May 21, 2013

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Tuesday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time 
Lectionary: 342

Reading 1SIR 2:1-11

My son, when you come to serve the LORD,

stand in justice and fear,

prepare yourself for trials.

This is a very important teaching.  Faith alone simply goes against all that Scripture teaches.  Everyone who decides to seek God will  have his faith tried by fire.  It is nothing to simply claim to love God.  God will make you prove it:

1 Peter 1:7  That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

Be sincere of heart and steadfast,

incline your ear and receive the word of understanding,

undisturbed in time of adversity.

The Preacher who wrote this verse is the wisest of men.  First of all, we must come to God with no deceit in our hearts.  God reads our hearts like we read books.  Second, we should be docile and obedient to the Word of God which is pure wisdom.  Third, we should be at peace and place all our confidence in God, even when things are not going as we think they should.

Wait on God, with patience, cling to him, forsake him not;

thus will you be wise in all your ways.

Our hope is always in God.  We must wait on Him and stay with Him, that is the best decision we can make.

Accept whatever befalls you,

when sorrowful, be steadfast,

and in crushing misfortune be patient;

For in fire gold and silver are tested,

and worthy people in the crucible of humiliation.

There's a song that says, "I didn't promise you a rose garden."  Folks!  Jesus came to suffer and die on the cross and give us an example to follow.  What makes anyone think that we, who believe in God, are not supposed to suffer.  If anything, God expects us to suffer in this life in order that we may be pure enough to enter into eternal life:

Hebrews 12:8  But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.

Trust God and God will help you;

trust in him, and he will direct your way;

keep his fear and grow old therein.

The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.  Always remain in this fear.  For it is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the Living God:

Hebrews 10:30 For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people.31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

You who fear the LORD, wait for his mercy,

turn not away lest you fall.

You who fear the LORD, trust him,

and your reward will not be lost.

You who fear the LORD, hope for good things,

for lasting joy and mercy.

You who fear the LORD, love him,

and your hearts will be enlightened.

Fear the Lord and love Him.  Fear the Lord and trust Him.  Fear the Lord and hope in Him.  For God's mercy is everlasting.

Study the generations long past and understand;

has anyone hoped in the LORD and been disappointed?

Has anyone persevered in his commandments and been forsaken? 

has anyone called upon him and been rebuffed?

Compassionate and merciful is the LORD;

he forgives sins, he saves in time of trouble

and he is a protector to all who seek him in truth.

Believe in God and you will not be disappointed.  In this life you will have trouble.  But cling to God and in the next life, God will wipe away every tear.

Responsorial PsalmPS 37:3-4, 18-19, 27-28, 39-40

R. (see 5) Commit your life to the Lord, and he will help you.
Trust in the LORD and do good,
that you may dwell in the land and be fed in security.
Take delight in the LORD,
and he will grant you your heart’s requests.
R. Commit your life to the Lord, and he will help you.
The LORD watches over the lives of the wholehearted;
their inheritance lasts forever.
They are not put to shame in an evil time;
in days of famine they have plenty.
R. Commit your life to the Lord, and he will help you.
Turn from evil and do good,
that you may abide forever;
For the LORD loves what is right,
and forsakes not his faithful ones.
R. Commit your life to the Lord, and he will help you.
The salvation of the just is from the LORD;
he is their refuge in time of distress.
And the LORD helps them and delivers them;
he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
because they take refuge in him.
R. Commit your life to the Lord, and he will help you.

The just will persist in doing good to the end.  To do good is to keep the Commandments.  All who do the Commandments love God and love their neighbor. And God will have mercy upon them and wash them of their sins and grant them eternal life.

GospelMK 9:30-37

Jesus and his disciples left from there and began a journey through Galilee,
but he did not wish anyone to know about it.
He was teaching his disciples and telling them,
“The Son of Man is to be handed over to men
and they will kill him,
and three days after his death the Son of Man will rise.”
But they did not understand the saying,
and they were afraid to question him.

Jesus was trying to teach His Disciples about His coming passion, crucifixion, death and resurrection, but they did not understand what He was saying.  I don't blame them for that. The resurrection of the dead is something that can hardly be conceived.  Besides, they probably also thought that Jesus, the Messiah, would be crowned King.

They came to Capernaum and, once inside the house,
he began to ask them,
“What were you arguing about on the way?”
But they remained silent.
For they had been discussing among themselves on the way
who was the greatest.
Then he sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them,
“If anyone wishes to be first,
he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.”
Taking a child, he placed it in their midst,
and putting his arms around it, he said to them,
“Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me;
and whoever receives me,
receives not me but the One who sent me.”

After they arrived to their destination in Capernaum, Jesus began to teach them about service.  What it means to be a leader in the His Church.  They were meant to be the servants of the servants of God.  Because they were the leaders.  

To receive a little child in the name of Jesus Christ, I believe that means to care for, guide and protect someone in the name of Christ.  At least, in the context of that which is being taught.  Jesus is teaching the Disciples to seek to be servants and do good to the Church and not to seek vainglory and status.