Breaking the Word

Friday, July 13, 2007

Friday in the 14th Week of Ordinary Time (I)
Resisting the Short Cuts

Readings: Genesis 46:1-7, 28-30; Psalms 37:3-4, 18-19, 27-28, 39-40; Matthew 10:16-23

Today I’m reminded of an experience of mine whilst in school. During a road run, a classmate and I were caught trying to take a short cut. The teacher who caught us was none too pleased. After receiving a stern reprimand we were made to do some push-ups by the side of the road and then sent on our way – the long way. Isn’t it really tempting, sometimes, as we proceed on life’s journey, to try to take a short cut, or even to give up and refuse to move another inch? The road just gets too long, or the terrain too difficult, or our traveling companions too trying… Why not cut corners or settle down somewhere for good?

This is the kind of temptation that our readings help us to resist today. In both readings we find groups of people being prepared to set out. And in both situations the journey is not an easy one. In the first reading, we are nearing the end of the story of Abraham and his offspring. It’s been a story filled with much movement, with uprooting and re-settling. And even now, when Jacob is already well on in years, God invites him to set out on one final journey. In his old age, with all his family and possessions, he is to depart from Canaan in order to settle in Egypt. At a time when most would be contemplating a life of tranquil retirement, spent relaxing and enjoying one’s grandchildren and even great-grandchildren, Jacob is asked to emigrate. And, in keeping with the story as it has unfolded thus far, the only assurance he receives is God’s promise to be with him: Do not be afraid… I myself will go down with you… I myself will bring you back again… Placing his trust in God, Jacob moves. And the story arrives at its happy ending. Jacob is reunited with his favourite son Joseph: Now I can die, now that I have seen you…

In the gospel, too, even as Jesus sends out the Twelve, he prepares them as Jacob was prepared. He doesn’t try to fool them. He invites them first to remember that the way will be difficult and even treacherous: Remember, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves… Beware… Yet they are not to worry, because God will be with them: the Spirit of your Father will be speaking in you. And, as with Jacob, their endurance will lead them to a happy ending: the man who stands firm to the end will be saved…

To expect difficulties on the way, to trust in God’s ongoing presence and guidance, to look forward in hope to a happy ending – are these not the means by which the Lord helps us resist the temptation to quit? Are these not the exercises, the push-ups, through which the Lord strengthens us to travel on till journey’s end? And there is also one more crucial consideration. As contented as Jacob might have been in Canaan, there was one thing that he lacked: he longed to set eyes again on his long-lost son Joseph. Isn’t this an image of the kind of holy restlessness that motivates the Christian to repeatedly set out on the way? As with the Twelve in the gospel, we are impelled to persevere, to refrain from quitting or taking short cuts, to keep moving, because we all look forward to the second coming of the Son of Man. We all yearn for that day when every tear will be wiped away and God’s kingdom will be established in its fullness. Until then, we remain on the move…

How are we being invited to persevere today?

3 comments:

UnknownSat Jul 14, 12:30:00 am GMT+8
The surmon reminds me of my dear mom who used to always tell me that there are no short cuts in life - "You need to work hard and keep going otherwise you will get no where".

Bless her heart but I often times feel that I am working very hard - as hard as I can - and just the same making no progress and getting no where.

Many take comfort in their daily routines - I know I do. The daily newspapers, lunch hours, work cycles and then home, tv, bed etc. Rinse, wash, repeat.

When confronted with the path of the unknown vs the well-trodden, how many of us, with the heavy obligations each bears, will risk the unfamiliar? Consequently, we actually choose to go up and down the same path with all the vigour, purpose and efficiency that we have been taught to apply, and yet we are frustrated about getting nowhere.

Perhaps today's call is for us to take a chance with God and try something different. To put a part of our lives in his hands and see where it takes us. If not a leap of faith, why not at least a jump?

I keep asking myself this and remembering that to even to jump, I need to first let go of the familiar...
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magdeleneSat Jul 14, 09:09:00 am GMT+8
Fr. Chris
We all know it is easier said than done particular "to persevere". Recently, the demands at work is becoming like a daily struggle and sometimes you just want to quit. I question if God really knows the good and the evil. We have our limitations so how long can we endure such struggles ? is the sky my limit ? Perhaps, like Jacob who is always struggling with God, I must learn to surrender totally and place my complete trust in Him. Maybe then, I will have the strength to remain on the move....just like Jacob.
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Fr ChrisMon Jul 16, 10:38:00 am GMT+8
Especially when speaking of spiritual realities one cannot but resort to the language of metaphor, even though there is a perhaps greater likelihood of misunderstanding. The perseverance of which we speak is that of continually being willing to set out in faith, in response to God's call. Whether this means continuing in one's daily routine or striking out into something radically new will depend on the particular circumstances of each one. The contrast is not so much between the familiar versus the novel, as much as it is between the fear-driven and the faith-inspired. For isn't it true that it can take a tremendous leap of faith simply to remain faithful to a commitment that has begun to feel all too mundane or ordinary? Blessings...
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Breaking News: Ordinary Time

Apart from those seasons having their own distinctive character, thirty-three or thirty-four weeks remain in the yearly cycle that do not celebrate a specific aspect of the mystery of Christ. Rather, especially on the Sundays, they are devoted to the mystery of Christ in all its aspects. This period is known as Ordinary Time. Ordinary Time begins on Monday after the Sunday following 6 January and continues until Tuesday before Ash Wednesday inclusive. It begins again on Monday after Pentecost and ends before Evening Prayer I of the First Sunday of Advent. This is also the reason for the series of liturgical texts found in both the Roman Missal and The Liturgy of the Hours (Vol. III - IV), for Sundays and weekdays in this season. ~ General Norms for the Liturgical Year & Calendar, 43-44

From 36th Jesuit General Congregation

It is our union with one another in Christ that testifies to the Good News more powerfully than our competences and abilities.... In our individualistic and competitive age, we should remember that the community plays a very special role since it is a privileged place of apostolic discernment.... The Jesuit community is a concrete space in which we live as friends in the Lord. This life together is always at the service of mission, but because these fraternal bonds proclaim the Gospel, it is itself a mission. –Companions in a Mission of Reconciliation and Justice (CMRJ), nn. 7-9.

With the poor, we can learn what hope and courage mean.... In our communities and apostolates, we hear the call to rediscover hospitality to strangers, to the young, to the poor, and to those who are persecuted. Christ himself teaches us this hospitality. –CMRJ, nn. 15-16.

At the heart of Ignatian spirituality is the transforming encounter with the mercy of God in Christ that moves us to a generous personal response. The experience of the merciful gaze of God on our weakness and sinfulness humbles us and fills us with gratitude, helping us to become compassionate ministers to all.... For us Jesuits, compassion is action, an action discerned together. Yet we know that there is no authentic familiarity with God if we do not allow ourselves to be moved to compassion and action by an encounter with the Christ who is revealed in the suffering, vulnerable faces of people, indeed in the suffering of creation. –CMRJ, nn. 19-20.

(T)he Society must respond more decisively to the Church’s call for a new evangelization, giving special emphasis to ministry to and with the young and with families.... A special gift Jesuits and the Ignatian family have to offer to the Church and her mission of evangelization is Ignatian spirituality, which facilitates the experience of God and can therefore greatly help the process of personal and communal conversion. –CMRJ, nn. 22-23.

In many societies, there is an increased level of conflict and polarization, which often gives rise to violence that is all the more appalling because it is motivated and justified by distorted religious convictions. In such situations, Jesuits, along with all who seek the common good, are called to contribute from their religious-spiritual traditions towards the building of peace, on local and global levels. –CMRJ, n. 28.

Pope Francis has emphasized the fundamental connection between the environmental crisis and the social crisis in which we live today. Poverty, social exclusion, and marginalization are linked with environmental degradation. These are not separate crises but one crisis that is a symptom of something much deeper: the flawed way societies and economies are organised. The current economic system with its predatory orientation discards natural resources as well as people. For this reason, Pope Francis insists that the only adequate solution must be a radical one. The direction of development must be altered if it is to be sustainable. We Jesuits are called to help heal a broken world, promoting a new way of producing and consuming, which puts God’s creation at the center.... The multifaceted challenge of caring for our common home calls for a multifaceted response from the Society. We begin by changing our personal and community lifestyles, adopting behaviour coherent with our desire for reconciliation with creation. – CMRJ, nn. 29-30

From 35th Jesuit General Congregation

From General Congregation 35

By sending us to 'those physical and spiritual places which others do not or have difficulty reaching,' the Pope entrusts to us the task to 'build bridges of understanding and dialogue,' according to the best tradition of the Society, in the diversity of its ministries.
- Decree With Renewed Fervor and Dynamism, n. 6

To be missioned to this work 'at the New Frontiers of our times' always requires that one also be rooted at the very heart of the Church. This tension, specific to the Ignatian charism, opens the way to true creative fidelity.
- Decree With Renewed Fervor and Dynamism, n. 13

In every mission that we carry out, we seek only to be where (Christ) sends us. The grace we receive as Jesuits is to be and to go with him, looking on the world with his eyes, loving it with his heart and entering into its depths with his unending compassion.
- Decree on Identity, n. 15

For ultimately, there is no reality that is only profane for those who know how to look. We must communicate this look and provide a pedagogy inspired by the Spiritual Exercises, that carries people - especially the young - into it.
- Decree on Identity, n. 10

Our ministries of proclamation of the Word and the celebration of the Life of Christ in the sacraments continue to be fundamental for our mission and our lives together as Jesuits.
- Decree on Mission, n. 19

The complexity of the problems we face and the richness of the opportunities offered demand that we engage in building bridges between rich and poor and establishing advocacy links of mutual support between those who hold political power and those who find it difficult to voice their interests. Our intellectual apostolate provides an inestimable help in setting up these bridges, offering us new ways of understanding in depth the mechanism and links among our present problems.
- Decree on Mission, n. 28

Jesuit community is not just for mission, it is itself mission.
- Decree on Mission, n. 41

In this global context it is important to highlight the extraordinary potential represented by our character as an international and multicultural body. Acting consistently with this character can not only enhance the apostolic effectiveness of our work but in a fragmented and divided world it can witness to the reconciliation in solidarity of all the children of God.
- Decree on Mission, n. 43

Faith in Jesus Christ teaches us that self-realization comes from self-giving and that freedom is not so much the power to choose as the power to order our choices toward love. At the same time, love for Jesus Christ and the desire to follow him call us to trusting commitment. Commitment to the Word Incarnate cannot be separated from commitment to the concrete manifestations of the Word that are at the center of our lives, the Church and the Society which exists to serve the Church.
- Decree on Obedience, n. 19