This week's readings Week of July 7 - 13 Sunday, July 7, 2002 Reading I: Zec 9:9-10 Reading II: Rom 8:9, 11-13 Gospel: Mt 11:25-30 Monday, July 8, 2002 Reading I: Hos 2:16, 17c-18, 21-22 Gospel: Mt 9:18-26 Tuesday, July 9, 2002 Reading I: Hos 8:4-7, 11-13 Gospel: Mt 9:32-38 Wednesday, July 10, 2002 Reading I: Hos 10:1-3, 7-8, 12 Gospel: Mt 10:1-7 Thursday, July 11, 2002 Reading I: Hos 11:1-4, 8e-9 Gospel: Mt 10:7-15 Friday, July 12, 2002 Reading I: Hos 14:2-10 Gospel: Mt 10:16-23 Saturday, July 13, 2002 Reading I: Is 6:1-8 Gospel: Mt 10:24-33 Week of July 14 - 20 Sunday, July 14, 2002 Reading I: Is 55:10-11 Reading II: Rom 8:18-23 Gospel: Mt 13:1-23 Monday, July 15, 2002 Reading I: Is 1:10-17 Gospel: Mt 10:34-11:1 Tuesday, July 16, 2002 Reading I: Is 7:1-9 Gospel: Mt 11:20-24 Wednesday, July 17, 2002 Reading I: Is 10:5-7, 13b-16 Gospel: Mt 11:25-27 Thursday, July 18, 2002 Reading I: Is 26:7-9, 12, 16-19 Gospel: Mt 11:28-30 Friday, July 19, 2002 Reading I: Is 38:1-6, 21-22, 7-8 Gospel: Mt 12:1-8 Saturday, July 20, 2002 Reading I: Mic 2:1-5 Gospel: Mt 12:14-21 Pope's Prayer Intentions July General Intention That artists in all media may help us enter the mystery of God: That artists may do all they can to help people rediscover the signs of God's providential love in creation. July Mission Intention That India's Christians may publicly live out their faith: That India's Christians may not be prevented from publicly professing their faith and freely announcing the Gospel.

Take his easy yoke:
And you shall live

		Word of God  Word of Life  Fr. John G. Stillmank

"You are in the Spirit." So writes Saint Paul to the church at Rome - and to us. "You are not in the flesh."

His contrast is important for those who are followers of Jesus Christ. It is the Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead. It is the Spirit who will raise us up also, giving a new life to our mortal bodies. "By the Spirit . . . you will live" promises Paul. This is the same Spirit which Jesus sent from his Father after he ascended into heaven.

"Often our sins weigh us down, bowing us to the ground in shame, fear, anger, pridefulness, sorrow and pain. It is as if we are falling into a bottomless pit, with no one to catch us and save us from death. Yet Jesus is there, lifting up those who are falling, raising up those who are bowed down."

Remember what Jesus said to his followers about his coming death, resurrection, and ascension? If I do not go, he said, the Spirit, the Paraclete, will not come. He will lead you to all truth, reminding you of everything I taught you and helping you do great deeds.

The ministry of Jesus and the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit are intimately related in the Church. Jesus gives us his own flesh and blood for our food and drink and sends the gift of the Holy Spirit so that we need no longer be bound by the weaknesses of the bodily life we live on earth. As Paul puts it, "we are not debtors to the flesh." The flesh of Christ and his blood poured out have paid that debt.

Readings for 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time (July 7) Zechariah 9:9-10 Psalm 145:1-2, 8-9, 10-11, 13-14 Romans 8:9, 11-13 Matthew 11:25-30

The Lord who is gracious, merciful, slow to anger, of great kindness, good to all, and compassionate toward all his works, as we read in the psalms, will raise us up from our earthly life to a new life in his kingdom. "The Lord lifts up all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down." He's talking about us.

Often our sins weigh us down, bowing us to the ground in shame, fear, anger, pridefulness, sorrow, and pain. It is as if we are falling into a bottomless pit, with no one to catch us and save us from death. Yet Jesus is there, lifting up those who are falling, raising up those who are bowed down.

By sharing with us his Spirit and his life-giving word, Jesus gives us his very own promise that sin need not be the reality of our existence. With his help, we can beat it.

Some of the most powerful words in the Gospel come from the lips of Jesus, promising us rest from our labors, freedom from our burdens. He will teach us from his meek and humble heart. He will put his easy yoke upon us, and let us carry his burden that is light.

How can this be? Each day we toil for the bread we eat, the clothes we wear, the homes in which we live, our education, the needs and luxuries of life. For many the burden is indeed heavy, and the fruits of their labor are not enough for their needs. How can Jesus save us from all this, and save us from sin besides?

"You are not in the flesh; on the contrary, you are in the spirit, if only the Spirit of God dwells in you." We who have the Spirit of Jesus within us are not debtors to the flesh; so Paul said. Jesus helps us bear the many burdens which are a part of our daily human existence by his promise of liberation from the worst burden of all: sin and death.

If we live only for the needs of our fleshly life we will indeed die. But if we live by the Spirit we shall live. We shall live forever!

Fr. John G. Stillmank is Moderator of the Curia for the Diocese of Madison and pastor of St. Andrew Parish, Verona, and St. William Parish, Paoli.

He sows the word: For a fruitful harvest

		Word of God  Word of Life  Fr. John G. Stillmank

Jesus uses rich agricultural examples to help us understand the preaching of the Gospel. He gives us strong images that we can hold in our imaginations until they sink deep into our hearts.

In his parable of the sower, Jesus identifies three kinds of negative reaction to God's word: seed sown on the path which is plucked away by birds (hearing without understanding); seed sown on rocky ground which withers for lack of roots (hearing without rootedness); seed sown amid thorns which choke it off (hearing without fruitfulness).

Readings for 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (July 14) Isaiah 55:10-11 Psalm 65:10, 11, 12-13, 14 Romans 8:18-23 Matthew 13:1-23

For us today, perhaps the most problematic of the three is hearing without fruitfulness. How does Jesus describe it and why is it such a problem today?

"Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it." Simple enough. But what does it mean? His disciples do not understand it. So Jesus explains: "The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word, but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word and it bears no fruit."

Worldly anxiety and the lure of riches. These are some of the greatest evils affecting our spiritual life today.

There is a great deal of fear and anxiety in people's hearts today. We fear terrorism and violence. We are afraid for our safety, and for our loved ones. We are anxious about the economy, about our own security, about our children. We look at our neighbor, not with love but with suspicion.

Many people are anxious that life isn't going to go exactly the way they want, and they use violence to change the rules to fit their own desires. How else to explain millions of abortions every year? How else to explain violence against women and children, the poor, and marginalized? How else to explain the headlines each morning, the news reports every night?

People consumed by these anxieties and more find little room for God's word in their hearts. The world has choked it off, and it bears no fruit.

The lure of riches, the promise of power, the desire for wealth - these are the twin of worldly anxiety, and they too choke off the word. Look at our department stores glutted with products, some of which will never be sold but which will be wasted. Look at the proliferation of lawsuits, get-rich-quick schemes, casinos, lotteries.

Look also at the widening gap between rich and poor, between the First World and the Third World. Look at the widening waistlines of developed nations and the bulging bellies of undernourished developing nations. Look at the waste of some countries and the want of others.

The lure of riches, it seems, has even choked off our true desire to help those in need. Anxiety about having enough has fettered our generosity. People consumed by the desire for material things, for power, for prestige and more find little room for God's word in their hearts. The world has choked it off, and in the midst of abundance it bears no fruit.

But there is hope! The prophet Isaiah reminds us that God's word will be fruitful. "My word shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it."

Jesus has become that Word incarnate, God's own power and life entering into human history. By his preaching and by the ministry of the Church he sows the word, and while some lands on the barren path, some on the rocks and some amid thorns of anxiety and greed, "the seed that falls on good ground will yield a fruitful harvest."

Let the Lord till your heart to make of it rich soil that will bear fruit for his word and for his people.

Fr. John G. Stillmank is Moderator of the Curia for the Diocese of Madison and pastor of St. Andrew Parish, Verona, and St. William Parish, Paoli.