Readings:https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/070421.cfm
“Jesus will work no mighty deeds in our lives unless we abandon ourselves to
Him in faith.” [Scott Hahn: Son of Mary Reflection, 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time]. Last Sunday we heard about FAITH producing miracles and that if we TRUST our HOPE and our FAITH will be strengthened. We will not always get what we pray for, but we will always get what God wants us to receive at that moment, so TRUST is essential. Today’s readings deal with hardness of heart; Jesus “…was amazed at their lack of faith.”
Trust in our society is diminishing each day on an individual and an institutional level.
Scandals occur so regularly; we hardly pay any attention to them. TRUST is the basis of any worthwhile relationship. In today’s Gospel Jesus is in His hometown; His native place – He meets with astonishing skepticism; they simple do not TRUST Jesus. Prayer is the foundation of intimacy and TRUST with God.
Jesus is the Messiah, the Lord of the Kingdom however many of the Jews were looking for a Messiah to be Israel King in an earthly Kingdom not build a heavenly Kingdom here on earth. Jesus, the Messiah, the WORD enfleshed in their midst, in their town, yet “they took offense at Him.”
When Presidents Harry Truman and Abraham Lincoln left office – they were considered failures by many, but today historians judge them as good men and good presidents.
Many times, we fall into the “if only’s”.
“If only I were younger ….
If only I were prettier ….
If only I were more athletic ….
If only I were older ….
If only I were smarter ….
If only I didn’t have cancer, arthritis, etc.
If only I were (fill-in-the-blank)
When we are heavily burdened with “if only’s”, we should remember that Ezekial and Paul could have been burdened with the “if only’s” BUT they didn’t they chose to do what God asked of them. Jesus perfectly reflected God to the Jewish people – Jesus fully human and fully divine: two natures - one person. The Jewish people of Jesus’ time were called by God to surrender their will to God’s; many chose not to do so.
Surrendering one’s will to God’s is an ongoing, never ending process, and at the heart of that surrender is Prayer and TRUST.
Jesus wants us to surrender our will to His in FAITH and in TRUST, in the Risen Lord, the Son of God, the Messiah. God called Ezekial and Paul to announce His message and God calls each of us to do the same. One of the greatest gifts we can give God is our daily routine, how we live each moment of each day. Jesus blessed the ordinary by His life and He wants us to do the same.
Representative Gabrielle Giffords (a.k.a. Gabby Giffords) and her husband, astronaut Mark Kelly in their book Gabby: A Story of Courage and Hope, tell the inspiring story of the congresswoman's recovery from the traumatic brain injury she suffered in January 2011 when she was shot. Mark Kelly wrote "our spouses are often our teachers, guiding us in ways that may be clear only in retrospect . . . after my second spaceflight, in 2006 Gabby and I got to have lunch with the legendary British astrophysicist Stephen Hawking. Hawking was paralyzed and it took him an excruciatingly long time to say anything and I [Mark Kelly] … gave up on conversing with him. But Gabby was just incredible, she intuitively knew what to do. "… she kneeled down in front of his wheelchair and said, 'Dr. Hawking, how are you today?'
She waited silently and patiently. Using a device that tracks the motion of a single facial muscle, he took at least ten minutes to compose & utter the phrase 'I'm fine. How are you?' Gabby was in no rush. She could have kneeled there for an hour, waiting for an answer, I was so impressed. "After Gabby was injured, I found myself thinking about her encounter with Stephen Hawking …. that memory helped me understand how I would need to interact with her. It was as if Gabby was giving me a message: 'Watch me. I will be your teacher and someday, you'll have to be patient with me, and this is how you'll need to do it." ["Gabby" Connections, July 8, 2012]
Today we are reminded to strengthen our relationships and the most important relationship we have, the one we have with Jesus. We need to strengthen that relationship through PRAYER and through TRUST in God’s plan for us. St. Francis de Sales said, “Let us be who we are and be it well, in order to bring honor to the Master craftsman whose handiwork we are.” [Oeurves, XII. Letter 289 10 June 1607]
You and I are children of God, for a few minutes, in silence, think about how you can be a child of God and be that well!
St. Joseph pray for us.
St. Andre Bessette intercede for us.
May God Be Praised.
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