"The love of God is the end to which the love of neighbor is directed. God is loved in our neighbor."
--St. Thomas Aquinas
TODAY'S READINGS
MONDAY OF THE FIFTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Lectionary: 329
1 Kgs 8:1-7, 9-13
The elders of Israel and all the leaders of the tribes,
the princes in the ancestral houses of the children of Israel,
came to King Solomon in Jerusalem,
to bring up the ark of the LORD’s covenant
from the City of David, which is Zion.
All the people of Israel assembled before King Solomon
during the festival in the month of Ethanim (the seventh month).
When all the elders of Israel had arrived,
the priests took up the ark;
they carried the ark of the LORD
and the meeting tent with all the sacred vessels
that were in the tent.
(The priests and Levites carried them.)
King Solomon and the entire community of Israel
present for the occasion
sacrificed before the ark sheep and oxen
too many to number or count.
The priests brought the ark of the covenant of the LORD
to its place beneath the wings of the cherubim in the sanctuary,
the holy of holies of the temple.
The cherubim had their wings spread out over the place of the ark,
sheltering the ark and its poles from above.
There was nothing in the ark but the two stone tablets
which Moses had put there at Horeb,
when the LORD made a covenant with the children of Israel
at their departure from the land of Egypt.
When the priests left the holy place,
the cloud filled the temple of the LORD
so that the priests could no longer minister because of the cloud,
since the LORD’s glory had filled the temple of the LORD.
Then Solomon said, “The LORD intends to dwell in the dark cloud;
I have truly built you a princely house,
a dwelling where you may abide forever.”
Responsorial Psalm 132:6-7, 8-10
R. (8a) Lord, go up to the place of your rest!
Behold, we heard of it in Ephrathah;
we found it in the fields of Jaar.
Let us enter into his dwelling,
let us worship at his footstool.
R. Lord, go up to the place of your rest!
Advance, O LORD, to your resting place,
you and the ark of your majesty.
May your priests be clothed with justice;
let your faithful ones shout merrily for joy.
For the sake of David your servant,
reject not the plea of your anointed.
R. Lord, go up to the place of your rest!
Alleluia Mt 4:23
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Jesus preached the Gospel of the Kingdom
and cured every disease among the people.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel Mk 6:53-56
After making the crossing to the other side of the sea,
Jesus and his disciples came to land at Gennesaret
and tied up there.
As they were leaving the boat, people immediately recognized him.
They scurried about the surrounding country
and began to bring in the sick on mats
to wherever they heard he was.
Whatever villages or towns or countryside he entered,
they laid the sick in the marketplaces
and begged him that they might touch only the tassel on his cloak;
and as many as touched it were healed.
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You are a tassel on the cloak of Jesus
I'm not talking about giving others a touch of Jesus. No, this is about being touched by others. Today's Gospel reading says that all who touched Jesus were healed.
Are there people where you live or work or worship who are trying to touch the Jesus in you? Are you letting them? Or is there something in you that blocks their approach? Do you seem closed off in your own world of concerns? Are they afraid that you'll get annoyed? Do you intimidate them or make them feel inferior? Are you distracted by your own agenda? Do you tend to push people away because you're afraid of getting hurt?
(Sometimes we have to set boundaries against being touched in the wrong way. If another's touch on your life is destructive, that person is not going to get well through you no matter how much Jesus shines in you. God is going to make himself available through someone else, not you.)
When people encounter us they should also encounter Jesus and his love, his smile, his joy, his peace, his healing, and all the good news of the Gospel truth. If we are truly Christian, when people touch our lives, they touch the tassel of the cloak that Jesus wears.
You never know how it's going to happen. Be ready! One day in the church parking lot, as my husband and I got out of the car, a stranger ran over to us and said, "Give me a hug!" So we did. We both gave her a big, warm embrace and I said, "Jesus loves you." She replied, "I know! I was in an accident on the way home from church last Sunday. A truck plowed into me. It could have been terrible, but I'm fine!"
Then she added, "I was in your class when you gave that Bible Conference a few years ago." Apparently, we had touched her back then with the love of Jesus, and now in appreciation for the protection God had given her, she wanted to touch the presence of Jesus in us again. Praise God we hadn't rushed into church when she came at us!
You are a tassel on the cloak of Jesus, too. Don't be afraid of the hands that come at you. Be in awe; praise God. People who see that you love Jesus instinctively realize that when they touch you, they touch him -- even those who seemingly want nothing to do with Christ and his Church.
Today's Prayer
May my works, Lord, help others to recognize
Your presence in my life. Amen.
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The mother of Jesus promised St. Dominic that, “one day through the rosary & the scapular I shall save the world!”
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