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The Catholic Calendar for Saturday, August 3, 2002 Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time Scripture from today's Liturgy of the Word: Jeremiah 26:11-16,24 Psalm 69:15-16,30-31,33-34 Matthew 14:1-12 A Reflection on Today's Scripture: The central point of both readings today is that it can appear that the fate of the prophet rests in the hands of those who hear their words. But what about the fate of the listeners? In the case of Jeremiah, the princes recognized that he had spoken in the name of the Lord and thus he was spared death. In John the Baptist's situation, Herod recognized that John's message was significant, but because of a promise to the daughter of Herodias, John was beheaded. There is an old saying, sometimes used in a derogatory way....namely, 'consider the source'. The statement does have more than a seed of wisdom. We, in our everyday lives sometimes 'kill the messenger', so to speak. Sometimes we do not like to hear the truth, especially about ourselves. This makes it difficult on the part of parents, employers, and close friends when, as part of their responsibility out of charity or duty they try to correct or advise. Maybe we can try to step back and 'consider the source' and think why people are saying these things to us as individuals or as a community. God through His prophets, has informed and directed us over time. Our superiors and friends, in performing their duties, do likewise. Our role is to hear the message with humility, thank the messenger, and act on their advice. Joan of Jesus, ocds ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) YOU CAN HELP to evangelize the Word of God: Please recommend our website to your friends and Catholic webmasters 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: Saturday, August 3, 2002
