Does ordinary time, the days after Pentecost, mean that every day is the same? They’re not. Graces, challenges, joys and sorrows, hints of things, “our daily bread” are all there. We have to notice them. The Carmelite nun, Jessica Powers, ends a poem calling the day “my beautiful unknown.” We just need eyes to see and ears to hear
Every word of God is tested; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Add nothing to his words, lest he reprove you, and you will be exposed as a deceiver.
Two things I ask of you, deny them not to me before I die: Put falsehood and lying far from me, give me neither poverty nor riches; provide me only with the food I need; Lest, being full, I deny you, saying, “Who is the LORD?” Or, being in want, I steal, and profane the name of my God.
Proverbs 30:5-9
“Every word of God is pure (tested, refined),” like fruit from a tree of life. “He is a shield to those who take refuge in him.” Comparing divine wisdom to a tree of life (Proverbs 3:18), the Book of Proverbs guides us toward healing our broken relationship with God that occurred in the Garden of Eden. God created us for abundant life, which we reap by hearing and heeding his word.
Ordering life around God, the sage asks for a truthful heart and for “neither poverty nor riches.” Luxury may tempt him to deny the Lord, while penury may incite him to steal and dishonor the name of God. Our heavenly Father, who knows what we need, will give us our “daily bread.” When making choices, the sage seeks the honor and glory of God above all.
Neither poverty nor riches, seek I, But to honor God and him glorify.
God Provides
Jesus summoned the Twelve and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. He said to them, “Take nothing for the journey, neither walking stick, nor sack, nor food, nor money, and let no one take a second tunic. Whatever house you enter, stay there and leave from there. And as for those who do not welcome you, when you leave that town, shake the dust from your feet in testimony against them.” Then they set out and went from village to village proclaiming the good news and curing diseases everywhere.
Luke 9:1-6
Jesus sends his twelve apostles to proclaim the kingdom of God, the fulfillment of his word. The word of the Lord (dabar YHWH), which led the Israelites from Sinai to Jerusalem, has become flesh with divine authority to heal and cast out demons. Jesus, whose Father provides for his children, enjoins the Twelve to “take nothing for the journey.”
The apostle, like the sage of the Book of Proverbs, lives on and through the Word of God, who is a “shield” and refining fire. Christ, the Word of God and Tree of Life, feeds us with himself in the sanctifying Eucharist.
Your word, O Lord, is a lamp for my feet.
Psalm 119:105 (Responsory)
God’s Word protects and purifies Apostles who evangelize.
Pope Francis seems to be giving us a new model of the papacy. He has the common touch, to be sure, and the spontaneity of the man is refreshing.
I wonder if his spontaneity is partially explained by the investment he makes in daily prayer. He’s made the daily Mass in the chapel at St. Martha at the Vatican an important part of his day and his ministry. The daily Eucharist seems to be a “daily bread” that provides him with the spontaneous wisdom and insight he has.
I, for one, usually go each day to the Vatican Radio site on the internet to see what he’s up to and what he has to say. By the way, there’s a new app called ThePope that gives you all he’s doing and saying each day.
In his Letter to Proba, St. Augustine says that when we say “Give us this day our daily bread” everything is included. The bread we bring for the Eucharist is the bread of everything; all creation is there, but in particular we bring this day’s creation to God to be blessed through Jesus Christ, who enables us to interpret and find meaning in the world at hand.
Is Pope Francis giving us a new appreciation of the role of daily prayer? Everything is there at Mass. Besides putting us in touch with God, it puts us in touch with the world we live in.
The Victor's Place 