Remove from me the way of falsehood, and favor me with your law. Take not the word of truth from my mouth, for in your ordinances is my hope. Psalm 19:29,43
The passage from Jeremiah tells the story of the false prophet Hananiah who offered a counterfeit hope because he did not have a true relationship with God. Jeremiah’s message, which called for sincere repentance, was honest but not popular.
Today’s Psalm 19 is a prayer for the courage to listen to and live in God’s Truth, not to ascribe to a false message just because that is the one we want to hear.
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy: We pray for the courage to hear God’s Word in the truth of our hearts, a truth created by living a life of prayer, spiritual honesty, repentance, and mercy.
Poetry: Tell All the Truth – Emily Dickinson
Tell all the truth but tell it slant — Success in Circuit lies Too bright for our infirm Delight The Truth's superb surprise As Lightning to the Children eased With explanation kind The Truth must dazzle gradually Or every man be blind —
Music: Great Is Thy Faithfulness – written by Thomas Chisholm (1866–1960)
Then the LORD said to Moses, “I will now rain down bread from heaven for you. Each day the people are to go out and gather their daily portion; thus will I test them, to see whether they follow my instructions or not.
“I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them: In the evening twilight you shall eat flesh, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread, so that you may know that I, the LORD, am your God.” Exodus 16:11-12
In both our readings, God recognizes physical hunger and ties it to spiritual strength.
In our Gospel, Jesus makes the connection clear. He tells his followers:
“For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
No matter how much we are “fed”, we will never be satisfied until our nurture blesses the rest of the world as well as ourselves.
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy: We ask to be more aware of, grateful for, and generous with the blessings we have received.
Poetry: Bread – Richard Levine
Each night, in a space he’d make between waking and purpose, my grandfather donned his one suit, in our still dark house, and drove through Brooklyn’s deserted streets following trolley tracks to the bakery.
There he’d change into white linen work clothes and cap, and in the absence of women, his hands were both loving, well into dawn and throughout the day— kneading, rolling out, shaping
each astonishing moment of yeasty predictability in that windowless world lit by slightly swaying naked bulbs, where the shadows staggered, woozy with the aromatic warmth of the work.
Then, the suit and drive, again. At our table, graced by a loaf that steamed when we sliced it, softened the butter and leavened the very air we’d breathe, he’d count us blessed.
In today’s readings, both Jeremiah and John the Baptist encounter persecution. Jeremiah is saved, but John is not. Maybe both of them had questions about how, when they were so dedicated to God, evil yet pursued them. Perhaps they felt they had run into a spiritual wall. Ever felt like that?
Our Responsorial Psalm captures the longing for an answer – an understanding of how and why God works in our lives.
Lord, in your great love, answer me.
Psalm 69:14
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy: I think it’s safe to say that we all have questions about life and death, good and evil, grace and darkness, worldly success and spiritual peace, God’s Presence and God’s apparent absence.
Poetry: The Answer – Carl Sandberg
You have spoken the answer. A child searches far sometimes Into the red dust On a dark rose leaf And so you have gone far For the answer is: Silence.
In the republic Of the winking stars and spent cataclysms Sure we are it is off there the answer is hidden and folded over, Sleeping in the sun, careless whether it is Sunday or any other day of the week,
Knowing silence will bring all one way or another.
Have we not seen Purple of the pansy out of the mulch and mold crawl into a dusk of velvet? blur of yellow? Almost we thought from nowhere but it was the silence, the future, working.
Music: Popule Meus – Motet by Tomás Luis de Victoria (1548-1611)
Ecce lignum crucis: In quo salus mundi pependit, Venite, adoremus.
Popule meus, quid feci tibi? Aut in quo contristavi te? Responde mihi.
Quia eduxi te de terra Aegypti, Parasti Crucem Salvatori tuo.
Hagios o Theos. Sanctus Deus. Hagios Ischyros. Sanctus Fortis. Hagios Athanatos, eleison himas. Sanctus Immortalis, miserere nobis.
Quia eduxi te per desertum Quadraginta annis, Et manna cibavi te, Et introduxi te in terram satis bonam, Parasti Crucem Salvatori tuo.
Hagios o Theos. Sanctus Deus. Hagios Ischyros. Sanctus Fortis. Hagios Athanatos, eleison himas. Sanctus Immortalis, miserere nobis.
Ego propter te flagellavi Aegyptum Cum primogenitis suis: Et tu me flagellatum tradidisti.
Popule meus, quid feci tibi? Aut in quo contristavi te? Responde mihi.
Ego te eduxi de Aegypto, Demerso Pharone in mare Rubrum, Et tu me tradidisti Principibus sacerdotum.
Popule meus, quid feci tibi? Aut in quo contristavi te? Responde mihi.
Ego ante te aperui mare, Et tu aperuisti lancea latus meum.
Popule meus, quid feci tibi? Aut in quo contristavi te? Responde mihi.
Behold the wood of the cross: On which hung the salvation of the world, Come, let us adore.
O my people, what have I done to you? Or wherein have I grieved you? Answer me.
Because I led you out of the land of Egypt: You have prepared a Cross for your Saviour.
O Holy God. O Holy God. O Holy Strong One. O Holy Strong One. O Holy and Immortal, have mercy upon us. O Holy and Immortal, have mercy upon us.
Because I led you through the desert, For forty years, And fed you with manna, And brought you into a land exceeding good, You have prepared a Cross for your Savior.
O Holy God. O Holy God. O Holy Strong One. O Holy Strong One. O Holy and Immortal, have mercy upon us. O Holy and Immortal, have mercy upon us.
For you I scourged Egypt, And its firstborn, And you have delivered me to be scourged.
O my people, what have I done to you? Or wherein have I grieved you? Answer me.
I brought you out of Egypt, And sank Pharaoh in the Red Sea, And you bave delivered Me To the chief priests.
O my people, what have I done to you? Or wherein have I grieved you? Answer me.
I opened the sea before you, And you have opened my side with a spear.
O my people, what have I done to you? Or wherein have I grieved you? Answer me.
I went down to the potter’s house and there he was, working at the wheel. Whenever the object of clay which he was making turned out badly in his hand, he tried again, remaking of the clay another object of whatever sort he pleased. Then the word of the LORD came to me: Can I not do to you, house of Israel, as this potter has done? says the LORD. Indeed, like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, house of Israel. Jeremiah 18:3-6
In the simple image of a potter with clay, we come to understand the transformative power of God’s grace. Like nourishment for a precious plant, that divine grace breathes new life into any fading flowers of faith, hope, and love. Jesus came among us so that we might be remade in his image as the Beloved of God.
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy: We pray for a supple heart, an acute attention, and a patient openness to God’s power in our lives.
Poetry: The Song of the Potter – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Turn, turn, my wheel! Turn round and round, Without a pause, without a sound: So spins the flying world away! This clay, well mixed with marl and sand, Follows the motion of my hand; For some must follow, and some command, Though all are made of clay!
Turn, turn, my wheel! All things must change To something new, to something strange; Nothing that is can pause or stay; The moon will wax, the moon will wane, The mist and cloud will turn to rain, The rain to mist and cloud again, To-morrow be to-day.
Turn, turn, my wheel! All life is brief; What now is bud will soon be leaf, What now is leaf will soon decay; The wind blows east, the wind blows west; The blue eggs in the robin's nest Will soon have wings and beak and breast, And flutter and fly away.
Turn, turn, my wheel! This earthen jar A touch can make, a touch can mar; And shall it to the Potter say, What makest thou? Thou hast no hand? As men who think to understand A world by their Creator planned, Who wiser is than they.
Turn, turn, my wheel! 'Tis nature's plan The child should grow into the man, The man grow wrinkled, old, and gray; In youth the heart exults and sings, The pulses leap, the feet have wings; In age the cricket chirps, and brings The harvest home of day.
Turn, turn, my wheel! The human race, Of every tongue, of every place, Caucasian, Coptic, or Malay, All that inhabit this great earth, Whatever be their rank or worth, Are kindred and allied by birth, And made of the same clay.
Turn, turn, my wheel! What is begun At daybreak must at dark be done, To-morrow will be another day; To-morrow the hot furnace flame Will search the heart and try the frame, And stamp with honor or with shame These vessels made of clay.
Stop, stop, my wheel! Too soon, too soon The noon will be the afternoon, Too soon to-day be yesterday; Behind us in our path we cast The broken potsherds of the past, And all are ground to dust at last, And trodden into clay.
Again, the Kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it. Matthew 13:45-46
On this feast, our readings offer us a perfect understanding of what motivated the life of St. Ignatius Loyola – he gave everything to possess the pearl of eternal life.
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy: We pray the Suscipe of Ignatius, asking to deepen in our understanding of how we are called to holiness in our particular life circumstances.
Poetry: As Kingfishers Catch Fire – Gerard Manley Hopkins, SJ
As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies draw flame; As tumbled over rim in roundy wells Stones ring; like each tucked string tells, each hung bell’s Bow swung finds tongue to fling out broad its name; Each mortal thing does one thing and the same: Deals out that being indoors each one dwells; Selves — goes itself; myself it speaks and spells, Crying Whát I dó is me: for that I came.
I say móre: the just man justices; Keeps grace: thát keeps all his goings graces; Acts in God’s eye what in God’s eye he is — Chríst — for Christ plays in ten thousand places, Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his To the Father through the features of men’s faces.
Music: Take, Lord, Receive – John Foley, SJ
Take, Lord, receive all my liberty, My memory, understanding, my entire will.
Give me only Your love and Your grace, that’s enough for me. Your love and Your grace, are enough for me.
Take, Lord, receive all I have and possess. You have given all to me, now I return it.
Give me only Your love and Your grace, that’s enough for me. Your love and Your grace, are enough for me.
Take, Lord, receive, all is Yours now. Dispose of it, wholly according to Your will
Give me only Your love and Your grace, that’s enough for me. Your love and Your grace, are enough for me.
The seed is the word of God, Christ is the sower; all who come to him will live for ever.
Encapsulating today’s Gospel, our Responsorial Psalm delivers the clear message that Christ sows the Word of God in our hearts. Will that Divine Seed be overwhelmed by selfish weeds? Or will it thrive? The answer comes with very high stakes – eternal life.
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy: We pray for a fertile soul, open to God’s Word, vibrant with the Gospel of Christ.
Poetry:May we raise children who love the unloved things – Nicolette Sowder
May we raise children who love the unloved things – the dandelion, the worms & spiderlings. Children who sense the rose needs the thorn & run into rainswept days the same way they turn towards sun…
And when they’re grown & someone has to speak for those who have no voice may they draw upon that wilder bond, those days of tending tender things and be the ones.
Many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother [Lazarus, who had died]. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him; but Mary sat at home. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” John 11:19-22
Jesus needed and had friends, just like we do. Martha, Mary, and Lazarus were that kind of close friends. Jesus could hang out at their house, be comfortable at their table. They loved when he visited, bustling about to tidy the house and make him a special meal. They could sit with him for the afternoon in the comfortable silence between close friends. And could expect him to share their joys and sorrows.
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy: Jesus wants to be that kind of friend with us – sharing presence, refreshment, a quiet comfort, a lively conversation. He wants to share our ups and downs and in-betweens.He wants us to love him as he loves us.
Poetry: Malcolm Guite – The Anointing at Bethany
Come close with Mary, Martha, Lazarus so close the candles stir with their soft breath and kindle heart and soul to flame within us, lit by these mysteries of life and death. For beauty now begins the final movement in quietness and intimate encounter. The alabaster jar of precious ointment is broken open for the world’s true Lover. The whole room richly fills to feast the senses with all the yearning such a fragrance brings. The heart is mourning but the spirit dances, here at the very center of all things, here at the meeting place of love and loss, we all foresee, and see beyond the cross.
Music: Pour My Love on You by Craig and Dean Phillips
Jesus said, “Have the people recline.” Now there was a great deal of grass in that place. So the men reclined, about five thousand in number. Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were reclining, and also as much of the fish as they wanted. When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples, “Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted.” So they collected them, and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves that had been more than they could eat. John 6:10-13
Today’s readings are about being fed – not only in a physical sense, but also in a spiritual sense. Jesus’s miracle with the loaves and fishes fed a lot of hungry people, but it more importantly opened their eyes to his power to redeem them. It gave them hope, the spiritual food for which we all hunger.
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy: We realize that the same Lavish Mercy which fed those on the ancient hillside feeds and transforms us throughout our lives. As Paul indicates in the second reading, it makes us one in the infinite abundance of God’s grace and call.
May we therefore “live in a manner worthy of the call we have received.”
Poetry: When a Little Was Enough – Irene Zimmerman, OSF
“Send the people away from this deserted place to find food and lodgings,” the twelve urged Jesus, “for the day is advanced and it is almost evening.”
Jesus looked at the crowd (there were about five thousand) and looked at his disciples, still excited and tired from their first mission journey.
What had they learned from the villagers of Galilee who shared bread and sheltered them from cold night winds? What had they learned of human coldness on the way?
He remembered the pain in his mother’s voice as she told of his birth night when they found no room in all of Bethlehem, House of Bread.
“You give them something to eat!” he said.
“We have only five loaves and two fish!” they protested. “How can we feed so many with so little?” He understood their incredulity.
They had yet to learn that a little was enough when it was all they had— that God could turn these very stones to bread.
“Have the crowd sit down in groups of fifty,” he said. Jesus took the food and looked up to heaven. He blessed it, broke it, gave it to the disciples to distribute to the new-formed churches.
Afterwards, when everyone was satisfied, the twelve filled twelve baskets of bread left over— as faith stirred like yeast within them.
Music: I Am – by Finding Favor
While you were sleeping While the whole world was dreaming I never left your side And I can promise I won’t be leaving
I watch you breathing And I hear you singing I feel your heart beat and I know every pain That you’re feeling
And I am the comfort when you are afraid I am the refuge when you call my name I was, I’ll be, I am
I know you’re broken You’re busted wide open You’ve fallen to pieces and you feel there’s nothing left You can hope in
But I’ll hold you together We’ll stand the weather Cause I paid the price for you And I won’t let you go, no never
And I am the comfort when you are afraid I am the refuge when you call my name I was, I’ll be, I am
And I am the future, and I am the past I am the first and I am the last I was, I’ll be, I am
I am the Father, I am the Son I am the Spirit, I am the One I was, I’ll be, I am
And I wore the thorns and I took the nails I am love, and love never fails I was, I’ll be, I am I am, I am, I am
Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Reform your ways and your deeds, so that I may remain with you in this place. Put not your trust in the deceitful words: “This is the temple of the LORD! The temple of the LORD! The temple of the LORD!” Only if you thoroughly reform your ways and your deeds; if each of you deals justly with his neighbor; if you no longer oppress the resident alien, the orphan, and the widow; if you no longer shed innocent blood in this place, or follow strange gods to your own harm, will I remain with you in this place, in the land I gave your fathers long ago and forever. Jeremiah 7:3-7
Jeremiah tells the people that God wants to reform them in a very particular way. They are to be reshaped by justice, truthfulness, mercy, holy hospitality, non-violence, and faithful worship.
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy: We examine our lives for where we need reformation. Don’t tell me you don’t need it. Everybody needs it. We get weary, distracted, hurt, stubborn, fooled, proud, and arrogant. These human conditions knock us out of spiritual shape. How great that God grants us the indulgence to reform and gladly assists us in the process!
Wisdom:
“In a higher world it is otherwise, but here below to live is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often.”
But the seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold. Matthew 13:23
How appropriate, on this feast of Anne and Joachim, that the Gospel describes the abundant yield of love and fidelity. Those virtues in Anne and Joachim shaped the heart of Mary as the Vessel of God.
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy: We gratefully remember those in our own lives who helped shape us by their faith, guardianship, and generosity – parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, trusted mentors, generous friends.
Poetry: The Splendor Falls – Alfred Lord Tennyson
The splendor falls on castle walls And snowy summits old in story; The long light shakes across the lakes, And the wild cataract leaps in glory. Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying, Blow, bugle; answer, echoes, dying, dying, dying.
O, hark, O, hear! how thin and clear, And thinner, clearer, farther going! O, sweet and far from cliff and scar The horns of Elfland faintly blowing! Blow, let us hear the purple glens replying, Blow, bugles; answer, echoes, dying, dying, dying.
O love, they die in yon rich sky, They faint on hill or field or river; Our echoes roll from soul to soul, And grow forever and forever. Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying, And answer, echoes, answer, dying, dying, dying.
I found a reference to this poem in a lovely reflection by Franciscan Sister Kathleen Murphy which you may read here:
Chorus: We are standing on the shoulders of the ones who came before us. They are giving us their courage, and they say we are glad you’re in this world.
May the strength of the ancestors encircle you. May the strength of the ancestors encircle you. And may this strength stay with you your whole life through. May the strength of the ancestors encircle you.
We are standing on the shoulders of the ones who came before us. They are giving us their courage, and they say we are glad you’re in this world.
Refrain: May you have all your choices. May you have all your voices. May your wisdom now be heard. They say we are glad you’re in this world.
May the trust of the ancestors be healing you. (2x) And may this trust stay with you your whole life through. May the trust of the ancestors be healing you.
We are lifting up our vision to the ones who will come after. We are sending them our courage, as they wait to come into this world.
Refrain: May you have all your choices. May you have all your voices. May your wisdom now be heard. They say we are glad you’re in this world.
Lavish Mercy 