Friday, July 02, 2004
Am 8:4-6, 9-12
Hear this, you who trample upon the needy
and destroy the poor of the land!
"When will the new moon be over," you ask,
"that we may sell our grain,
and the sabbath, that we may display the wheat?"
We will diminish the containers for measuring,
add to the weights,
and fix our scales for cheating!
We will buy the lowly man for silver,
and the poor man for a pair of sandals;
even the refuse of the wheat we will sell!"
On that day, says the Lord God,
I will make the sun set at midday
and cover the earth with darkness in broad daylight.
I will turn your feasts into mourning
and all your songs into lamentations.
I will cover the loins of all with sackcloth
and make every head bald.
I will make them mourn as for an only son,
and bring their day to a bitter end.
Yes, days are coming, says the Lord God,
when I will send famine upon the land:
Not a famine of bread, or thirst for water,
but for hearing the word of the LORD.
Then shall they wander from sea to sea
and rove from the north to the east
In search of the word of the LORD,
but they shall not find it.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 119:2, 10, 20, 30, 40, 131
R (Matthew 4:4) One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.
Blessed are they who observe his decrees,
who seek him with all their heart.
R One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.
With all my heart I seek you;
let me not stray from your commands.
R One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.
My soul is consumed with longing
for your ordinances at all times.
R One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.
The way of truth I have chosen;
I have set your ordinances before me.
R One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.
Behold, I long for your precepts;
in your justice give me life.
R One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.
I gasp with open mouth
in my yearning for your commands.
R One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.
Gospel
Mt 9:9-13
As Jesus passed by,
he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post.
He said to him, "Follow me."
And he got up and followed him.
While he was at table in his house,
many tax collectors and sinners came
and sat with Jesus and his disciples.
The Pharisees saw this and said to his disciples,
"Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"
He heard this and said,
"Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do.
Go and learn the meaning of the words,
I desire mercy, not sacrifice.
I did not come to call the righteous but sinners."
I have spent the last three weeks on a road trip with matt, my fifteen year old friend, to red rocks in colorado, to hear THE DEAD. THE DEAD is a forty year cultural experience, a reminder of a time in which there was an expression of rebellion against the cultural values of society; but as matt commented, today they have moved like it happens so much into becoming a part of that death dealing culture whose ambition is to make money--to get all they can get.
for me the trip was a time of reflection, a time of sickness at times, but more importantly a time to simply be river, not father river. and as i came back, i came back to the reality of the pain that we have in this society.
our scriptures today bring home to me how much we humans never change. several days ago i commented to Matt that my cell phone book runs the gamet--including mayors, senators, prostitutes, drug dealers, pimps, to people of all ages and lifestyles. in fact my life reflects the same gamet as i am as at home with matt and his friends as i am with my priestly colleagues. as at home with the dealer as with the mayor, in fact i trust the dealer more. i am damned for all the boundaries i cross. i don;t fit into any mode, and i am hard to pin down, but in reading the gospel i feel like i am in good company--that of Jesus.
today as on each friday morning prayer consists of psalm 51--david's great repentence. it brings home for me my own unhealthiness, and how if i was not unhealthy i would not be in need of God's grace. in acknowledging that i can see that my place is with those who are not healthy in hopes of sharing my own healing.
in essence our passages are reminder from God that unhealthiness is our greed, our institional slavery and that only in breaking down the boundaries can we truly find healing. Deo Gratis! Thanks be to God!
*****************------------------------*****************
Reading I
Am 8:4-6, 9-12
Hear this, you who trample upon the needy
and destroy the poor of the land!
"When will the new moon be over," you ask,
"that we may sell our grain,
and the sabbath, that we may display the wheat?"
We will diminish the containers for measuring,
add to the weights,
and fix our scales for cheating!
We will buy the lowly man for silver,
and the poor man for a pair of sandals;
even the refuse of the wheat we will sell!"
On that day, says the Lord God,
I will make the sun set at midday
and cover the earth with darkness in broad daylight.
I will turn your feasts into mourning
and all your songs into lamentations.
I will cover the loins of all with sackcloth
and make every head bald.
I will make them mourn as for an only son,
and bring their day to a bitter end.
Yes, days are coming, says the Lord God,
when I will send famine upon the land:
Not a famine of bread, or thirst for water,
but for hearing the word of the LORD.
Then shall they wander from sea to sea
and rove from the north to the east
In search of the word of the LORD,
but they shall not find it.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 119:2, 10, 20, 30, 40, 131
R (Matthew 4:4) One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.
Blessed are they who observe his decrees,
who seek him with all their heart.
R One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.
With all my heart I seek you;
let me not stray from your commands.
R One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.
My soul is consumed with longing
for your ordinances at all times.
R One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.
The way of truth I have chosen;
I have set your ordinances before me.
R One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.
Behold, I long for your precepts;
in your justice give me life.
R One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.
I gasp with open mouth
in my yearning for your commands.
R One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.
Gospel
Mt 9:9-13
As Jesus passed by,
he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post.
He said to him, "Follow me."
And he got up and followed him.
While he was at table in his house,
many tax collectors and sinners came
and sat with Jesus and his disciples.
The Pharisees saw this and said to his disciples,
"Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"
He heard this and said,
"Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do.
Go and learn the meaning of the words,
I desire mercy, not sacrifice.
I did not come to call the righteous but sinners."
I have spent the last three weeks on a road trip with matt, my fifteen year old friend, to red rocks in colorado, to hear THE DEAD. THE DEAD is a forty year cultural experience, a reminder of a time in which there was an expression of rebellion against the cultural values of society; but as matt commented, today they have moved like it happens so much into becoming a part of that death dealing culture whose ambition is to make money--to get all they can get.
for me the trip was a time of reflection, a time of sickness at times, but more importantly a time to simply be river, not father river. and as i came back, i came back to the reality of the pain that we have in this society.
our scriptures today bring home to me how much we humans never change. several days ago i commented to Matt that my cell phone book runs the gamet--including mayors, senators, prostitutes, drug dealers, pimps, to people of all ages and lifestyles. in fact my life reflects the same gamet as i am as at home with matt and his friends as i am with my priestly colleagues. as at home with the dealer as with the mayor, in fact i trust the dealer more. i am damned for all the boundaries i cross. i don;t fit into any mode, and i am hard to pin down, but in reading the gospel i feel like i am in good company--that of Jesus.
today as on each friday morning prayer consists of psalm 51--david's great repentence. it brings home for me my own unhealthiness, and how if i was not unhealthy i would not be in need of God's grace. in acknowledging that i can see that my place is with those who are not healthy in hopes of sharing my own healing.
in essence our passages are reminder from God that unhealthiness is our greed, our institional slavery and that only in breaking down the boundaries can we truly find healing. Deo Gratis! Thanks be to God!
*****************------------------------*****************
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