butterfly drinking at lakeside 2003 taken

 

St Frances of Assisi Memorial Oct 4 2006

Jb 9:1-12, 14-16 Job answered his friends and said:I know well that it is so; but how can a man be justified before God? Should one wish to contend with him, he could not answer him once in a thousand times. God is wise in heart and mighty in strength; who has withstood him and remained unscathed? He removes the mountains before they know it; he overturns them in his anger. He shakes the earth out of its place, and the pillars beneath it tremble. He commands the sun, and it rises not; he seals up the stars. He alone stretches out the heavens and treads upon the crests of the sea. He made the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the constellations of the south;He does great things past finding out, marvelous things beyond reckoning. Should he come near me, I see him not; should he pass by, I am not aware of him; Should he seize me forcibly, who can say him nay? Who can say to him, “What are you doing?” How much less shall I give him any answer, or choose out arguments against him! Even though I were right, I could not answer him, but should rather beg for what was due me. If I appealed to him and he answered my call, I could not believe that he would hearken to my words.

Ps 88:10bc-11, 12-13, 14-15
R. (3) Let my prayer come before you, Lord.
Daily I call upon you, O LORD;to you I stretch out my hands.Will you work wonders for the dead?Will the shades arise to give you thanks?
R. Let my prayer come before you, Lord.
Do they declare your mercy in the grave, your faithfulness among those who have perished? Are your wonders made known in the darkness, or your justice in the land of oblivion?
R. Let my prayer come before you, Lord.
But I, O LORD, cry out to you; with my morning prayer I wait upon you. Why, O LORD, do you reject me;why hide from me your face?
R. Let my prayer come before you, Lord.

Reading II
Jas 5:1-6
Come now, you rich, weep and wail over your impending miseries.
Your wealth has rotted away, your clothes have become moth-eaten,
your gold and silver have corroded,
and that corrosion will be a testimony against you;
it will devour your flesh like a fire.
You have stored up treasure for the last days.
Behold, the wages you withheld from the workers
who harvested your fields are crying aloud;
and the cries of the harvesters
have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.
You have lived on earth in luxury and pleasure;
you have fattened your hearts for the day of slaughter.
You have condemned;
you have murdered the righteous one;
he offers you no resistance.

Lk 9:57-62 As Jesus and his disciples were proceeding on their journey, someone said to him,“I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus answered him,“Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.” And to another he said, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, let me go first and bury my father.” But he answered him, “Let the dead bury their dead. But you, go and proclaim the Kingdom of God.” And another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say farewell to my family at home.” Jesus answered him, “No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the Kingdom of God.”

Now that I am following Christ with my eyes set on the Kingdom it is foolish to look back. The farmer needs to plow a straight furrow for the seeds and looking back turns the line of the plow from a straight line. Jesus asks those in the reading to follow without taking time to make arrangements at home or finish unfinished business. The call is to stop and drop what is being done now and follow. There is an urgency and a demand to leave all else behind for Jesus and the Kingdom. The disciples must leave without burying the dead or saying goodby to family. It is a great deal to ask of a person. The sacrifice is great but so also is the reward, the Kingdom of God.

In the first reading Job acknowledges the great power and wisdom God that goes beyond what humankind can fathom. Job realizes the scope of God is far greater than his own understanding and in his great need does not deny his faith in God but reaffirms it. God's knowledge surpasses all understanding of humankind. In the depths of suffering, Job has remained connected with and trusting in God.

I pray this morning for a ready and willing heart to respond to the needs of others today with the heart of Christ.