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Daily Reflection

Green Shadow
Jeremiah 28: 1-17 Psalm 119: 43, 79, 80, 95, 102 Matthew 14: 22-36 The combination of today’s first reading and our Gospel is an interesting one. In today’s reading, the false prophet Hananiah proclaims that God will break the control Babylon has on the Jewish people. Jeremiah admonishes Hananiah for giving the Jewish people a false sense of hope. Hananiah appears to be emblematic of a true prophet. He says all the right things like "Thus says the Lord", and performs symbolic acts with the breaking of the yoke. Jeremiah strongly admonishes the teachings of Hananiah and reminds the Jewish people that yes, God is very active in their lives but He is seeking them to put their trust in Him alone. The hope they are placing in the wrong place, the place defined by a man is just wrong. Note, however, that Jeremiah does that after Jeremiah spends time with the Lord and hears His word. What begins today’s Gospel? Jesus went up the mountain to pray. After His time in prayer, Jesus goes to those in need – his disciples in the boat in the midst of the storm – and provides them with what they need. As Peter jumps out of the boat in his exuberance to be with Jesus, it is his faith that allows him to do things he never thought possible. Look what unwavering faith will do! The storm calms in ways we never expect….we are able to do things we never thought we could do…..things turn out in ways we never imagined…when we let God take care of us and we believe. And Jesus did not stop with that miracle of the storm did He. After those in the boat declared Jesus the Son of God, what did Jesus do? He went on to perform miracles for others who may or may not have had that same understanding. Inviting Jesus into the storms of our lives makes all the difference. It just does. It is also important for us to pray for Jesus to come into the lives of others – to passionately pray for Him to come into the lives of others. Today, regardless of what life looks like for each of us, let’s pray for ourselves, for our families, for our Church, for our friends, for those who really annoy us, for those who just seem to be lost, for those who are suffering in any way…let’s pray that they will make room for Jesus in their boat and even if they do not make room for Him, let’s pray Jesus squeezes in anyway.

August 3

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Green Shadow
Matthew 14:22-36 Today’s Gospel does not just describe one of the miracles of Jesus – there is a lot going on in it and it gives us a powerful look into faith, discipleship, and the divinity of Jesus. Following the feeding of the five thousand, he commands his disciples to get into the boat and cross the lake and wait for him to arrive. A storm engulfs them and they fear for their lives. Jesus appears to them walking on the water. The boat in the storm is symbolic of The Church through the centuries. As the disciples in the boat face the perils of the storm, so the Church has faced numerous trials and tribulations through the centuries up to today. It is reminiscent of the ark in Genesis facing the storms of the great flood. To carry the boat analogy further, Bishop Robert Barron uses it in his Catholicism series as a symbol of calling to discipleship. In Luke’s version of the calling of Peter at Gennesaret (the same lake in today’s gospel), Jesus “gets into his boat” (Luke 5:3), changing his life and human history forever. Likewise, when Jesus calls us to discipleship, he “gets into our boats” and changes our lives forever. When Jesus walks on the sea, it echoes Old Testament imagery of water as a source of chaos and destruction and God’s mastery over it (Job 9:8, Ps 77:17-19). Jesus says “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid”. This evokes Exodus 3:14, where God reveals His name to Moses – “I AM who AM”. Like Matthew 8:27, where Jesus calms the seas, it is clear that only God has mastery over the elements in this way. It is also clear that the disciples see in this event who it is who stands before them – “Truly you are the Son of God”. A common misperception is that it's only in John’s gospel that Jesus reveals his true divine nature. Matthew makes clear that Jesus’ total mastery of the forces of nature can only come from God. In Jesus, God truly walks among us. Peter, as we know, has the remarkable notion to ask Jesus to call him to join him walking on the water. This is a wonderful example of Peter’s amazing faith in Jesus and of course, his human frailty. Seeing a man walking on water would be so astonishing that most people would be rendered utterly speechless. But Peter wants to join Jesus! Mirroring our human experience, Peter at first has tremendous faith but that faith is shaken when he turns away from Jesus, realizes what he is doing and begins to sink in the water – as we so often do in the hard times in our lives. He of course turns to the “Messiah, the living son of God”, as he so famously professes Jesus to be in Matthew 16:16 and begs Jesus to save him, as we do in our times of distress. “Lord save me!” - the most common of human prayers. All people (even atheists) instinctively call to God in their deepest times of distress. This is a display of God’s unfailing mercy in our human weakness. His gentle rebuke to Peter of “O you of little faith” is not a condemnation but an invitation to deeper trust, deeper faith and deeper discipleship. Even the “rock” upon which Jesus builds his church needs the loving mercy and grace from his master (and ours). Question for reflection: When in my life have I been in a situation similar to Peter’s in this story?

August 4

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Green Shadow
In today’s Gospel we hear the story of the Canaanite woman who asks Jesus to cast a demon out of her daughter. In past reflections on this passage, I have focused on the persistence of the woman, relating it to my prayer life. But today, I realize that, while persistence in prayer is virtuous and necessary, there is a bigger message here. At first glance, the Gospel passage could make it seem like Jesus was having a bad day or woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Nothing could be further from the truth. But why in the world, then, would Jesus refer to the Canaanite woman as a dog and say that he was sent only to the children of Israel? If we look at the passage in the light of the Old Testament, we see that God tends to test his servants. God tested Noah when he asked him to build an Ark and gather the animals and his family into it. God tested Abraham when he promised him a son and asked him to sacrifice Isaac. God tested Job when he permitted Satan to take away his wealth, his family, and his health. In like manner, Jesus tested the Canaanite woman. Like Noah, Abraham and Job, the woman passes the test. Rejected three times, she accepts her status as a non-Israelite “dog” and continues to ask Jesus to heal her daughter. She knows that Jesus alone is the One who can cure her daughter. But Jesus reveals the key to what she desires, and it isn’t just her persistence. The Canaanite woman is a tremendous model of faith. She has heard about the mighty deeds Jesus has done, especially his healings and his exorcisms. She knew that curing the affliction of her daughter surpassed her own power. She was powerless to release her daughter from the torments of the devil. But she believed that Jesus, the Son of David, could. Neither Jesus’ initial silence, nor the efforts of Jesus’ disciples to silence her, nor the challenge Jesus made could stop her prayer of petition. Her faith in Jesus was all she had, but it was a great faith. Jesus can and will give us everything we desire in accordance with His Will. But we are called to have great faith, even when things look bleak or we are seemingly rejected by unanswered prayer. Our faith must exceed our human understanding and emotions. Our faith can lead us to say to the Lord, “Thy Will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Today’s Question for Prayer and Reflection Does my persistence in seeking God’s Will reflect a great faith? Source for today’s reflection: https://epriest.com/reflections/view/3513

August 5

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Green Shadow
Daniel 7:9-14 Psalm 97 2 Peter 1:16-19 Matthew 17:1-9 Today our Church celebrates an incredible event – the Transfiguration of Jesus. The Transfiguration of Jesus solidifies His divine Sonship. He truly is the Son of God. Our gospel passage does not include the first few words of the text in the passage as written in Matthew’s gospel: “And after six days Jesus took with Him…” The Old Testament tells us in Exodus that God revealed Himself and spoke to Moses on the seventh day, on Mount Saini. The Transfiguration is taking place on the seventh day on a mountain. Moses took with him three companions. Jesus takes with Him three companions: Peter, James, and John. These three would be the strongest of the Apostles who would carry forth the Mission of Christ in the Church that Jesus established. Go further with the revelation – the face of Jesus and Moses both were radiant, both events included the cloud of God, and both included the voice of God. Moses represents the Law of God and Elijah represents the prophets – Moses and Elijah were there to proclaim that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law and the prophets. Now, imagine you are one of the three Apostles present. Are you in awe? Are you speechless because you are taken aback at the magnificence of the event? Do you believe in a way you never did before? Great! Welcome to a better glimpse of our relationship with God! It is a beautiful day! God smile at God today!

August 6

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Green Shadow
Today’s Gospel takes place right after Jesus’ first prediction of his passion, death and resurrection, and Peter’s rebuke of what Jesus foretold. Peter was the Rock when he listened to the voice of the Father, but he became a stumbling block when he listened to the lies of the devil. The same disciple who confessed Jesus as the Christ needed to be purified in his understanding of what it meant for Jesus to be the Messiah. Peter wanted the glory of the kingdom without the suffering of the Cross. Jesus taught him that the path to resurrection must first pass through death, and the disciple must follow the same path. Jesus then tells his disciples that not only will he suffer on the Cross, but that they, as his followers, must also carry their own cross. The way of Christ leads to glory but passes through the Cross. If we renounce our cross and try to hold on to the passing things of this life, we risk losing the gift of eternal life. To take up the cross is not simply to endure unavoidable hardships; it is to freely surrender our lives to the will of the Father, just as Jesus surrendered himself in love. The Cross reveals the pattern of Christian discipleship: we must die to selfishness to receive the fullness of life that God desires to give us. Every attachment that competes with our love for God must be surrendered so that Christ may live more fully within us. Jesus turns the gaze of the Apostles, and our gaze, from the things of earth to the things of heaven. As we look toward heaven, we see that he is the Son of Man who comes with his angels in the glory of the Father. In fact, three of the Apostles will see the glory, dominion, and kingship of the Son of Man in Jesus’ transfiguration, which we just celebrated yesterday. The glory revealed on Mount Tabor is the Father’s answer to Peter’s temptation: the Cross is not the defeat of the Messiah; it is the path by which the Son of Man enters into his glory. Today’s Question for Prayer and Reflection Am I greedily storing up treasure on earth for myself, or am I giving to the poor, serving my brothers and sisters, and storing up treasure in heaven? Source for today’s reflection: https://epriest.com/reflections/view/3515

August 7

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Green Shadow
The Gospel today from Matthew takes place immediately after the spectacular revelation of the Transfiguration. Jesus is approached by the father of a boy apparently afflicted with epilepsy. The father had previously asked the presumably empowered disciples for help, which they were unable to provide. Jesus will use this episode to demonstrate the important connection between the strength of faith and the power of prayer. Jesus will also infer that “on that mountain”, that is the mountain of the Transfiguration, when one is able to see the glory of the Lord, it is easy to have faith, but in the mundane of everyday life, belief can be much more difficult. The practice of faith must be constant. If we live by a vigorous faith we can go much farther than if we rely on our own resources. St. Cyril of Jerusalem talked of the two dimensions of faith. One is the faith by which our soul assents to dogmas and teachings and our will attests to specific truths. The other is that given by Christ to some as a free gift; a faith capable of performing works beyond human powers.

August 8

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