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The Catholic Calendar for Tuesday, July 9, 2002 The Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time Scripture from today's Liturgy of the Word: Hosea 8:4-7,11-13 Psalm 115:3-10 Matthew 9:32-38 A reflection on today's Scripture . . . . "They have mouths but cannot speak. . ." (Psalm 115:5) Often we tend to overlook the psalm that occurs between the two readings. We see it almost as incidental. But the psalms are prayers, and often they are used to reemphasize or make a point in a different way. Today's psalm is a perfect example. Hosea spoke of the Kings in Israel that were appointed and anointed without consulting God. People went their own ways, making their own kings, and their own gods. What is the difference between the God that is and the gods we make? Well, ultimately, it's that when we make gods, we become like them. The psalm says, that their makers become like them and so do all who trust in them. When we trust the gods we make, we become filled with the anger, hatred, malice, anxiety, envy, greed, and filth that we have created them from. We do not receive peace, but we create a feedback loop that fills us with more of ourselves. No, false idols offer us nothing. Money can't save us. A better position at work or in society won't redeem us. A prettier wife, a more handsome husband, better behaved children, while perhaps desirable, will in no way make us better persons. We don't become better persons by looking at what is less than ourselves, but by looking at Him who is above all things. We can't ascend while looking at what is beneath our feet, We must look up. All false idols are beneath us, less than us, figments of our imagination. God is above us and He speaks and moves and calls us to come up and join Him. We can only do so when we stop playing in the dirt and start looking to our Father to lift us up. - JuandelaCruz, T.O.Carm. ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) YOU CAN HELP to evangelize the Word of God: Please recommend our website to your friends and Catholic webmasters. The meditations are in English & Spanish at http://www.borg.com/~joachim/DailyMeds.html (case sensitive). ARCHIVED Meditations: http://www.abcsoffaith.com/quiet/quietplace.html and at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] For ALL communications, including subscribe/unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (c)2002 The Way, The Truth, The Life. Permission granted to make reprints of the meditations or to post on any web page, except for profit. Scripture texts in this work are taken from the New American Bible with Revised New Testament and Revised Psalms (c)1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. and are used by permission of the copyright owner. All Rights Reserved. No part of the New American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner. Full text from the New American Bible: http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/index.htm Lives of the Saints: http://www.christdesert.org/public_texts/martyrology/ |
Title: Meditation: Tuesday, July 9, 2002
