Saturday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time

Title

Listening to God

Outline

We hear or experience something, perhaps on the news in the world, perhaps in the church, and we ask, “Where is God in all this? How shall I respond?”

That is not surprising, for the Church has often responded poorly, at least at first, to moves of God and to events in the world

I think of the initial response to St Francis of Assisi

I think of the initial response to both St Teresa of Avila and St John of the Cross

And did we handle the so-called Reformation or the French Revolution well? Not at first

Our texts give us some pointers for understanding

First, until we have opened ourselves to the last move of God we normally will not be given further revelation.

John the Baptist had come and he had been examined and found, well, questionable by the Jewish establishment.

He was a priest, but a strange priest with a strange message

The authorities did not attack him, but they also did not think they needed his kind of repentance

So when Jesus is asked about his authority, he refuses an answer until they process the previous revelation

Second, cultivate an attitude of seeking Wisdom - we never graduate from this school

Part of this is a seeking of Wisdom from God - and patience while waiting for the gift

Part of this is an ongoing thankfulness for what we have and a determination to continue on the path: “She came to me in her beauty, and until the end I will cultivate her.”

Third, remember that Christ is the Wisdom of God in its fulness so all should be measured by him and his teaching

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.” - it is our meditation and our conversation

It is our lifestyle: “whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

Sisters, I find this challenging to live

First, I often want to know more while I am still digesting the revelation I have received in the past. Saints I read decades ago still are not fully received in my life.

Second, I often want to divine Wisdom before I set my life in order. I am asking for wisdom for this, and God is saying, but you have not yet taken care of that.

Third, I prefer vending machines to personal dependence. I want to push the button and get an answer while God wants me to depend on his timing and remain in meditation and waiting until the time is right. My Pentecost homilies taught me something, but it was not the preparation of that week, but the coming together of meditations over months, if not years.

Finally, I want grand revelations, and instead it all comes back to Jesus. And I living like him? Am I absorbing and meditating on his teaching? Am I spending time with him? The Venerable Bede is a great hero of mine, a scripture scholar and faithful monk from the ancestral area of one side of my family, but I have something that he did not have, for I have the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, I have Jesus before me. I learn from and through Bede, but I am responsible to bring all my thoughts and actions before Jesus, for that is a gift I have that Bede did not. I have learned that anything I cannot bring to Jesus is a place where I am stuck and need repentance.

Sisters, these are simple thoughts arising from our readings, but they are true. I suspect that just as I need to go back to and review them time and time again, so do you.

Readings

Catholic Daily Readings 5-29-2021: Saturday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time

FIRST READING

Sirach 51:12c–20

12 He saved me from every evil

and preserved me in time of trouble.

For this reason I thank and praise him;

I bless the name of the LORD.

13 When I was young and innocent,

I sought wisdom.

14 She came to me in her beauty,

and until the end I will cultivate her.

15 As the blossoms yielded to ripening grapes,

the heart’s joy,

My feet kept to the level path

because from earliest youth I was familiar with her.

16 In the short time I paid heed,

I met with great instruction.

17 Since in this way I have profited,

I will give my Teacher grateful praise.

18 I resolved to tread her paths;

I have been jealous for the good and will not turn back.

19 I burned with desire for her,

never relenting.

I became preoccupied with her,

never weary of extolling her.

I spread out my hands to the heavens

and I came to know her secrets.

20 For her I purified my hands;

in cleanness I attained to her.

At first acquaintance with her, I gained understanding

such that I will never forsake her.

RESPONSE

Psalm 19:9ab

9 The precepts of the LORD are right,

rejoicing the heart.

The command of the LORD is clear,

enlightening the eye.

PSALM

Psalm 19:8–11

8 The law of the LORD is perfect,

refreshing the soul.

The decree of the LORD is trustworthy,

giving wisdom to the simple.

9 The precepts of the LORD are right,

rejoicing the heart.

The command of the LORD is clear,

enlightening the eye.

10 The fear of the LORD is pure,

enduring forever.

The statutes of the LORD are true,

all of them just;

11 More desirable than gold,

than a hoard of purest gold,

Sweeter also than honey

or drippings from the comb.

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION

Colossians 3:16a, 17c

16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.

17 And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

GOSPEL

Mark 11:27–33

27 They returned once more to Jerusalem. As he was walking in the temple area, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders approached him 28 and said to him, “By what authority are you doing these things? Or who gave you this authority to do them?” 29 Jesus said to them, “I shall ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 30 Was John’s baptism of heavenly or of human origin? Answer me.” 31 They discussed this among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘Of heavenly origin,’ he will say, ‘[Then] why did you not believe him?’ 32 But shall we say, ‘Of human origin’?”—they feared the crowd, for they all thought John really was a prophet. 33 So they said to Jesus in reply, “We do not know.” Then Jesus said to them, “Neither shall I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

Notes

Catholic Daily Readings 5-29-2021: Saturday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time

SATURDAY, MAY 29, 2021 | ORDINARY TIME

SATURDAY OF THE EIGHTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

YEAR 1 | ROMAN MISSAL | LECTIONARY

First Reading Sirach 51:12c–20

Response Psalm 19:9ab

Psalm Psalm 19:8–11

Gospel Acclamation Colossians 3:16a, 17c

Gospel Mark 11:27–33

GREEN