Daily Retreat 08/26/09
2009 Aug 26 Wed:Ordinary Weekday
1 Thes 2:9-13/ Ps 138(139):7-8. 9-10. 11-12ab/ Mt 23:27-32
From today’s readings:“In receiving the word of God from hearing us, you received it not as the word of men, but as it truly is, the word of God.... You have searched me and you know me, Lord.... Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs....”
Whose Word Is It?
In general, the attention that we give to another’s words is an accurate indication of the respect and love we have for the other person, and our attention is also a measure of the importance that we attach to the message.
Thus, when a supervisor is giving a presentation, his subordinates are expected to be alert and focused, even if the material is lackluster. Or, when a newborn infant starts to babble, all those around are driven by love to a hushed anticipation, in spite of the inherent meaninglessness of the gibberish. Or, when even a complete stranger has a message of life or death urgency, people will suddenly pay attention.
When the biblical readings are proclaimed at Mass, they are followed by a clear reference to the Authorship: “the Word (or Gospel) of the Lord!” God is, of course, deserving of our highest respect and greatest love. Moreover, His message is more important than any merely human words. How is it, then, that you and I would ever dare dismiss His Word? And yet, all too often, listening to the Word of God proclaimed in our midst, or reading it on the pages of our Bibles, we fail to muster much loving attention, and thus treat it, not as the Word of God, as it truly is, but just as another annoying alien word.
1 Thes 2:9-13/ Ps 138(139):7-8. 9-10. 11-12ab/ Mt 23:27-32
From today’s readings:“In receiving the word of God from hearing us, you received it not as the word of men, but as it truly is, the word of God.... You have searched me and you know me, Lord.... Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs....”
Whose Word Is It?
In general, the attention that we give to another’s words is an accurate indication of the respect and love we have for the other person, and our attention is also a measure of the importance that we attach to the message.
Thus, when a supervisor is giving a presentation, his subordinates are expected to be alert and focused, even if the material is lackluster. Or, when a newborn infant starts to babble, all those around are driven by love to a hushed anticipation, in spite of the inherent meaninglessness of the gibberish. Or, when even a complete stranger has a message of life or death urgency, people will suddenly pay attention.
When the biblical readings are proclaimed at Mass, they are followed by a clear reference to the Authorship: “the Word (or Gospel) of the Lord!” God is, of course, deserving of our highest respect and greatest love. Moreover, His message is more important than any merely human words. How is it, then, that you and I would ever dare dismiss His Word? And yet, all too often, listening to the Word of God proclaimed in our midst, or reading it on the pages of our Bibles, we fail to muster much loving attention, and thus treat it, not as the Word of God, as it truly is, but just as another annoying alien word.
posted by FrPitstick | 8/25/2009
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