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The
natural human mystery of intimate love can shine light on virtually
every aspect of Catholic tradition. |
To read reflections by Gordon Hilsman on Cycle A,
B, or C of the scripture readings from the Catholic Lectionary (also used by many
Protestant Churches), click on Previous Reflections on the task bar
above. Click here to order Intimate Spirituality from Amazon.com
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| Scripture
Readings August 17, 2008 |
Weekly
Reflection
August 17, 2008 |
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Isaiah 56: 1, 6-7 Thus says the LORD: Observe what is right, do what is just; for my salvation is about to come, my justice, about to be revealed. And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, ministering to him, Loving the name of the LORD, and becoming his servants-- All who keep the sabbath free from profanation and hold to my covenant, Them I will bring to my holy mountain and make joyful in my house of prayer; Their holocausts and sacrifices will be acceptable on my altar, For my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples. Romans 11: 13-15, 29-32 Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I glory in my ministry in order to make my race jealous and thus save some of them. For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable. Just as you once disobeyed God but have now received mercy because of their disobedience, so they have now disobeyed in order that, by virtue of the mercy shown to you, they too may (now) receive mercy. For God delivered all to disobedience, that he might have mercy upon all. Matthew 15: 21-28 Then Jesus went from that place and withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman of that district came and called out, "Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is tormented by a demon." But he did not say a word in answer to her. His disciples came and asked him, "Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us." He said in reply, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." But the woman came and did him homage, saying, "Lord, help me." He said in reply, "It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs." She said, "Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters." Then Jesus said to her in reply, "O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish." And her daughter was healed from that hour.
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Persistent Belief in The Goodness of Humanity The sumptuous and highly controversial 2008 film "Brideshead Revisited" focuses on Catholic piety, dramatically highlighting its awesome power and its peril when lived out to unhealthy proportions. While not faithful at all to Evelyn Waugh's 1945 classic British novel of the same title, and seen as anti Catholic to some viewers, it does bring drama to the conflict Christianity has often had with intimate love. As the tag line states, "Love is not ours to control". The movie presents Charles Ryder as the most healthy male in the story, atheist though he be. Having rejected his Church of England roots along with other values of a fairly uncaring father, he searches for meaning wherever it strikes him while remaining enormously tolerant of those he loves, including for the most part, their constraining religion. When he falls in love with the sister of a college friend he finds that the powerful pull their hyper-religious mother holds on both the siblings effectively prevents their lives from unfolding with any dep joy. Guilt has take joy's place. As a non-Catholic and even non-Christian he is out and they are in. In the fifteen years in which the story takes place he discobvers just how in they are and their coercive mother even in death imprisons their love for anyone human. God must be served not only first, but indeed exclusively. "Who's in and Who's Out", a perennial game of the overly religious, propells believers into political realms that easily abandon the spiritual. Today's Scripture readings seem to head off such certainty about who God loves and who God rejects, as if teaching that it's not our's to decide such things. Each of these readings refers to the goodness of all of humanity. Isaiah proclaims for Yahweh, "For my house shall be a house of prayer for all peoples". Paul calls himself the "apostle to the Gentiles" as he asserts, "For God delivered all to disobedience, that he might have mercy upon all." Jesus' story in the gospel reading honors the deep faith and persistence of a non-Jew by granting her a miracle. "In" and "out" don't matter. Love matters. Faith matters. But not an exclusive, Mine is better than yours" faith. Rather the valued is faith that springs from loving in any genuine form. The Vatican II documents contain the same message as today's scripture. The natural goodness of all of humanity grows even without Christian ministry, as stated in the 1965 Vatican II Document Nostra Aetate, "Declaration on the Relationship of the Church to Non-Christian Religions". In the end it will be love that will unite humanity. And romance has a major part in that evolution.
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