Daily Readings Reflection for 6/20/09

Reflection on the Daily Readings for 6/20/09 by Fr. Bertrand Buby, SM

Today’s Readings


Scripture for Saturday of 3 week. II Cor. 12:1-10. Psalm
34:8-9.10-11.12-13. Matthew 6:24-34. Lectionary # 370:

Oh! Oh! This morning's reading from Matthew could be dangerous for those
who are procratinators!  Jesus says, "Enough, then, of worrying about
tomorrow. Let tomorrow take care of itself.Today has troubles enough of its
own."
Jesus, of course, is not promoting procrastination. His strategic plan is
not complex or hurried. What he is trying to tell us is to make of the
present moment a moment of grace.  Or as one spiritual director says, to
enjoy the sacrament of the present moment.  We know a sacrament is an
encounter with Christ and a living with Christ in the present moment just
as St. Paul does as we have learned from II Corinthians. The living with
Christ in the present is essential to fully enjoying our own life both in
its ordinary humanness but also in our call to wholesomeness in our
spiritual life.

One of the most insightful films in the last twenty-five years is entitled,
"Dead Poets' Society."  In the film, a gifted teacher of literature makes
poetry come alive for the boys at a sophisticated academy. Slowly but
surely they learn how to live poetry and how to embrace with joy the
present moment.  Some eventually realize their desires in life and come to
a marvelous freedom of mind, heart, and spirit. Others have trouble with
the message of the professor which is encaptulized in the Latin Saying,
Carpe Diem (Sieze the Day, do not miss the opportunity, live life now).When
this is transposed into the spiritual life it can mean "Seize the day by
living the present moment with the zeal and fire of Jesus himself. Capture
my enthusiasm for doing the things of the Father.  Perhaps, this poem taken
from a Jewish Prayer book will capture the moment and the meaning it should
have for us in the light of Jesus' poetry on the Sermon on the Mount:

Slowly, dimly, they sensed the presence of One greater than
themselves:
their Maker and Teacher whose will must be done if they were to
endure and
become what they could be.
Foremost among the seers of the vision were the ancestors of our
people,
and at the Mountain they pledged themselves and us, their
descendants,
to live by its light and share it with humanity.
Here we stand, heirs of the past and makers of the future:
priestly, privileged, but blinded by folly and burdened by
unfaithfulness.
Can we yet save ourselves, our people, our planet?
Can we recapture the ideal of a human family redeemed from evil,
united in love, living in peace and fulfilling its potential?
This day, more than any other, has the power to make us whole.
Let us open ourselves to its influence, that we may gain from its
observance a new heart and a new spirit.
John D. Rayner in Machzor  Ruach Chadashah, p. 172.
You may wish to read Ezekiel 36:26 for meditation today.