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frmartinshomiliesandreflections · 11 months ago

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1st August >> Fr. Martin's Reflections / Homilies on Today's Mass Readings for Thursday, Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time (Inc. Matthew 13:47-53): ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea’.

Thursday, Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

Gospel (Except USA) Matthew 13:47-53 The fishermen collect the good fish and throw away those that are no use.

Jesus said to the crowds: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea that brings in a haul of all kinds. When it is full, the fishermen haul it ashore; then, sitting down, they collect the good ones in a basket and throw away those that are no use. This is how it will be at the end of time: the angels will appear and separate the wicked from the just to throw them into the blazing furnace where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth. ‘Have you understood all this?’ They said, ‘Yes.’ And he said to them, ‘Well then, every scribe who becomes a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out from his storeroom things both new and old.’ When Jesus had finished these parables he left the district.

Gospel (USA) Matthew 13:47-53 They put what is good into buckets, what is bad they throw away.

Jesus said to the disciples: “The Kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea, which collects fish of every kind. When it is full they haul it ashore and sit down to put what is good into buckets. What is bad they throw away. Thus it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.” “Do you understand all these things?” They answered, “Yes.” And he replied, “Then every scribe who has been instructed in the Kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old.” When Jesus finished these parables, he went away from there.

Reflections (5)

(i) Thursday, Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

The parable in today’s gospel reading presupposes the practice of the fishermen on the Sea of Galilee dragging a large net between two boats or drawing it towards the land after it has been dropped in the sea. Such a way of fishing would have drawn in a very large variety of fish, some of which could have been sold at the market place and others which could only be thrown away. Jesus is suggesting that his ministry casts a very wide net. He had earlier said in this gospel, in the setting of the Sermon on the Mount, that ‘your Father in heaven… makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends his rain on the righteous and the unrighteous’ (Mt 5:45). This indiscriminate nature of God’s generous providing love is reflecting in the broad, inclusive, ministry of Jesus. Like the sower, Jesus casts the seed of his word with abandon. Jesus reveals a God who seeks to embrace all sorts, without exception. Jesus did not reject what was far from perfect, because he understood that all were on a journey towards God. He was at home with tax collectors and sinners, with the weaknesses and frailties of others, knowing that God’s love at work through him could recreate all who came to him and help them to become all that God was calling them to be. Yet, having been embraced by the Lord’s love, conversion is required of us. We need to allow ourselves to be embraced by the Lord. We need to keep turning towards the one who is always turned towards us in love, so that we can live loving lives in the strength he gives us.

And/Or

(ii) Thursday, Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

The parable of the dragnet cast into the sea suggests that at the end of time there will be a separation out of the good from the wicked. However, this is God’s work and it will happen at the end of time. We often make the mistake of thinking that it is our work and that it should happen in the course of time. We can be prone to deciding who is good and who is bad here and now and behaving in the light of that judgement. Yet, when we make such a judgement, we are prone to getting it wrong. We see the good in ourselves more easily than the good in others and the bad in others more easily than the bad in ourselves. We also fail to appreciate that people can change for the better, with God’s help. The image of God as the potter in this morning’s first reading suggests that God can take what comes out wrong in our lives and reshape it into something good. We are all a work in progress. God may have begun a good work in us but God has yet to bring it to completion. Judgement belongs to God at the end of time, and the judging God is also the creator God who is constantly at work to bring good out of evil and new life out of what has come out wrong. As humans, we should be very slow to take on God’s work of separating the good from the evil. As Paul says in his first letter to the Corinthians, ‘Do not pronounce judgement before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness’.

And/Or

(iii) Thursday, Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

Much of Jesus’ ministry was around the shores of the Sea of Galilee. The sight of fishermen casting a large dragnet into the sea would have been an everyday occurrence. All kinds of fish – clean and unclean from a Jewish point of view – would have been caught in such a net. Jesus declares in today’s gospel reading that the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God, is like this everyday reality. Because Jesus announced that the kingdom of God was present in his own ministry, he is really saying that his own ministry has something of the quality of the casting of the dragnet. There was nothing selective about Jesus’ ministry. He cast a very wide net which embraced those considered clean and unclean according to the Jewish Law. Jesus revealed and continues to reveal a gracious God who has no favourites. If God present in Jesus has favourites it is those regarded by others as ‘sinners’, just as a doctor favours the sick over the healthy. Jesus is saying that you don’t have to be ‘good’ to be grasped by God’s reign present in his ministry. The parable also declares that just as the fishermen sit down by the shore of the sea, to separate out the good fish from the bad, so at the end of time there will be a separation of the good and the bad. God’s grace embraces us all, but we need to respond to that grace. Jesus reveals a God who loves us before we love God. He assures us that we stand within God’s love; we are God’s beloved. Yet, he also calls on us to keep on receiving that love so that we can love others as God has loved us. We are to allow God’s goodness towards us to make us good or, at least, to keep us on the path towards personal goodness, so that, in the words of Paul, we ‘may be blameless before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints’.

And/Or

(iv) Thursday, Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

The parable in today’s gospel reading is based on one of the standard ways of fishing in the Sea of Galilee at the time of Jesus. Two boats pull a very large dragnet between them. As a result, all sorts of fish are caught. Some of the fish would not be suitable for selling at the local fish market, and, so, when the catch is brought to land, these fish would have to be separated out from the fish that could be sold. In what way is the kingdom of heaven like that everyday reality by the Sea of Galilee? Perhaps Jesus is suggesting that as he goes about his ministry, he casts the net of God’s loving presence very broadly. The gospel is preached to all and sundry; Jesus does not discriminate. Everyone needs to hear the gospel of God’s unconditional love for all. No one is considered unworthy of the gospel. As Jesus says elsewhere in Matthew’s gospel, using a different image, God makes his sun to shine and his rain to fall on good and bad alike. However, Jesus is aware that not everyone will respond to his proclamation of the reign of God’s merciful and faithful love. Just as the fishermen have to separate out fish which can be sold from fish that can’t, so there will come a moment, at the end of time, when God will separate out those who tried to respond to Jesus’ proclamation of God’s loving presence and those who refused to do so. In the meantime, the Lord continues to throw the net of God’s love over our lives and his grace at work within us continues to move us to respond. The Lord does not give up on us, even if our initial response leaves a lot to be desired. He is like the potter in the first reading who keeps shaping our lives, taking even what is wrong in our lives and making something new and good from it. We, of course, are not passive clay in the Lord’s hands. We can help the efforts of the potter by continuing to open ourselves to his loving work in our lives, or we can hinder his work.

And/Or

(v) Thursday, Seventeenth week in Ordinary Time

Day to day human experience often speaks to us about God’s relationship with us and our relationship with God. For the prophet Jeremiah, the potter at his wheel speaks of God’s ability to reshape our lives when they come out wrong. God does not give up on us when our lives do not turn out as God desires for us, just as the potter does not give up on the clay when the vessel he is trying to make comes out wrong. God can work on lives that are out of shape. Whenever we turn out wrong, and we all turn out wrong from time to time, we can be tempted to give up on ourselves, to lose heart. However, at such moments. God’s way of looking upon us is very different. God always sees the potential for good in us. Like the potter, he recognizes that there is material here to work on. We all need to learn to see ourselves and others more as God sees us. Jesus also saw in the daily event of fishermen catching all kinds of fish an image of how God was relating to people in his own ministry. God, through Jesus, was casting his net far and wide without making distinctions. Jesus was drawing all sorts of people into the new community he was gathering about himself. He was revealing the God who makes his sun to shine on the bad and the good alike. He shared table with those considered sinners and those who were regarded as holy. The net of God’s abundant love is always being cast over all, as the fishermen bring in all kinds of fish in their nets. As we are drawn into the net of God’s love we are called to open ourselves to his love and allow ourselves to be shaped by it, as clay is shaped by the potter. There will be a separation at the end, as the parable suggests, but it won’t be based on God’s preferences because God’s love embraces all, but on whether or not, over time, we open ourselves up to God’s loving, renewing, presence in our lives.

Fr. Martin Hogan.

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eli-kittim · 9 months ago

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When is the end of the age?

Eli Kittim

When is the end of the age? Not where, not how, but when? The New King James Version calls this specific time period “the end of the age,” while the King James Version refers to it as “the end of the world.” Biblical scholars often ask whether the end of the age is a reference to the end of the Jewish age, which came to an end with the destruction of the temple in 70 A.D., or whether it’s an allusion to the end of human history. Given that the signs of the times coincide with this particular age, we must examine whether this is literal language, referring to first century Palestine, or figurative, pertaining to the end-times.

Since “the end of the age” is a characteristic theme of the New Testament (NT), let’s look at how Jesus explains it in the parable of the tares in Matthew 13:37-43 (NKJV emphasis added):

“He answered and said to them: ‘He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!’ “

In this parable, the constituent elements of the end of the age are highlighted, namely, the end-times, judgment day, the wicked cast into the lake of fire, and the end of human history. The key phrase that is translated as “the end of the age” comes from the Greek expression συντελείᾳ τοῦ ⸀αἰῶνος. In a similar vein, let’s see how Jesus explains the eschatological dimension of the parable of the dragnet in Matthew 13:47-50 (italics mine):

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”

Once again, in this parable, the end of the age (συντελείᾳ τοῦ ⸀αἰῶνος) is described as taking place at the last judgment, when the righteous will be separated from the wicked, while simultaneously placing emphasis on the end of the world, when “there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”

Similarly, in Matthew 24:3, the disciples ask Jesus to tell them two things, namely, when will the coming of Christ and the end of the age take place. In comparison to Matthew 24:3, the book of Acts tells us that the apostles asked Jesus if he will restore the kingdom of Israel at the end of the age (Acts 1:6). This question was asked just prior to his ascension and departure. Historically speaking, Israel was restored in the 20th century, which is one of the signs that ties in closely with Jesus’ coming and the end of the age. Jesus responds in v. 7 by saying, “it is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.” And v. 9 informs us that Jesus’ response is part of his farewell speech. In like manner, the last recorded words of Jesus in Matthew’s gospel (28:18-20 emphasis added) are as follows:

“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age [συντελείας τοῦ ⸀αἰῶνος].”

If Jesus promised to be with the disciples until “the end of the age,” and if that age is a reference to first century Palestine, does this mean that Jesus is no longer with those who have long since outlived their first century counterparts? Taken as a whole, this would also essentially imply that the resurrection of the dead, the rapture, the great tribulation, the lake of fire, judgment day, and the coming of Jesus were events that all took place in Antiquity. Is that a legitimate theologoumenon that captures the eschatology of the NT?

We find an analogous concept in the Septuagint of Daniel 12:1-4 (L.C.L. Brenton translation). Daniel mentions the resurrection of the dead and the great tribulation, but in v. 4 he is commanded to “close the words, and seal the book to the time of the end; until many are taught, and knowledge is increased.” Curiously enough, “the time of the end” in Daniel is the exact same phrase that Jesus uses for “the end of the age” in the NT, namely, καιροῦ συντελείας.

As for the biblical contents, given that the exact same language is employed in all of the parallel passages, it is clear that the end of the age is a future time period that explicitly refers to judgment day, the lake of fire, the harvest, and the consummation of the ages. Obviously, it has nothing to do with the time of Antiquity. Not to mention that the parousia is said to coincide with the end of the current world, when everything will dissolve in a great conflagration (2 Pet. 3:10)!

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gaykarstaagforever · 2 years ago

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Because both RLM and James and Maso did videos this week about RoboCop 2 (because someone is doing a new show about him or something? I don't care), I realized I had never actually seen any of the sequels. But they're free on Tubi (and perhaps elsewhere), so I watched RoboCop 2.

I had always heard all the sequels were crap. And compared to the first one, which is decidedly too good for what it is, I can see why people say that. But I thought RoboCop 2 was pretty good.

It is certainly a retread of the first one, made with less love and nuance and attention to detail than the first one, by people who were literally just doing it because they were hired last-minute to do it. But it has a lot of good stuff in it, and its problems are minor.

I like the weird Dragnet-esque score. I like Willard Pugh as the over-confident, frantic buffoon mayor, who takes what is a kind of pointless subplot and makes it compelling. I like John Doolittle's Dr. Schenk, who it at 11 and about to pop the entire movie. I like the wacky comedy RoboCop 2 attempts who scream and then commit suicide. I like how the one they actually go with is a drug-fueled Metal Gear that acts like a poorly-trained attack dog and has a Lawnmower Man TV face for no good reason.

I like how his internal heads-up display is a MacOS UI, as compared to RoboCop's green phosphorus RoboDOS (because this certainly was 1990). Oh and the Phil Tippett stop-motion work is the best that ever got here, which is great. I almost forgot I was watching dolls fight in front of a green screen. Masterfully produced. The puppet they use for RoboCop after he is ripped apart is really good, too.

The attempts at satirical advertisements like in the first one are weak, and they probably shouldn't have bothered. OCP is so cartoonishly evil in this one (complete with a Nazi-esqe flag) that it beggars belief that no one really seems to care, especially after their incompetence gets like 40 cops massacred, in front of tons of TV cameras. Nancy Allen and Felton Perry, who were so good in the first one, are basically given nothing to do here. Even RoboCop himself seems to disappear for a third of the movie to make way for some "crime does not pay" child drug lord parable that is too goofy to mean anything. They also set up a character arc for Murphy where he is wresting with who he is by way of his lingering attachment to his ex-wife, but then that just...stops.

Instead, there is a sequence where OCP turns him into WOKEboCop, where they program him to talk to kids about good nutrition instead of gunning down poor people by the hundreds! And the kids make fun of him! Take THAT, Gary Hart!

...Yeah, I'm not giving that any more thought than the people who put it in the movie didn't in 1990. It makes no sense as a metaphor for anything in this plot as it is, and is literally just a thing that happens to RoboCop that he fixes by electrocuting himself. The only message this movie seems to have is maybe "hey, evil corporations and corrupt governments and drug gangs are all the same, man," and slow down with that mind-blowing revelation, 17 year old smoking pot for the first time!

Plus what is the proposed solution to this? Letting a cyborg police man shoot absolutely everyone? RoboCop is more the victim here than the hero. That's sort of the point.

I still liked it. It is more Peter Weller as RoboCop doing RoboCop stuff, and that's what it set out to be. Solid B.

Not sure I am looking forward to the next one, where it isn't Peter Weller and it apparently turns into a kids' movie where RoboCop gets a rocket pack accessory. Weird that RoboCop 2, where a child drug lord dies under a mountain of cash while holding RoboCop's hand, is the sequel that showed restraint.

(Edit: I watched the two linked videos after I wrote this. Of course we all have similar observations so it looks like I just stole talking points from videos that came out last week. I thought for sure I'd be the only one to mention the MacOS thing...dammit, Colin.

On the plus side I am exactly as observant as YouTube talking heads of a similar age and cultural background. WHAT ARE THE CHANCES?!)

#robocop 2 #movie review #rlm #red letter media #caravan of garbage #the weekly planet

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theformulaforsuccess · 6 months ago

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Join Douglas Vandergraph as he delves into Jesus's Parable of the Dragnet (Matthew 13:47–50), exploring its profound lessons on the Kingdom of Heaven and the final judgment. Gain a deeper understanding of this parable's significance and its relevance to our lives today.

For more insightful videos, visit Douglas Vandergraph's YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/@DouglasVandergraph. Don’t forget to subscribe for more inspiring content!

#ParableOfTheDragnet #JesusParables #Matthew134750 #KingdomOfHeaven #FinalJudgment #BiblicalTeachings #ChristianSermon #DouglasVandergraph #GospelOfMatthew #NewTestamentParables

#jesusparables #parable #jesus #biblestudy #bible #youtube #motivation #success #success story #successful #successstories #motivationalspeaker #motivationalstory #inspirationalstory #motivateyourself

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marysittingathisfeet · 8 months ago

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The Book of Habbakuk

I just started the Book of Habakkuk and I wanted some background information. Of course Habakkuk (let's call him Habby (name too long) is one of the minor prophets found in the Old Testament.

The book consists of three chapters with three different messages.

Chapter 1- A discussion between God and Habakkuk

Chapter 2- An oracle of woe. There is a taunting riddle in this chapter from verse 6-20. It is a short parable with a moral lesson. The riddle is 15 verses long from verse 6 to verse 20 and is divided into five woes of three verses each.

Chapter 3-A psalm, "Habakkuk's song"

No one knows when the book was written. Nahum and Zephaniah are considered contemporaries. It is believed the book was written round the time Jehoiakim died. The Babylonians were marching towards Jerusalem, Jehoiakim was killed by Nebuchadnezzar, his body thrown outside the wall. Jehoiakim's eighteen-year-old son Jehoiachin assumed the throne. The reason this is believed is because of the following verses...

“Look at the nations and watch— and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told. I am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people, who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwellings not their own. Habbakuk 1: 5-6

Habby then describes intimately how the Babylonians are seen by the surrounding nations.

They are a feared and dreaded people; they are a law to themselves and promote their own honor. Their horses are swifter than leopards, fiercer than wolves at dusk. Their cavalry gallops headlong; their horsemen come from afar. They fly like an eagle swooping to devour; they all come intent on violence. Their hordes advance like a desert wind and gather prisoners like sand. They mock kings and scoff at rulers. They laugh at all fortified cities; by building earthen ramps they capture them. Then they sweep past like the wind and go on— guilty people, whose own strength is their god.” Habbakuk 1:7-11

Now the Babylonians did build up a ramp to conquer Jerusalem after the other city states fell to the Babylonians 1 by 1. Habbakuk describes in detail the cruelty of the Babylonians.

You have made people like the fish in the sea, like the sea creatures that have no ruler. The wicked foe pulls all of them up with hooks, he catches them in his net, he gathers them up in his dragnet; and so he rejoices and is glad. Therefore he sacrifices to his net and burns incense to his dragnet, for by his net he lives in luxury and enjoys the choicest food. Is he to keep on emptying his net, destroying nations without mercy? Habakkuk 1: 14-17

The people of Judah and the surrounding countries must have been terrified. It surely did seem that God had deserted them. Maybe they were now just becoming aware of how much God had protected them. He does the same for us. Often we are unaware of his protection.

It is thought that Habby may have been a Levite, a singer, and temple prophet because Habby writes for the director of music with stringed instruments such as harps and lyres.

It was King David who set up the temple worship. We see in 1 chronicles that...

"David, together with the commanders of the army, set apart some of the sons of Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun for the ministry of prophesying, accompanied by harps, lyres and cymbals." 1 Chronicles 25:1

Habby declares in Chapter 3 that the preceding verses were written and played on stringed instruments.

The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights.

For the director of music. On my stringed instruments. Habakkuk 3: 19

Interestingly enough Rabbinic Tradition (not Biblical) teaches that Habby was the Shunammite woman's son, who was restored to life by Elisha is 2 Kings 4:32-36

When Elisha reached the house, there was the boy lying dead on his couch. He went in, shut the door on the two of them and prayed to the Lord. Then he got on the bed and lay on the boy, mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, hands to hands. As he stretched himself out on him, the boy’s body grew warm. Elisha turned away and walked back and forth in the room and then got on the bed and stretched out on him once more. The boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes.

Elisha summoned Gehazi and said, “Call the Shunammite.” And he did. When she came, he said, “Take your son.”

Nice thought if it is true. But we wont know for sure on this side of heaven. So understanding the history of the book, helps to understand the book.

#old testament #bible study #faith #history #discipleship

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fr-martin-gospel-reflections · 11 months ago

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1st August - ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea’, Reflection on the readings for Thursday, Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time (Matthew 13:47-53)

Thursday, Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

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roman-catholic-mass-readings · 11 months ago

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1st August >> Mass Readings (Except USA)

Saint Alphonsus Mary de' Liguori, Bishop, Doctor

Thursday, Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time.

Thursday, Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Liturgical Colour: White. Year: B(II))

(Readings for the feria (Thursday))

(There is a choice today between the readings for the ferial day (Thursday) and those for the memorial. The ferial readings are recommended unless pastoral reasons suggest otherwise)

First Reading Jeremiah 18:1-6 When the clay goes wrong, the potter starts afresh.

The word that was addressed to Jeremiah by the Lord, ‘Get up and make your way down to the potter’s house; there I shall let you hear what I have to say.’ So I went down to the potter’s house; and there he was, working at the wheel. And whenever the vessel he was making came out wrong, as happens with the clay handled by potters, he would start afresh and work it into another vessel, as potters do. Then this word of the Lord was addressed to me, ‘House of Israel, can not I do to you what this potter does? – it is the Lord who speaks. Yes, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so you are in mine, House of Israel.’

The Word of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm Psalm 145(146):2-6

R/ He is happy who is helped by Jacob’s God. or R/ Alleluia!

My soul, give praise to the Lord. I will praise the Lord all my days, make music to my God while I live.

R/ He is happy who is helped by Jacob’s God. or R/ Alleluia!

Put no trust in princes, In mortal men in whom there is no help. Take their breath, they return to clay and their plans that day come to nothing.

R/ He is happy who is helped by Jacob’s God. or R/ Alleluia!

He is happy who is helped by Jacob’s God, whose hope is in the Lord his God, who alone made heaven and earth, the seas and all they contain.

R/ He is happy who is helped by Jacob’s God. or R/ Alleluia!

Gospel Acclamation John 15:15

Alleluia, alleluia! I call you friends, says the Lord, because I have made known to you everything I have learnt from my Father. Alleluia!

Or: cf. Acts of the Apostles 16:14

Alleluia, alleluia! Open our heart, O Lord, to accept the words of your Son. Alleluia!

Gospel Matthew 13:47-53 The fishermen collect the good fish and throw away those that are no use.

The Gospel of the Lord

R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

---------------------------------

Saint Alphonsus Mary de' Liguori, Bishop, Doctor

(Liturgical Colour: White. Year: B(II))

(Readings for the memorial)

(There is a choice today between the readings for the ferial day (Thursday) and those for the memorial. The ferial readings are recommended unless pastoral reasons suggest otherwise)

First Reading Romans 8:1-4 The law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.

The reason why those who are in Christ Jesus are not condemned is that the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. God has done what the Law, because of our unspiritual nature, was unable to do. God dealt with sin by sending his own Son in a body as physical as any sinful body, and in that body God condemned sin. He did this in order that the Law’s just demands might be satisfied in us, who behave not as our unspiritual nature but as the spirit dictates.

The Word of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm Psalm 118(119):9-14

R/ Lord, teach me your statutes.

How shall the young remain sinless? By obeying your word. I have sought you with all my heart; let me not stray from your commands.

R/ Lord, teach me your statutes.

I treasure your promise in my heart lest I sin against you. Blessed are you, O Lord; teach me your statutes.

R/ Lord, teach me your statutes.

With my tongue I have recounted the decrees of your lips. I rejoiced to do your will as though all riches were mine.

R/ Lord, teach me your statutes.

Gospel Acclamation Matthew 5:16

Alleluia, alleluia! Your light must shine in the sight of men, so that, seeing your good works, they may give the praise to your Father in heaven. Alleluia!

Gospel Matthew 5:13-19 Your light must shine in the sight of men.

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘You are the salt of the earth. But if salt becomes tasteless, what can make it salty again? It is good for nothing, and can only be thrown out to be trampled underfoot by men. ‘You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill-top cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp to put it under a tub; they put it on the lamp-stand where it shines for everyone in the house. In the same way your light must shine in the sight of men, so that, seeing your good works, they may give the praise to your Father in heaven. ‘Do not imagine that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete them. I tell you solemnly, till heaven and earth disappear, not one dot, not one little stroke, shall disappear from the Law until its purpose is achieved. Therefore, the man who infringes even one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be considered the least in the kingdom of heaven; but the man who keeps them and teaches them will be considered great in the kingdom of heaven.’

The Gospel of the Lord

R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

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miajolensdevotion · 2 years ago

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Matthew 13:44-14:1-12

* The Parables of the Hidden Treasures and the Pearl

1. What 2 truths do the parables of the hidden treasures and the pearl teaches us?

Answer:

Hidden treasures may be destroyed by moths, pearls should not be given to swine.

* The Parable of the Net

1. What truth is the parable of the dragnet teaches us?

Answer:

Jesus teaches us to fish. He taught us which side of the lake can catch many fish.

* A Prophet Without Honor

1. Why do you think the people in Jesus’ hometown took offense and refused to believe in Him?

Answer:

Only Jews who knew Mary, Joseph and his brothers do not believe in him.

2. Expound verse 58 and the undeniable link between faith and miracles.

Anawer:

Faith without works is dead. If we truly believe in Christ. Faith may be healed us

* John the Baptist Beheaded

1. Why was John the Baptist put to prison by Herod the Tetrarch?

Answer:

Because that is the request of Salome and her mother.

2. Summarize the event that leads to the beheading of John the Baptist in your own words.

Answer:

Salome will dance to Herod. Salome's mother requested her to beheaded John the Baptist if Herod will grant her one wish.

What verse made an impact to you today?

Answer:

V52 has a great impact on me.

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riszellira · 2 years ago

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Reflection: Ad Finem

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin was a scientist, geologist, paleontologist, philosopher, theologian, mystic, and poet—all rolled into one, a veritable renaissance man! Teilhard was an evolutionist who said that everything is evolving toward perfection, toward what he called the “Omega point” who is Christ. God’s creation has a sacred character. There is primacy of life: not only that of the human person but also that of every creature. He said that evolution has a direction, that there is finality in everything that exists.

From Teilhard’s thoughts, we can gather bits and pieces of wisdom.

We belong to different generations, but all of us have the time and the space to grow, to be versatile, to embrace more of what life can give to us. Get a hobby, learn something new that would make the best of our moments. The vibrance that we have each day is a reminder of the greatest gift that God gives us—life. It is likewise a reminder that all the things we do and all that we are have a direction that moves ad finem—toward an end.

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus introduces His parables with “The Kingdom of heaven . . .” Some of them give reference to what would happen “at the end of the age.” Today’s discourse from Jesus follows this pattern. From how He describes the net, we get to know that it is a dragnet because it is hauled ashore. Then there is some sorting that is done and what is bad is thrown away. The explanation of Jesus follows immediately—that at the end of the age, there will also be a sorting: a separation of the wicked from the righteous.

By the way we live, how would we fare in that final sorting? The words of Jesus are an affirmation that we, indeed, move toward an end.

Fr. Joel Camaya, SDB

Are you aware of the teachings of the Church on the last things?

How do you remotely prepare for the end?

Lord, at the end of my earthly journey, have mercy on me. Amen.

Prayer

… for a deep and profound respect for life especially for the unborn.

… for the strength and healing of the sick.

… for the healing and peace of all families.

Finally, we pray for one another, for those who have asked our prayers and for those who need our prayers the most.

God bless!

#reflection #prayer

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carmelitesaet · 2 years ago

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Download #CelebratingAtHome for the Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time at https://carmelites.org.au/celebratingathome

In the Gospel, Jesus compares the Kingdom to treasure hidden in a field, to a merchant on the lookout for fine pearls and to a fisherman’s dragnet which brings in a very mixed catch.

In the first parable someone stumbles across the treasure by chance. Sometimes that can happen to us, too. We are happily living our lives when, by chance, something happens or we meet someone and our lives change for ever. On reflection we discern the presence of God in that encounter.

In the second parable the Kingdom is found after a long search. It is a reassurance that those who seek always find, and those who knock on the door will always have it opened.

The third parable introduces a note of reality: the Kingdom is a mixture of all kinds of things and some sorting out is needed.

In the first two parables the joy and delight of those who find (experience) the Kingdom is obvious. It is so strong that nothing is spared in order to posses the Kingdom.

As we know, the Kingdom of God is not a ‘thing’ or a ‘place’. It is an experience or an encounter with the life of God.

In the life and ministry of Jesus many people experienced the Kingdom through their encounter with him which brought #dignity, #love, #forgiveness, release from illness, disability, guilt, shame and even death. Jesus made present the reign of God’s grace for people in all kinds of need.

The kingdom, as we are reminded in the third parable, is a mixed bag of good and rotten fish, saints and sinners. It is not the task of members of the kingdom to judge; the final sorting out belongs to God alone. In the meantime, patience and tolerance must guide the practice of those in the kingdom.

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sincerityhavingpeace · 3 years ago

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The Dragnet Parable

Wednesday, January 26, 2022 Sincerity Having Peace Instagram Post. 01/26/2022 8:00am 47-50 “Or, God’s kingdom is like a fishnet cast into the sea, catching all kinds of fish. When it is full, it is hauled onto the beach. The good fish are picked out and put in a tub; those unfit to eat are thrown away. That’s how it will be when the curtain comes down on history. The angels will come and cull…

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#Bible #Bible Study #Daily Devotionals #Daily Devotions #Devotional #Discussion #Exercise Spiritually #Inspirational #Matthew 13:47-52 #Morning Devotionals #Morning Time #Spiritual #The Dragnet Parable #Writing

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frmartinshomiliesandreflections · 2 years ago

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30th July >> Fr. Martin's Gospel Reflections / Homilies on Matthew 13:44-52 for the Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field’.

Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

Gospel (Except USA) Matthew 13:44-52 He sells everything he owns and buys the field.

Jesus said to the crowds, ‘The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field which someone has found; he hides it again, goes off happy, sells everything he owns and buys the field.

‘Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls; when he finds one of great value he goes and sells everything he owns and buys it.

‘Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea that brings in a haul of all kinds. When it is full, the fishermen haul it ashore; then, sitting down, they collect the good ones in a basket and throw away those that are no use. This is how it will be at the end of time: the angels will appear and separate the wicked from the just to throw them into the blazing furnace where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.

‘Have you understood all this?’ They said, ‘Yes.’ And he said to them, ‘Well then, every scribe who becomes a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out from his storeroom things both new and old.’

Gospel (Except USA) Matthew 13:44-46 He sells everything he owns and buys the field.

Jesus said to the crowds: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field which someone has found; he hides it again, goes off happy, sells everything he owns and buys the field. ‘Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls; when he finds one of great value he goes and sells everything he owns and buys it.’

Gospel (USA) Matthew 13:44–52 He sells all that he has and buys the field.

Jesus said to his disciples: “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea, which collects fish of every kind. When it is full they haul it ashore and sit down to put what is good into buckets. What is bad they throw away. Thus it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.

“Do you understand all these things?” They answered, “Yes.” And he replied, “Then every scribe who has been instructed in the kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old.”

Gospel (USA) Matthew 13:44–46 He sells all that he has and buys the field.

Reflections (7)

(i) Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

People have often stumbled upon a treasure hidden in a field or a bog. Some of the prized possessions in our National Museum have been discovered in that way. The Ardagh Chalice, along with a hoard of metalwork from the eighth and ninth centuries, was found in a potato field in Ardagh in 1868 by two young local boys. In the time of Jesus, when there were no bank vaults, people often kept some treasure safe by burying it in the ground. If the person subsequently died or forgot where the treasure was buried, someone else could stumble upon it and the law of finders-keepers applied.

In the first parable in today’s gospel reading Jesus says that the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field which someone has found. We are to imagine a day labourer working in someone’s field. He was going about his work, trying to earn a day’s wages, perhaps to look after his family. As he was digging the field, he unexpectedly came upon a box with treasures in it. In what sense is this person’s experience like the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God? Jesus is suggesting that God is our ultimate treasure. Because Jesus is God with us, Jesus is our greatest treasure. The parable suggests that we can stumble upon the Lord almost by accident. Without actually looking for him, we find him because he is there just under the surface of our lives. We can be working away at our daily chores, like the day labourer in the parable, and suddenly we find the treasure of the Lord. We are not consciously thinking of him, but he touches our lives because he is often hidden there in our daily experience. We might meet him in the goodness and kindness of someone who supports us at a vulnerable moment in our lives. It is not so much that we find the Lord but the Lord finds us. There are many examples of people in the gospels who stumble upon the treasure that is the Lord. They were not looking for him, but he found them as they went about their daily tasks. Matthew the tax collector comes to mind. He was working away at his tax booth, collecting taxes for the Romans, when the Lord suddenly entered his life with his call, ‘Follow me’. There was something about the way the Lord found him and called him that made Matthew realize that the money he was making on his tax collecting was worth very little; it no longer was his treasure. The Lord became his treasure, and he gave his life to him. We can come upon the Lord when we are not looking for him because the Lord is always seeking us out. We need to leave ourselves open to the possibility of finding the Lord in the field of our lives, because that is where the Lord is present, often just below the surface.

The person in the second parable is not a poor day labourer, but a wealthy merchant who spent his life searching for the finest pearls and selling them on. One day he finds a pearl of the greatest value, worth more than all the other pearls he had found put together. Here was someone who had been searching all his working life for a pearl like this and eventually found it. Jesus says that the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God, is like this merchant’s experience. Jesus may be saying that if we search for God we will find God. If we search for himself, Jesus, we will find him. If the first parable suggests that the Lord is always seeking us out, very often just beneath the surface of our lives, this parable encourages us to seek the Lord, like the merchant who sought after a truly valuable pearl until he found it. There are people in the gospels who sought out the Lord. One who comes to mind is Zacchaeus. Even though he was wealthy, he was dissatisfied. He hadn’t found his true treasure. When he heard that Jesus was passing through Jericho, he went looking for him. He even went to the extreme of climbing a sycamore tree to see Jesus, risking a certain ridicule. The risk he took paid off; he found the one he had been seeking. He discovered the truth of what Jesus once said in the gospels, ‘Seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you’. Zacchaeus who sought the Lord then discovered that the Lord had been seeking him all along. When he invited the Lord to his table, he heard the Lord say to him, ‘the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost’.

The Lord’s search for us is prior to our search for him. He seeks us out even when we are not seeking him out, just as Matthew was not seeking Jesus when Jesus found him. Yet, Jesus encourages us to seek him out, to have something of that adventurous spirit of Zacchaeus. Jesus is God’s treasure, given to us to enrich our lives and to enable us to enrich the lives of others. He is worth seeking out. It is also worth allowing ourselves to be found by him who seeks us out.

And/Or

(ii) Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

You sometimes hear it said that he or she is very ambitious. As a rule, such an observation is not meant as a complement. Yet, ambition in itself is neither negative nor positive. What determines whether ambition is praiseworthy or blameworthy is the object of our ambition. Today’s first reading presents us with an expression of praiseworthy ambition. In response to the Lord’s invitation, ‘Ask what you would like me to give you’, Solomon replied, ‘give your servant a heart to understand how to discern between good and evil’. Solomon’s desire to have the wisdom he would need to govern God’s people justly was an acceptable ambition in the Lord’s eyes.

The Lord’s invitation to Solomon, ‘ask what you would like me to give you’, finds an echo in the question that Jesus once asked of his disciples, ‘What is it you want me to do for you?’ In responding to Lord’s invitation and his question, we reveal what it is we really value. The first two parables in today’s gospel reading suggest that our primary ambition as followers of Jesus is to be for ‘the kingdom of heaven’. What is meant by ‘the kingdom of heaven’, or, its equivalent, ‘the kingdom of God’? The clue to its meaning is to be found in the opening petitions of the Lord’s Prayer that Jesus gave to his disciples, ‘Hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done’. To be ambitious for the kingdom of heaven is to be ambitious that God’s will be done. The disciple of Jesus is someone who wants what God wants and who lives accordingly. It is Jesus who revealed God’s will for our lives and who embodied that will in how he lived and died. To be ambitious for God’s kingdom then is to be ambitious to become true images of God’s Son. This is certainly God’s ambition for us; in the words of today’s second reading God always intended us to become true images of his Son. Our task is to make our ambition for ourselves and for others conform to God’s ambition for us.

According to our second reading, God wants his Son to be the eldest of many brothers and sisters who bear the image of his Son. God wants a universal family every one of whose members bears the image of God’s own beloved Son. God’s ambition is essentially communitarian in nature. To that extent our ambition for ourselves is inseparable from our ambition for others. We are to be ambitious for a community of people who are living images of God’s Son, because this is what God wants. This is the treasure in the field, the pearl of great price. Such a community is what the Book of Revelation speaks of as the heavenly city, the new Jerusalem, which will emerge at the end of time when God has overcome all the powers of evil. Yet, it is God’s ambition, and ours, that the shape of such a city would be visible among us now. That is why Jesus calls on us to pray, ‘Your will be done on earth as in heaven’. Our earthly communities are to reflect the heavenly community of the end of time.

We can sometimes, to our amazement, stumble upon the kind of community that God wants, where God’s will is done, like the poor farm labourer who unexpectedly came upon treasure hidden in the field where he was working. He was not looking for any treasure at the time; without searching, he found something of great worth. Like this farm labourer, we too can be surprised by joy as we unexpectedly discover an expression of God’s kingdom in the here and now. Like the farm labourer, we may be moved by this joyful discovery to let go of our old ways of living so as to embrace this treasure that speaks to us of God who is Love.

The main character in the second parable Jesus speaks is not a poor farm labourer but a rich merchant who does not unexpectedly stumble upon a treasure he had not been looking for. Rather, he had invested a great deal of himself in searching for a pearl of great price. Eventually, his painstaking search paid off and he found what he was looking for. His reaction to the find was the same as that of the poor farm labourer. He sold everything he owned to buy it. Like the merchant, our own finding of the earthly expression of God’s heavenly community can come at the end of a long search, in response to the Lord’s promise, ‘Seek and you will find’. However we come upon what is of true worth, the gospel reading calls on us to take all necessary steps to grasp it.

And/Or

(iii) Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

It is probably true to say that there is something of the searcher/the seeker in each one of us. We are restless by nature; we are rarely fully satisfied with where we are; we like to look beyond. This is one of the reasons why people do so much travelling. We like to see places we have not seen before, to do things we have not done before, to learn more about a particular city or country or people. We are open to new interests, new experiences, new challenges, and that can be true at any age of our lives. People can develop a whole new interest quite late in life. The concept and the practice of life-long learning have come very much to the fore in recent years. We have come to a greater appreciation that we are always learners and seekers and that it is never too late to immerse ourselves in some new project.

One area where this restlessness can show itself is in the spiritual domain. We can experience within ourselves, at any age in life, a restlessness of spirit. We may feel some dissatisfaction, for example, with the way we pray. We experience a desire to pray in a different way. We can become aware of deeper hungers and thirsts in our lives that we have not paid much attention to in the past. At a certain stage in our lives they can become more present to us and we feel that we need to do something about them, respond to them in some significant way. The first words Jesus speaks in John’s gospel take the form of a question, addressed to the disciples of John the Baptist, ‘What are you looking for?’ Jesus was addressing those disciples as seekers, as people who were searching for something that would satisfy their deepest hungers and thirsts, their spiritual longings. The second set of words that Jesus spoke to those disciples took the form of an invitation, ‘Come and see’. In a sense, Jesus was placing himself before them as the one who could respond to the longings of their spirit and heart. The something they were looking for was, in reality, someone, and Jesus was claiming to be that someone. Jesus would go on in John’s gospel to speak of himself as the source of living water and as the bread of life, the one who could satisfy our deepest thirst and hunger. The gospels suggest that Jesus was always very responsive to those who was searching, even when others were unresponsive to such people. When a blind man cried out to Jesus, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me’, and the people around Jesus scolded him and told him to be quiet, Jesus insisted that the man be brought to him. Here was the cry of someone searching for light, and his cry would not go unheard.

This morning’s gospel reading from Matthew puts before us three parables. The second parable is the story of a seeker. A merchant has given his life over to searching for fine pearls and when he when he finds one of great value he sells everything he owns and buys it. Jesus offers this parable as an image of the kingdom of God. A little earlier in Matthew’s gospel, in the context of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus had already said, ‘Seek first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these other things will be given to you as well’. Jesus was saying there that everything else we search for in life is to be secondary to that primary search for God’s kingdom and God’s righteousness. We can understand God’s righteousness as God’s will or God’s way of being, God’s way of doing things. Because that is to be our primary search in life, Jesus places it as the first petition in the prayer he gave to his disciples, the Lord’s prayer, ‘Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven’. The kingdom of God makes itself present on earth when God’s will is done, when we begin to live according to God’s purpose for our lives, as revealed to us by Jesus. According to this morning’s gospel reading, that is something really worth searching for, and, even, selling everything else for. In a sense Jesus is saying in this morning’s parable: ‘The coming of God’s kingdom - the doing of God’s will - is God’s priority. This is what God is searching for. Let God’s priority become your priority; let the object of God’s search become the object of your search too’. The one thing that is worth our while searching for is what God is searching for, what God wants.

In this morning’s second reading, St Paul puts his own words on what God is searching for, and, therefore, what deserves to be the object of our own searching. Pail says that God ‘intended us to become true images of his Son’. This is God’s will for our lives, to become true images of God’s Son. When we all become true images of God’s Son, God’s kingdom will come. Here, indeed, is a goal that is worthy of the deepest longings of our heart and spirit, to become true images of God’s Son. This is the pearl of great price that is worth searching for and sacrificing everything else for.

And/Or

(iv) Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

I sometimes watch the programme called the Antiques Roadshow on BBC1. I love watching people’s faces when they discover that some object they have had on a sideboard for years is worth thousands of pounds. Recently a man was interviewed who had been digging in his garden. He found a ring which turned out to be a medieval love ring with a ruby stone in the centre that was worth about 20,000 pounds. Sometimes people can hit upon something of great value, a true treasure, purely by accident. I was reminded of that by the first parable in today’s gospel reading. The scene is that of a poor labourer working in someone’s field; out of the blue he hits upon this great treasure and, shrewd man that he is, he scrapes together whatever few bob he can afford and buys the field off the man he was working for.

Jesus says that the kingdom of heaven is a bit like that. In other words, we can stumble upon the kingdom of God without having had any intention of searching for it in the first place. Jesus seems to be saying that God can touch our lives out of the blue, without our having done anything much to make it happen. The Lord can come to us even when we are not looking for him. There are examples in the gospel of Jesus taking an initiative towards people who had made no effort to make contact with him. He sees these people and goes towards them, even though they have not seen him. As a result, such people discover the kingdom of God almost by accident. That can be the way for many people today too. They might find themselves at some event that relates to the message of the gospel, a prayer meeting, the Eucharist, some form of outreach to those in need. They suddenly find themselves touched in some way that surprises them, perhaps touched at a level of their being that is new to them. They are moved in some way. They leave with a strong desire to explore what they have stumbled upon; they set out on a journey which gradually opens up a horizon for them that casts a new light on all that they do in their lives. Jesus is saying in that first parable that God can come to us even when we are not looking for him. We can be surprisingly graced as we go about our daily business. When that happens, when God unexpectedly touches our lives, that first parable suggests that we need to take decisive action. We need to seize the moment, to respond with all we have, because it is a moment of profound significance. That first parable suggests that the Lord’s search for us is paramount. He seeks us out even when we are unaware of him. He finds ways of offering us the treasure of the gospel even when we are not looking for it. In today’s second reading Paul speaks about God’s purpose for our lives, which is that we would become true images of God’s Son. That is God’s intention, God’s desire for us and God will find ways to bring that purpose of his for our lives to pass. God will find ways of breaking through to us, in and through the ordinary tasks that we engage in every day. Like the man in the parable going about his daily work, it is in the ordinary circumstances of our lives that we often stumble upon the treasure of the kingdom, the treasure of God’s purpose for our lives, of God’s presence.

If the first parable in the gospel reading recognizes that sometimes wonderful discoveries are made by chance, the second parable acknowledges that sometimes they are made at the end of a long and painstaking search. The man at the centre of the second parable is not a poor labourer but a rich merchant. He did not stumble upon the pearl of great value. He had spent his life looking for the finest pearls. One day, after years of searching, he found a pearl which was more beautiful than any other pearl he possessed. He gladly sold all that he owned to purchase it. Jesus says that the kingdom of God is also like the rich merchant. If the first parable suggests the primacy of God’s search for us, the second parable highlights the significance of our own search in our relationship with God. At some level we are all searchers. We seek after love and friendship; we search for truth and justice, for meaning and purpose in our lives. In the first reading we find Solomon actively seeking out wisdom. In the beatitudes at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus declares blessed all those who hunger and thirst for what is right, who seek after what God wants. A little further into the Sermon on the Mount Jesus declares, ‘seek, and you will find’. The second parable encourages us to keep faithful to that task of seeking, especially seeking the Lord, the ultimate source of all that is good. We seek the Lord in the knowledge that, as the first parable reminds us, the Lord is already seeking us out and will often grace us when we are least expecting it.

And/Or

(v) Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Treasure hunts can be a source of great joy to children. Something is hidden in some place and clues are left in various other places which, if properly followed, will lead to the hidden treasure. When someone finally makes it to the treasure, there is great joy at discovering the hidden treasure. There are different sorts of joy, and the joy of discovery is a very special joy. This joy of discovery is not confined to children. As adults we can experience that joy too. The first two parables that Jesus speaks in today’s gospel reading is about the joy of discovery. In the first parable we have to imagine a poor day labourer who is working in someone’s field. Out of the blue, without looking for it, he suddenly stumbles upon a treasure. He gathers his few possessions and happily sells them so as to have the money to buy the field with its hidden treasure, which no one knows about only himself. In the second parable we have to imagine a rich merchant who actively searches for the finest of pearls. One day his searching leads him to a pearl of much greater worth than all his other pearls put together. He gladly sells them all to buy this pearl of great price.

Both the poor labourer and the rich merchant experience the joy of discovering something wonderful. Apart from the fact that one was poor and the other was rich, they differ in one other way. The poor labourer accidentally stumbled upon the treasure while he was doing something completely unrelated to it. The rich merchant found his treasure after many years of diligently searching for it. Jesus is saying that the kingdom of God is like the experience of both of these people. The opening words of Jesus’ ministry were, ‘the kingdom of God is at hand’. Jesus was announcing that God was powerfully at work in and through his ministry, in and through all he said and did. Jesus revealed God’s presence to us, God’s love for all of humanity, God’s purpose for our lives. Jesus brings this wonderful treasure from God. Indeed, it could be said that Jesus is this treasure from God. He is the treasure hidden in the field; he is the pearl of great price. Jesus is saying in these two parables that those who encounter him as God’s treasure will experience a tremendous joy. The slight difference between the two parables suggests that some people will stumble upon the treasure that is Jesus unexpectedly, without really doing anything to find it, a little bit like the day labourer whose shovel just happened to hit upon the box of treasure. The person of Saint Paul comes to mind here. He was engaged in his work of persecuting what he considered to be a heretical Jewish movement, when suddenly Jesus came to him out of the blue. He wasn’t searching for this treasure; he literally stumbled upon it. Others will discover Jesus to be the treasure of God after much searching. The gospel character that comes to mind here is the elderly Simeon in the opening chapter of Luke’s gospel. He had spent his life searching for the Messiah. Then as he approached the end of his life he finally set his eyes on God’s Messiah, as the child Jesus was carried into the Temple of Jerusalem by his parents.

We are all here at this Eucharist this morning because, at some level, we have come to appreciate Jesus as a wonderful treasure, as a pearl of great price. For some of us, this treasure may have come to us without any real searching on our part. It came to us through others, our parents, our grandparents, those who journeyed with us in life. Others among us may have come to this treasure after much searching. Indeed, both parables may apply to some of us. Perhaps we were given the treasure of Jesus by others, just as the day labourer was given the treasure by the field he was digging, but we may have lost what we had been given. Then we may have set out on our own searching journey, like the rich merchant, and through our own searching found what we had once been given and had lost. Either way, Jesus is saying in those parables, that the treasure of the gospel is there to be discovered and to be rediscovered, and those who experience the gospel for the treasure that it is will find a joy that the world cannot give.

The day labourer and the rich merchant gladly sold all they had to preserve the treasure they had discovered and the joy that accompanied the discovery. Jesus is suggesting that he and all he stands for is a treasure that is worth sacrificing lesser treasures for. A great deal that comes our way in life can threaten this treasure of the gospel. That is why Jesus taught us to pray, ‘Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil’. We have been given this treasure not just for ourselves but for others; if we lose it or allow it to be taken from us, those who cross our path in life will be the poorer for it, and not just ourselves.

And/Or

(vi) Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Very occasionally someone stumbles upon some significant treasure. It might be someone digging in a bog or in a field on their farm. Some of the treasures that are on display in the National Museum were discovered in that very fortuitous way. In all cultures, people have hidden money and other valuables in the ground, especially during uncertain times such as war. Certainly, in the time of Jesus, when there were no financial institutions such as banks, one of the ways to keep large sums of money or valuables secure was to conceal them by burying them. Unforeseen circumstances, such as death or the ravages of war, could result in such treasures remaining undisturbed for many years. Then someone totally unconnected to the treasure could suddenly stumble upon it.

That is the scenario envisaged by the first of the three parables Jesus speaks in today’s gospel reading. The parable portrays a poor day labourer working in someone else’s field. He unexpectedly stumbles upon this treasure and, without telling anyone, he hides it again. He is determined to raise the money to buy the field. Being a poor labourer this involves selling everything he owns. It is a risky strategy. He initially makes himself even poorer than he is, but he is so happy at his unexpected discovery that he takes this risk just to gain the treasure that he has stumbled upon. Jesus says that the kingdom of God is a little bit like that whole scenario. In what way? At the beginning of his ministry Jesus had announced, ‘the kingdom of God’ is at hand. Jesus was declaring that God was powerfully present in and through his ministry. He was announcing that through him God’s loving and life-presence was fully available to all. Jesus reveals God’s reign; he the face of God’s merciful and hospitable love. To that extent, Jesus himself is the kingdom of God. He is God’s treasure freely given to us. In one of his letters, Saint Paul says, ‘we have this treasure in clay jars’. He was thinking of ourselves as the clay jars. Like the numerous clay jars in the time of Jesus which held oil and gave light, we are weak and vulnerable and brittle, and yet God has given us this wonderful treasure of his Son, the wonderful treasure of the gospel and all that flows from the gospel. Normally people would put treasure in a strong safe-box that could be sealed and locked. However, Paul acknowledges that God in giving us his Son has entrusted this wonderful treasure to clay jars. Paul goes on to say in that verse, ‘we have this treasure in clay jars so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us’.

Perhaps one of the messages of this short but though-provoking parable is that just as the day labourer unexpectedly found treasure hidden in the field that he was digging, so we can find the treasure of the Lord hidden in the sub-soil of our lives. We are being reminded that even when we are working away at some task, digging away at whatever it might be, with our mind only upon the task in hand, the Lord is not far from us. He is there, just under the surface of whatever it is we are doing. Because he is so close, even when our thoughts and interests seem very far removed from the Lord and his gospel, we can suddenly stumble upon him, almost by chance, without explicitly looking for him. The Lord can make his way to us through the soil of our lives, the stuff of life that we engage with each day. There are times in our lives when we can hit upon something that stops us in our tracks, that invites us to reflect and, even, to take some kind of decisive action, like the labourer in the parable who hit upon a treasure and sold everything he owned to possess it. The Lord can be in such experiences, even though we may not recognize him initially. He is there especially in those experiences of life that reflect the values of the kingdom of God, such as goodness, kindness, generosity, peace-making, community-building, self-emptying loving service of others. The Lord is to be found in the heart of the ordinary and he calls out to us from there. He stands ready to unexpectedly grace us from deep within the soil of our lives.

The second parable Jesus speaks in the gospel reading is very like the first but it has some subtle differences. The main character is a rich merchant who has a collection of fine pearls, one of the most precious commodities in the ancient world. He didn’t just stumble upon his treasure, the wonderful pearl that left the rest of his collection in the shade. He found it after diligently searching for it. Jesus says that kingdom of God is also like that experience. Yes, the Lord calls out to us from within the soil of our lives, but we are also encouraged to seek him with our hearts and minds, with all our strength and energy. That second parable suggests that the Lord is worthy of our earnest search because he is the pearl of great price.

And/Or

(vii) Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

I came across a quotation from the nineteenth century American novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne recently, ‘Happiness is a butterfly, which, when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you’. Is happiness something to be sought, or does it find you? Hawthorne suggests that happiness finds you if you dispose yourself to receiving it. His insight is reflected in the first of the three parables in today’s gospel reading. The poor labourer who was working in someone else’s field wasn’t seeking after a treasure that would bring him happiness. In a sense the treasure found him, happiness alighted upon him, without any seeking after it on his part. When he stumbled upon this unexpected treasure, in his joy he sells all he had so as to purchase the field and its treasure. The joy of receiving the treasure gave him the energy and freedom to take the risk of selling all he owned, so as to keep possession of this wonderful treasure which brought him so much joy.

Jesus says that the kingdom of heaven has something in common with this situation. By the term ‘kingdom of heaven’, Jesus doesn’t simply mean eternal life in God’s kingdom. The kingdom of heaven is as much a present reality as a future one. It is life together under God, life lived in response to God’s love for us through Jesus. It is life lived in relationship with God through our shared friendship with Jesus. It is a life shaped by the Holy Spirit who empowers us to befriend others in the way that the Lord has befriended us. Such a life brings us a joy that no earthly reality can bring us, a sharing in the Lord’s own joy. In the parable, Jesus is saying that this wonderful reality of the Lord’s loving relationship with us and ours with him is a treasure that is often stumbled upon. It is not always the end result of a long search. In the words of Hawthorne, this treasure and the happiness it brings can alight upon us when we are least expecting it, perhaps when we are sitting down quietly somewhere. Somehow, without looking for it, we have a sense of grace touching us, of the Lord alighting upon us. We sense not so much that we have found the Lord, but that he has found us. We have allowed him to find us, perhaps even in spite of ourselves. The Lord seeks us out even when we are not seeking him. In the gospel of Luke, Jesus refers to himself as ‘the Son of Man came to seek out and save the lost’. The Lord is always seeking us, which is why we can stumble upon him at any time, in any place, just as the labourer stumbled upon treasure in another man’s field. The Lord seeks out all. The third parable in today’s gospel suggests that his gracious love is like a great net thrown over all.

The second short parable in today’s gospel reading is very like the first parable, but it differs from it in important ways. The primary character is not a poor labourer but a wealthy merchant. He too finds a treasure, a pearl of great price. However, he doesn’t stumble upon it. He has been looking for a pearl like this all his life. The finding of this unique pearl brings him such joy that he too is prepared to sell everything he owns to possess it. Again, Jesus begins this parable by saying, ‘the kingdom of heaven is like this’. Life under God, life lived in friendship with Jesus, life inspired and shaped by the Holy Spirit, is like this. There is a pearl of great price here that is often found by those who seek it. Whereas the first parable highlighted the priority of the Lord’s search for us, meaning we can stumble upon him when we are least expecting to, this second parable acknowledges the value of our own seeking the Lord. Both are important in the gospels. The Lord who came to seek out the lost also says to us, ‘Seek and you will find’. In the gospels the Lord is very well disposed to all who were searching for a fuller light, a greater truth, a more generous love. The person of Nicodemus comes to mind who came to Jesus by night, stumbling out of the darkness towards the light. He would eventually help to provide Jesus with a dignified burial. The rich young man is another seeker who came to Jesus asking, ‘What must I do to inherit eternal life?’ The gospel says that Jesus ‘looking at him, loved him’. The Lord will always respond to our searching spirit, offering himself to us as the treasure, the pearl, who can satisfy our deepest longings and as the source of present and ultimate happiness. The two parables suggest that when we do find this treasure, whether by accident or after a long search, it is worth sacrificing a great deal to hold onto it. We have all been graced in some way by this treasure of the Lord. Today’s gospel reading calls on us to value the Lord and all he offers us, to invest ourselves in this treasure.

Fr. Martin Hogan.

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petitefleuriste · 3 years ago

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The righteous and the wicked are going to coexist right up to the end of the age. We need to keep in mind that it is not our business to separate them. It is too difficult. The workers said, “Shall we go and pull up the tares?” (vv.28-29) and the landowner said, “No, because you might pull up some of the wheat with them.” But Jesus said, “At the end of the age, I’ll send out My angels. They’ll pull out the tares and the wheat will be left.” In the same chapter, in the parable of the dragnet, Jesus said: So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire. (vv. 49-50)

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pamphletstoinspire · 5 years ago

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25 Quick Tips to Improve Your Confession

In Sacramental Theology there exists an all-important concept for the efficacious reception of any of the Sacraments. This is called Dispositive Grace or Grace of Disposition. What this concept means is simply this: the graces that you receive in your reception of the Sacraments are in direct proportion to the disposition of your soul at the moment of the reception of that specific Sacrament.

In the Sacraments, Jesus touches us directly, in the most personal and powerful way that we could possibly imagine. The Church is the Mystical Body of Christ and Christ unites Himself with us through the Sacraments.

Receiving a Guest

One of the easiest analogies to understand the concept of Dispositive Grace could be the example of inviting a guest to dinner. There is a whole gamut of ways that the guest could be received, from totally poor to excellent. In inviting a guest, you might even forget that you invited him—pretty shabby! Or the guest might come and the door is open, but there has been no prior preparation. Still again, the guest might be received with a meal prepared, but all is done in a rush, in which the guest feels as if he were a burden. Then, there might be preparation for the guest with a welcoming committee, a good meal, and great desert.

Finally, it might be such that the house was cleaned the day before, the favorite food of the guest has been prepared, the guest’s favorite music is playing in the background, and then at the end of the meal the family offers the guest a special gift that the guest really likes! Obviously, every scenario is different. This can be applied with respect to the concept of Dispositive Grace, most specifically to the reception of Jesus in the Eucharist. He could be received very poorly or with an excellent disposition.

Frequent Sacraments

There are two Sacraments that we should receive frequently until we die and meet the Lord—Confession and the Holy Eucharist. In this article we would like to highlight specific ways that we can enhance the graces that we receive in the reception of the Sacrament of Confession, sometimes called Penance or Reconciliation. The suggestions will be very short, but we hope very useful to upgrade your reception of the infinite mercy of Jesus that comes through this Sacrament.

1. Trust. We must have s limitless trust in the infinite love and mercy that comes to us through Jesus in the Sacrament of His mercy, Confession. May this prayer issue forth from our hearts time and time again: Jesus I trust in you!

2. Read Luke 15. An excellent means to prepare us to receive the Sacrament of God’s mercy is to read and meditate upon Luke 15, sometimes called the Lost and Found Chapter.

3. Parables of Mercy. In Luke 15 we encounter the lost sheep and the sheep that is found, the lost and found coin, and the lost and found son—the Prodigal Son. Confession is being found and loved by our merciful Father.

4. Just do It. The modern phrase found on many young people’s T-shirts is Just do it! The devil will prevent you from going to confession. So, kick the devil in the behind and Just do it!

5. Priest-Christ. We must renew our faith that by going to confession to the priest we are really confessing to Jesus, the Eternal High Priest.

6. Biblical Truth. Recall the words that Jesus used in instituting the Sacrament of Confession, the 1st Easter Sunday night, when the Apostles were in the Upper Room. “Receive the Holy Spirit; whose sins you forgive will be forgiven; whose sins you retain shall be retained. (Jn. 20:21-23)

7. Confess ASAP. If you have had the misfortune of falling into mortal sin, in which you have lost sanctifying grace and friendship with Jesus, do not wait, but go to Confession as soon as possible! If your house were on fire, you would not wait. What about your soul in danger of eternal perdition, do not wait!

8. Prepare Well. As said earlier expressing the concept of Dispositive Grace, the better the preparation, the more abundant the graces. The fault is never in the Sacrament but in the poor disposition of the recipient of the Sacrament.

9. How? Get a good booklet explaining the Ten Commandments in detail and read through it; better said, pray through it. Jesus said to the rich young man that salvation comes through observing the Commandments. Indeed, they are Commandments and not Suggestions!

10. Write it Down. It could be very helpful to actually write down your sins on a piece of paper; this will prevent memory-loss in the moment you go to confession. However, after confession, trash the paper and the sins.

11. Grace of True Sorrow. Of paramount importance in making a good confession is begging the Holy Spirit for the grace of true sorrow for your sins. Imperfect sorrow is called Attrition, which is Fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of Wisdom. It is also one of the seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit. Imperfect sorrow is fear of going to hell. This is enough to receive forgiveness for our sins.

12. Perfect Sorrow. However, we want to arrive at perfect sorrow. This means that we are sorry for having sinned because our sins have hurt the One who loves us so much and the One we should love in return—Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

13. Beg for the Grace. We should beg for the grace to attain both imperfect contrition, as well as perfect contrition. Saint Augustine put it concisely: We are all beggars before God.

14. Firm Purpose of Amendment. What necessarily flows from true and sincere contrition of sorrow for sin is a firm purpose of amendment. In concrete this means that we are ready and willing to avoid any person, place, or thing that can lead us into sin.

15. Don’t Play With Fire. In other words, we should not play with fire. We should not walk on a slippery moral slope. We should not walk on thin ice. Often we sin because we place ourselves in harm’s way. We must be firm in avoiding all near occasions of sin!

16. Use images. Of great utility could be as you prepare yourself for confession, as you examine your conscience and beg for true sorrow, to pray before images that raise your mind and heart to God. Three in specific: The cross, aware that our sins nailed Jesus to the cross; Divine Mercy, so that our trust will be infinite; finally, Our Lady, to whom we pray as such: Hail Holy Queen, Mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness, and our hope.

17. Pray for the Priest. On one occasion, Saint Faustina left the confessional without peace and she wondered why. Jesus revealed to her the reason: she forgot to pray for the priest before she entered the confessional. So pray for the priest (a Hail Mary or a prayer to the Guardian angels—theirs and yours) and the confession will flow more smoothly!

18. Qualities of a Good Confession. Jesus also revealed to Saint Faustina the three most important qualities of a good confession: transparency, humility, and obedience. To be a good penitent, we must express our sins with great clarity. Then we should make no excuses when we confess our sins or blame others. Finally, we should obey what the priest tells us.

19. Start Right, Close the Door, Begin. Upon entering the confessional make sure that you close the door. Then start with the proper formula: Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. My last confession was… (for example, a month ago). These are my sins…

20. Stay on Topic. In that famous TV Program Dragnet, we heard those all-important words from Joe Friday: Just the facts ma’am, just the facts. So in confession the priest wants to hear: Just the sins, mam, just the sins. Cut to the quick and tell your sins; that is the essential matter for confession, and of course a true and repentant heart!

21. Acts of Contrition and Absolution. The Sacrament concludes with you, the penitent, praying with great sincerity and fervor your Act of Contrition. Then the priest imparts absolution. With the words of Absolution through the ministry of the priest, the most Precious Blood of Jesus washes your soul clean, as white as the snow!

22. An Attitude of Gratitude. Thanks the priest, as you leave thank Jesus for His infinite love and mercy that you have received in this wonderful Sacrament! Give thanks to the Lord for He is good; His mercy endures forever.

23. Penance. The last a final step of making a good confession is to carry out the penance that the priest gave you. Once my spiritual director made a suggestion on the penance. He said always try to do double what the confessor gives you (not that this is absolutely necessary). However, it is a sign of good will and the sign of a really good grace of disposition. God will bless you all the more! God can never be outdone in generosity!

24. Healing the Wounded Heart and Soul. The specific sacramental grace of Confession is that of Healing. Sin wounds our soul, but Jesus heals us. As Jesus healed the many sick and infirm in the three years of His Public life, so He continually heals us through making good confessions. Rejoice in being healed! Indeed, Jesus is the Wounded Healer!

25. Be An Apostle of Confession! You have received so much peace, joy, happiness, love, and mercy through having received the Sacrament of God’s mercy, Confession, now go out and proclaim the Good News! Bring others to this infinite Font of God’s mercy!

FR. ED BROOM, OMV

#25 quick tips to improve confession

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