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Date: Tue, 03 Aug 2010 05:12:41 +0000
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- Jesus Caught Him (August 3) [1 Update]
http://groups.google.com/group/your-daily-tripod/t/90711925053e7b65
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Topic: Jesus Caught Him (August 3)
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/your-daily-tripod/t/90711925053e7b65
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From: "dxfaro@cox.net" <dxfaro@cox.net>
Date: Aug 02 07:29PM -0700
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/your-daily-tripod/msg/e8d85d6ee817bf77
Tuesday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
By Beth DeCristofaro
Thus says the LORD: See! I will restore the tents of Jacob, … You
shall be my people, and I will be your God. (Jeremiah 30:22)
Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught (Peter), and said
to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" (Matthew 14: 31)
(Jesus) said in reply, "Every plant that my heavenly Father has not
planted will be uprooted. Let them alone; they are blind guides of the
blind. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a
pit." (Matthew 15:13,14)
Piety
I thank you for this day, Lord. May I launch out with enthusiasm and
remember to keep my eyes on you. May I refrain from making judgments
in light of my own resources and thus begin to sink. May I not settle
for swimming with difficulty, full of anxious, worried or restless
effort. Help me instead to trust that you are by me and to walk with
you, my Divine Friend. (adapted from Living in the Question, M. Basil
Pennington, p. 67).
Study
Today we have the two gospel readings from which to choose. The first
tells of Peter's leap out of the boat to go to Jesus on top of the
water. When Peter's human common sense returned to him saying "What
the heck am I doing walking on top of the sea" and he sank, Jesus
raised him to safety. In the second reading Jesus taught the disciples
that the teaching authority of the leaders, who put their own
tradition before the laws of God, is no longer credible.
It seems to me that both of these passages include a theme of
deliverance, just as does Jeremiah's message from God. God is always
there for us. When times are bad and we are drowning, it is so often
hard to sense God's presence. We might have difficulties keeping up
our spiritual practices or prayer. The water might overtop our heads
so we cannot see. But Jesus is always there coming toward us through
night, through storm, through pain, through doubt.
Jesus gives the disciples freedom from complicated and self-serving
customs. It is not formulas which lead us to God. It is the grace and
love which God plants through the workings of the Holy Spirit in our
heart which leads us out of the pit. Our study, piety and action which
are inspired by the heart movement of the Spirit keep us from being
blind.
Action
In Jeremiah's time, the news was bad. Oppression, hunger, and despair
were the daily lot of a people who wondered if God had forgotten them.
How can we reach out in the freedom God gives us, empowered by the
Holy Spirit and modeled by the generous love of Jesus to those who are
oppressed, hungry, despairing? And might we consider that that person
might be us?
In the current, heated political debate over immigration reform,
sometimes the fact that undocumented workers are just men and women
looking for a better life is lost. Is it a matter of the blind leading
the blind because we cling to a belief that what is ours is ours? The
chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Migration has publicly
applauded the recent court decision to block parts of Arizona's new
immigration law. Let your members in congress know that reform is
needed and must take human rights into account. From the USCCB
website:
"It is the right decision," Bishop Wester said. "Any law that provides
legal cover to profiling affects all members of our communities,
including legal residents and citizens. It is a very slippery slope.
What is needed now is for Congress and the Administration to live up
to their responsibilities and address this issue by passing
immigration reform."
The U.S. Catholic bishops believe that any comprehensive immigration
reform bill should contain the following elements: a legalization
program that gives migrant workers and their families an opportunity
to earn legal permanent residency and eventual citizenship; a new
worker visa program that protects the labor rights of both U.S. and
foreign workers and gives participants the option to earn permanent
residency; reform of the U.S. family-based immigration system to
reduce waiting times for family reunification; and restoration of due
process protections for immigrants, including asylum-seekers. In the
longer term, policies that address the root causes of migration, such
as the lack of sustainable development in sending nations, should also
be part of the equation. http://www.usccb.org/comm/archives/2010/10-144.shtml
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