Reflection:
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Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. - John 6
The Twentieth Week of Ordinary Time
On the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time the key question the people are asking is: "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" Jesus tells us that eating his flesh and drinking blood is real food and drink. It gives us life, eternal life. We are one with him and he is one with us.
Monday is the Memorial of Saint Pius X, pope. Tuesday is the Memorial of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Thursday is the Feast of Saint Bartholomew, Apostle.
We continue reading from the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel. We are treated to some of the best of Ezechiel's prophesy this week.He is sharp and biting in his calls for conversion and comforting in his prophesy about God's fidelity and mercy, especially in the field of dry bones that come to life.
In this week's selection from Matthew's Gospel we read some wonderful words of Jesus about being his follower. A young man who was wealthy asks about gaining eternal life. Jesus tells him to follow the commandments. When the man says he wants to be perfect, Jesus says, "If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.Then come, follow me." The man went away with sadness because "he had many possessions." When Jesus tells his disciples how hard it is for the rich to be saved, his disciples worry, but he says "for God all things are possible." Jesus says there will be a great turning of the tables - the last being the first and the first falling to last place. But, he tells them the parable of the landowner that hires workers throughout the day, including the last hours. When he pays them all the same, the workers who worked all day grumbled. Jesus asks, "Are you envious because I am generous?" He adds again, "The last will be first, and the first will be last." When asked the greatest commandment he gives the double command of loving God and neighbor. Jesus warns against the self serving ways of the religious elite. He says, "The greatest among you must be your servant."
On the Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time - we continue the Bread of Life discussion, with many of the disciples finding Jesus' call to be nourished on his body and blood as tough to swallow. And they leave him. Peter speaks for the others: "Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."
Daily Prayer This Week
We talk through our everyday life this week, with two images in the background of our consciousness: Jesus is the bread that gives us intimacy with him and gives us life, and the descriptions of our relationship with him in the gospels.
Each day, we begin our day with the practice of briefly pausing, at our bedside to focus the day with a 15-30 second prayer. It is so helpful to develop this habit by simply doing it three or four days in a row. Even if I say that I'm "half-awake" at this time, we can discover what a difference this way of beginning the day can be. With practice, it gets easier to say, "Thank you for this day, Lord. Please, be with me today, especially when I do ______ this morning and this afternoon as I __________ . Give me more patience, love and trust in you." While washing up and dressing, we can expand this prayer, in a simple friend-to-friend conversation with our Lord. This kind of "connecting" or "checking-in" with our Lord at the beginning of the day, lets a background connection with our Lord develop and grow, while I'm doing many things. It changes our consciousness and connects and integrates this fundamental relationship I desire with the things I'm doing, whether they are pleasant, routine or quite difficult.
Throughout the week I might be thinking of what it would mean for me to sell what I have, give it to the poor, and really follow Jesus. What is preventing me from following the Lord more completely? Are there "riches" that I know are barriers to my surrendering to God's will more freely? What seems to possess me? Recognizing our lack of freedom in this area or that is the first step in being able to ask our Lord for the grace of freedom in that area.
We might also ask the Lord to show us what he desires that we be "free for." "Freedom from" is the first part of our relationship. Then, we are free to be sent. What am I being freed for? What loving, what new generosity, what type of self-giving? What neighbor, in my family, or the poor of the world, am I being called to notice and serve? We might ask the Lord to reveal to us this week how we are called to be servant.
We will still do what is on our schedule, respond to all our commitments. The difference will be that we will do it more "in touch" with the Lord. Staying focused and connecting with our Lord throughout the day is at the heart of prayer, "Raising our minds and hearts to God." And, at the end of each day, we give thanks for this gifted presence that day.
