So let's talk about today's readings 7/7/09

[cheeto1]

usccb.org/nab/today.shtml

"The man then said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”
What was the purpose of this wrestling, if not to get away from the man who
initiated it? Surely he wasn’t hoping to pin him and count to 3? And what was
the man trying to do to Jacob? Why did he feel he must stop at dawn?

“I have seen God face to face,” he said".
I wonder what the man looked like? I wonder what the man on the road to Emmaus
looked like? Hosea 12:5 says the man in Isaiah was an angel, Jacob says he was
God.

Remember Hebrews 13:2? “Do not neglect to show hospitality, for by that means some have entertained angels without knowing it.” Supposing one day we entertained
an angel without knowing it, but it was really God…

I know, Jesus said, whatever you do for the least of these, you have done for Me…

Today’s psalm is very interesting:
“hearken to my prayer from lips without deceit”
“though you try me with fire, you shall find no malice in me”
“I in justice shall behold your face”
In my missal, the refrain goes so far as to say, “In my justice, I shall behold Your face”
This is a very bold psalm writer, to say to God, He will find no deceit or malice in
me, but only justice. Can any of us say these words to God? I guess King David
was just like that.

The gospel today raises 2 points:

1. “He drives out demons by the prince of demons.” – how is this even possible?
   does the devil have the power to drive out demons? I think not. And even if he
   did, why would he want to conquer his own army? Why in the world would the
   Pharisees even say this ridiculous sentence? Who is it that they think they will
   fool?
2. The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few;
   so ask the master of the harvest
   to send out laborers for his harvest."
   What does this mean? Jesus said it to His disciples, instead of saying, “I send
   you”. What would we mean if we said this prayer? Increased vocations and
   consecrated life? Naturally, yes, but is there something more?

Today is the day of St. Augustine Zhao Rong & companions, from China, who were
martyred for their faith. There were about 100 companions.

So what struck you about today’s readings? :bible1::twocents:

 

[Beachcomber]

Perhaps Jesus was teaching the disciples the value of prayer because He told them to ask the master of the harvest to send more workers. You know, the ask and you shall receive thing. However, in addition to more vocations and more lay people involved in their churches, the person who prays this might discover that s/he is called, too.

Be careful what you pray for, you might actually get it. It is straightforward to pray for vocations, but a little dicey asking God to use you yourself for His purposes. He might actually answer that prayer and it will be in a way you hadn’t intended!

 

[prodigalson12]

1. “He drives out demons by the prince of demons.” – how is this even possible?
   does the devil have the power to drive out demons? I think not. And even if he
   did, why would he want to conquer his own army? Why in the world would the
   Pharisees even say this ridiculous sentence? Who is it that they think they will
   fool?

They were trying to get the crowd to riot on him with any means they can especially including bearing false witness, of which they did on a very regular basis. It’s rather ironic, the very laws they were supposed to uphold, they trampled upon belligerently. We have all faced this in our lives, what’s amazing is how the accusers believe their own lies themselves. I sometimes find it amusing hearing of these fictions, where I wonder what planet these people are coming from, in reality, their reality is not the same as the true one, they are utterly delusional and often, their logic is so full of holes, it’s amazing others listen to them, but they do regardless.

 

[cheeto1]

Be careful what you pray for, you might actually get it. It is straightforward to pray for vocations, but a little dicey asking God to use you yourself for His purposes. He might actually answer that prayer and it will be in a way you hadn’t intended!

Well, there is such a thing as being too careful. Almost as soon as Jesus was done
with this speech, He sent His 12 apostles on their missions, healing the sick and
casting out demons, etc. I don’t think they were disappointed (except maybe Judas,
secretly), in fact, they were elated, as any of us would be, if given those powers.
If only they were around today, they could have gone around to all the hospitals and
nursing homes. They could heal all our relatives with cancer. I would sure like to be a laborer with them! Bringing joy every where we go! But, we live in today, and we have to look around and do the things given us today. Why should we neglect them, and pray for bigger things? The things given us need doing too, and we have to do our
best…

 

[cheeto1]

They were trying to get the crowd to riot on him… what’s amazing is how the accusers believe their own lies themselves… they are utterly delusional and often, their logic is so full of holes, it’s amazing others listen to them, but they do regardless.

Yeah, that really makes me mad
but are you still talking about the Pharisees…?
Doesn’t it seem like when the truth is just so true, that people should know it
when they hear it? What makes people listen to just crazy outrageous liars??

 

[lilianrose]

I find it interesting to try to figure out what the readings and the Psalm have in common. After all, they weren’t just picked arbitrarily – write on slips of paper and tossed in a box to be selected at random! They were chosen to go with each other for a particular reason.
Looking at today’s readings in that light, we find Jacob wrestling with the angel (or maybe it is more accutate to say the angel wresting with Jacob, after all he started it!) and Jesus, in a verbal “wrestling match” with the Pharisees! Both Jacob and the Jewish leaders thought they were obeying God, yet God, whether through an angel or through His Son, chose to wrestle with them!
What for? To get their attention? To lead them to His will, which means viewing the material world through spiritual eyes? Seeing the needs of others (ripe for harvest) and realizing we’re the means (laborers) to meet those needs?
And then there’s the Psalm. " . . . lips without deceit," " , , , no malice in me," “I in justice shall behold your face;” quite a bold assertion! As bold as Jacob, who had not yet realized the deceitfulness of his ways; as bold as the Pharisees, who were often self-decieved!
I think today’s message beckons us to do two things.
First, it invites us to beg for the grace of humility! To implore God to keep us from self-deception and smugness, so that unlike Jacob who stold Esau’s birthright and the Pharisees who overburdening souls already too heavily weighted by the Law, we will not be manipulators.
And secondly, it asks us to view the world as Christ did. To be a helper, easing some one else’s burdens. To be a little Christ (Christian) and willing to bear a cross.

 

[cheeto1]

I find it interesting to try to figure out what the readings and the Psalm have in common. After all, they weren’t just picked arbitrarily – write on slips of paper and tossed in a box to be selected at random! They were chosen to go with each other for a particular reason.
Looking at today’s readings in that light, we find Jacob wrestling with the angel (or maybe it is more accutate to say the angel wresting with Jacob, after all he started it!) and Jesus, in a verbal “wrestling match” with the Pharisees! Both Jacob and the Jewish leaders thought they were obeying God, yet God, whether through an angel or through His Son, chose to wrestle with them!
What for? To get their attention? To lead them to His will, which means viewing the material world through spiritual eyes? Seeing the needs of others (ripe for harvest) and realizing we’re the means (laborers) to meet those needs?
And then there’s the Psalm. " . . . lips without deceit," " , , , no malice in me," “I in justice shall behold your face;” quite a bold assertion! As bold as Jacob, who had not yet realized the deceitfulness of his ways; as bold as the Pharisees, who were often self-decieved!
I think today’s message beckons us to do two things.
First, it invites us to beg for the grace of humility! To implore God to keep us from self-deception and smugness, so that unlike Jacob who stold Esau’s birthright and the Pharisees who overburdening souls already too heavily weighted by the Law, we will not be manipulators.
And secondly, it asks us to view the world as Christ did. To be a helper, easing some one else’s burdens. To be a little Christ (Christian) and willing to bear a cross.

Lilianrose, I wish you would become an Active member, this is the most outstanding
post I’ve read in a long long time. I’m going to be reading this again for the rest of
the week!!