Saturday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time - Hillbilly Wisdom in the Plot to Kill Jesus  

Posted by siouxbhoney








There is always a choice for saint of the day. There are so many saints out there that several are being celebrated every day. I usually just go by whoever is the saint of the day on the US Conference of Catholic Bishops page. But today they had Saint Aura, virgin, sister of the sainted martyrs Adolphus and John. I couldn't find her picture or any other information about her, so I went with the saint that is on my handy-dandy little church calender. Today, we have the Blessed Virgin Mary listed as an optional memorial, which is on a lot of the Saturdays through spring and summer. I've included my favorite picture of all time of Mary, and you can check the link for more info about her.





First reading today: Micah 2:1-5




It seems that we are entering a new book that I still don't know anything about. This is from the NAB: Micah was a contemporary of Isaiah. Of his personal life and call we know nothing except that he came from the obscure village of Moresheth in the foothills. His were the broad vistas of the Judean lowland and the distant sea on the western horizon. With burning eloquence he attacked the rich exploiters of the poor, fraudulent merchants, venal judges, corrupt priests and prophets. To the man of the countryside the vices of the nation seemed centered in its capitals, for both Samaria and Jerusalem are singled out for judgment. An interesting notice in Jeremiah 26:17, 18 informs us that the reform of Hezekiah was influenced by the preaching of Micah.





I just read the passage. This is definitely a warning. God is always warning the Israelites in the old testament, and they are never listening. I guess hindsight is 20/20. If there were some crazy hillbilly running around the streets of Atlanta screaming this at all of the Christians, we'd ignore him too. We just need to listen with our hearts and minds to what God is saying to us through the world.




Gospel Reading: Matthew 12:14-21




My footnotes tell me that only in Matthew does Jesus know about the Pharisee plot to kill him. He went away, but he didn't escape. I'm pretty sure that a guy healing crowds of people was pretty easy to find, no matter how much he warned them to not talk about him.




Also, if there was all of this talk about gentiles in the prophecies about Jesus, why was it such a big debate among early Christians?


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Friday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time - Hezekiah's Boil and the Spirit of the Law  

Posted by siouxbhoney




Our saint today is Saint Theodosia of Constantinople.
This info is from the USCCB site:


Of Constantinople, of Saint Theodosia, nun, who, for the sake of protecting the ancient icon of Christ which Emperor Leo the Isaurian had commanded be taken down from the Bronze Gate of the palace [in order that it might be destroyed], suffered martyrdom.



On to the readings. First reading today: Isaiah 38:1-6, 21-22, 7-8




So, Hezekiah is ill, and Isaiah goes to him and tells him to get his affairs and his spiritual house in order, because he's going to die. When he cries out to the lord and prays, it seems like God softens up a little, and tells Isaiah the cure for this guy's illness, and tells him that he will live for another 15 years. He seems to be sick from a boil. This is some major boil that has gotten so big that it could kill him. Then Isaiah does this really cool miracle to prove to Hezekiah that the Lord is telling the truth about extending his life. This passage is telling me to open up your communication with God, because he will listen. BillP made a fantastic comment to yesterday's posting, and I think that it applies to this as well: "when do we listen? How do we know we have heard? And the answer is: now."


On to the Gospel: Matthew 12:1-8

I have two theories on this one. First, I think that Jesus may be talking about the spirit of the law versus the letter of the law. He wants everyone to follow the spirit of God's laws, and not let the letter of the law starve the most scrupulous followers. Second, he may only be saying that the priests need to mind their own business because he, Jesus, seeing as how he's God, can do whatever he wants and his followers are in the right because they are following him.



Now for some news: All faiths must defend freedom, reject hatred

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