jesus heals with a word; sometimes, as in this story, after performing a strange shamanic ritual. Sometimes there is an emphasis on the faith of the sick person, or of his friends, in eli­citing the miracle; at other times, as in this case, it is more in the nature of a patient being brought in to see the physician. Yet for each of those who is healed, the encounter is unique, in fact the only truly significant event—the creation of a new world! Before and after! No wonder that the “pa­tients” are warned to keep quiet, the more they need to talk about it! Something more than a deaf man’s ears have been “opened!” It will not be closed again.Jesus did not bring healing just for people in general, or for “the world” in some generic sense,” but for individual men and women. For you and me.

© Copyright Bible Diary 2019

Gospel: Mark 7:24-30
When Jesus left that place, he went to the border of the Tyrian country. There, he entered a house, and did not want anyone to know he was there; but he could not remain hidden. A woman, whose small daughter had an evil spirit, heard of him, and came and fell at his feet. Now this woman was a pagan, a Syrophoenician by birth, and she begged him to drive the demon out of her daughter.

Jesus told her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the puppies.” But she replied, “Sir, even the puppies under the table eat the crumbs from the children’s bread.” Then Jesus said to her, “You may go your way; because of such a response, the demon has gone out of your daughter.” And when the woman went home, she found her child lying in bed, and the demon gone.

Reflections:
“Even the puppies under the table eat the crumbs from the children’s bread.”
Did Jesus, from the outset, consciously understand the full implications of his mission? Some theologians would sup­pose so. Yet there are numerous texts—such as this—that sug­gest that Jesus, fully consistent with his human nature, was ca­pable of learning and widening his perspective. The occasion here is posed by an unnamed gentile woman who accosts Je­sus and begs him to cast out a demon from her sick daughter. Surely she knew her action violated the codes of Jewish so­ciety. Jesus rebuffs her: “Let the children first be fed, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” Unde­terred, the woman replies with a logic that evidently strikes home. “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs un­der the table eat the children’s crumbs.” Apparently persuaded by her skillful answer, Jesus com­plies with her request.This unnamed woman deserves to be remembered as one of the foremothers of the gentile Church, one who intuited, even while Jesus lived, that his Gospel was for every­ one. She also represents the count­ less faithful throughout history who, though pressured to keep silent, nevertheless persisted and challenged the Church to compre­hend and act upon the liberating logic of salvation.

© Copyright Bible Diary 2019