Sunday, August 13, 2006
Memorial, St. Maximillan Kolbe, priest & martyr
August 14, 2006
Memorial, St. Maximillan Kolbe, priest & martyr
Monday 19th Week in Ordinary Time - Yr II
EZEKIEL 1:2-5, 24-28
On the fifth day of the fourth month of the fifth year, that is, of
King Jehoiachin's exile, The word of the Lord came to the priest
Ezekiel, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river
Chebar.- There the hand of the Lord came upon me. As I looked, a
stormwind came from the North, a huge cloud with flashing fire
enveloped in brightness, from the midst of which (the midst of the
fire) something gleamed like electrum. Within it were figures
resembling four living creatures that looked like this: their form was
human. Then I heard the sound of their wings, like the roaring of
mighty waters, like the voice of the Almighty. When they moved, the
sound of the tumult was like the din of an army. And when they stood
still, they lowered their wings. Above the firmament over their heads
something like a throne could be seen, looking like sapphire. Upon it
was seated, up above, one who had the appearance of a man. Upward from
what resembled his waist I saw what gleamed like electrum; downward
from what resembled his waist I saw what looked like fire; he was
surrounded with splendor. Like the bow which appears in the clouds on a
rainy day was the splendor that surrounded him. Such was the vision of
the likeness of the glory of the Lord.
MATTHEW 17:22-27
As Jesus and his disciples were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to
them, "The Son of Man is to be handed over to men, and they will kill
him, and he will be raised on the third day." And they were overwhelmed
with grief. When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the temple
tax approached Peter and said, "Does not your teacher pay the temple
tax?" "Yes," he said. When he came into the house, before he had time
to speak, Jesus asked him, "What is your opinion, Simon? From whom do
the kings of the earth take tolls or census tax? From their subjects or
from foreigners?" When he said, "From foreigners," Jesus said to him,
"Then the subjects are exempt. But that we may not offend them, go to
the sea, drop in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up. Open
its mouth and you will find a coin worth twice the temple tax. Give
that to them for me and for you."
REFLECTION
Ezekiel was a priest in Judah just before it was subjugated by the
might of the Chaldeans. He was in the first wave of those who were
forcibly deported to Babylon. He was driven from Jerusalem, the site of
the Temple where God's glory dwelt among his people. He and the Jewish
people were sure of this: their Temple was God's house on earth.
Nowhere else did he dwell in this world.
So in today's first reading, Ezekiel is a priest separated from his
Temple and from his God. He is standing on the bank of the river Chebar
in the land of the pagan Chaldeans. There, as he himself puts it, the
hand of Yahweh rests on him. He makes out in the distance a great storm
sweeping toward him. He sees a huge cloud flashing fire. In the cloud
there move about four mysterious figures, human in shape but with wings
whose sound is like the roar of rushing waters. High above the
firmament he sees dimly a throne and a human figure seated on it,
gleaming as though made of precious metals and fiery flames. It is the
Lord God Yahweh coming from his house in Jerusalem to be with his
exiled people.
When Ezekiel learned that Yahweh was with his people in pagan
Babylonia, he learned a truth about Yahweh he had never known before.
The God Ezekiel knew was the God who revealed himself to the prophet in
the vision on the bank of the Chebar. Yahweh was a God of great majesty
and overpowering might, a God shrouded in mystery, a God before whom
the creature trembled in awe. By leaving his house in Jerusalem to be
with his exiled people, Yahweh showed another side of himself. He
manifested a tenderness, a warmth, that showed him to be the sort of
God whom we would one day come to know as the Father of Jesus Christ,
who would ask his Son not to cling to the glory of divinity but to
become one with us humans so that we might truly become his children.
PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray ...
-for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the unborn.
-for good medical results for Lilian
-for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
-for world peace and reconciliation.
Finally, we pray for one another, for those who have asked our
prayers and for those who need our prayers the most.
Have a good day!
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