| Whoever
receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever
receives me, |
Seventh Week of Ordinary Time:
May 18-24, 2008 |
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The Seventh Week of Ordinary TimeOn Sunday, the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity offers us a chance to reflect on the personal richness of our faith. We read from the Book of Exodus of Moses meeting his Lord face to face. In John's Gospel the three lines of the Gospel poetically summarize our faith. "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life." The first reading during the week is from the Book of James. It continues to offer instruction for living our lives in Christ. "Consider it all joy when you encounter various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance." In Mark's Gospel this week we have wonderful stories. Jesus drives a demon out of a man and says that it took faith and prayer. As they continue on the road to Jerusalem, he tells them of his passion, death and resurrection, but they fail to see the meaning for them. They are arguing over who is the greatest. He tells them again what it means to be a disciple: to welcome little ones. In a series of sayings Jesus warns his disciples about scandalizing little ones, and calls them to remove any obstacle to their following him. The Pharisees ask him about divorce, to test him and turn the people from him. Jesus clearly responds about the sacredness of marriage. Because the disciples were discouraging people from bringing children to Jesus, Jesus embraces and blesses the children. Sunday
is the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.
This
week is a great preparation for our journey with Jesus more deeply
into the mystery of self-giving love. "I am the living
bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live
forever; |
|
Daily Prayer This WeekThis is a great week to pray for simplicity, and all the graces that flow from this gift. Now simplicity doesn't mean being simple minded or naive. It means being like the little children Jesus called us to imitate and the little children he embraced. It is easy to take few moments each morning this week to ask for the graces that we need to look into our busy calendars, and into our very full hearts, and find the areas that need greater simplicity. Of course, part of that prayer comes out of a desire to be less complicated, to be less stressed by conflict and to not be pulled in too many directions. Another level of that prayer is that we might be more trusting, more vulnerable and more dependent upon God. This is to ask for that great grace of living a life that comes together - with the various parts in harmony with each other, i.e., the me that goes to church on Sunday is the same me that interacts with my family and the me that goes to work each day. Each
of us will find ways to ask for these graces according to our own circumstances.
Some of us may be able to set time aside every day to pray. But, even
those of us who can't seem to find that time can choose to focus our
consciousness enough to gather our interior movements together in ongoing
brief, but very meaningful, conversations with our Lord. If our days
can begin with naming the desire that will give shape to our thoughts
and desires throughout the day, then that discipline will pay off richly
in our ability to re-connect to that desire when we are in the midst
of doing almost anything. It starts to become easy to recall what we
asked the Lord for in just 30 or 40 seconds in the morning. While walking
somewhere or while doing almost anything else that used to just be filled
with worry or anxiety or "day dreaming," we can now talk with
our Lord about this event or that conflict, this person or that habit
of mine. Each brief, "background" encounter with our Lord
will help us repeat our desire to be made more simple. "Whoever
does not accept the Kingdom of God like a child will not enter it.” |
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