This week's readings Week of July 6 - 12 Sunday, July 6, 2003 Reading I: Ez 2:2-5 Reading II: 2 Cor 12:7-10 Gospel: Mk 6:1-6 Monday, July 7, 2003 Reading I: Gn 28:10-22a Gospel: Mt 9:18-26 Tuesday, July 8, 2003 Reading I: Gn 32:23-33 Gospel: Mt 9:32-38 Wednesday, July 9, 2003 Reading I: Gn 41:55-57; 42:5-7a, 17-24a Gospel: Mt 10:1-7 Thursday, July 10, 2003 Reading I: Gn 44:18-21, 23b-29; 45:1-5 Gospel: Mt 10:7-15 Friday, July 11, 2003 Reading I: Gn 46:1-7, 28-30 Gospel: Mt 10:16-23 Saturday, July 12, 2003 Reading I: Gn 49:29-32; 50:15-26a Gospel: Mt 10:24-33 Week of July 13 - 19 Sunday, July 13, 2003 Reading I: Am 7:12-15 Reading II: Eph 1:3-14 or 1:3-10 Gospel: Mk 6:7-13 Monday, July 14, 2003 Reading I: Ex 1:8-14, 22 Gospel: Mt 10:34--11:1 Tuesday, July 15, 2003 Reading I: Ex 2:1-15a2 Gospel: Mt 11:20-24 Wednesday, July 16, 2003 Reading I: Ex 3:1-6, 9-12 Gospel: Mt 11:25-27 Thursday, July 17, 2003 Reading I: Ex 3:13-20 Gospel: Mt 11:28-30 Friday, July 18, 2003 Reading I: Ex 11:10--12:14 Gospel: Mt 12:1-8 Saturday, July 19, 2003 Reading I: Ex 12:37-42 Gospel: Mt 12:14-21 Pope's Prayer Intentions July General Intention An economy at the service of all: That those responsible for the economies and finances of the world may seek ways and conditions which guarantee all people the means to live in a dignified way. July Mission Intention The sick people of Africa: That all the sick people of Africa, victims of AIDS and other diseases, may experience God's love, thanks to their caretakers.

The almighty God:
His life is within us

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

The recently released movie Bruce Almighty shows an ordinary man who thinks God has been doing worse than picking on him - by ignoring him.

Bruce meets God, says his piece that he thinks God isn't doing such a hot job, and (to make a long story short) is given God's powers for a time to see how he can handle God's job.

There are only two rules now that Bruce has God's power: he can't tell anyone he's God, and he can't "mess with free will."

Readings for 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time (July 6, 2003) Ezekiel 2:2-5 Psalm 123:1-2, 2, 3-4 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 Mark 6:1-6

Needless to say Bruce doesn't do a very good job at being God, and he finds out that God's job is a lot tougher than he had thought. It's not magic tricks and saying "yes" to every person's every prayer. God's job is hard, and, well, only God is up to it.

The message of the movie is the same as that of the Scriptures: we are not God. But we are called to share in God's life, and to re-make our own lives to be as God would have us live them. "How many people have you helped?" asks God of Bruce in the film. Bruce has to answer that he hasn't helped anyone. He realizes he needs to change. He has the power to do good; now he just needs the will power.

What's interesting about God's job - and this is something the movie helps to bring out - is that he shares it with us. He created us in his image and likeness. He sent his Son to teach us our role in creation and in the human family. He gave us the gifts of the Holy Spirit so we can do our share.

With God we are co-creators, stewards of all he has given into our care. God has given us just enough power to do the job he has entrusted to us: no more, no less. What we need is the faith to do God's will.

In the Gospel, as they hear Jesus teach, the people of his home town "were astonished." They asked all sorts of questions, like "Where did this man get all this? What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands!" Yet "they took offense at him," because they knew him.

Jesus "was amazed at their lack of faith," the Gospel says, and "was not able to perform any mighty deed there." By refusing to accept the teaching of Jesus, and refusing to see the power of God working in him, their lack of faith essentially shut down the possibility of experiencing God's life in their lives.

In this, God doesn't "mess with free will." When people refuse to let God be a part of their lives, he doesn't force himself on them - on us. He doesn't force us to obey him against our will. He doesn't force us to love him. Instead he sent the prophets and, finally, his only Son - to preach, to teach, to invite.

After that, it's up to us. Will we prefer our own will to God's? Will we fail to help those in need? Will we fail to be stewards of what God has entrusted to us?

Or will we let God's power work through our lives, for the good of others? Will we turn our wills over to God, so that his will may be done in us? And will we recognize God in the most surprising places? He's there, in the poor, the needy, the lonely, and afraid. He's there within us, if only we will look.

Fr. John G. Stillmank is pastor of St. Andrew Parish, Verona, and St. William Parish, Paoli.

Church urges us: To repent and convert

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

"What is the Church all about?" Have you ever been asked that question?

Maybe someone in the middle of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults process would ask it. Or maybe a curious non-Catholic or non-Christian. "Boil it down for me," they might say. "After all the Masses and doctrines and rules and stuff, what is the Church really all about?"

Is it salvation? After all, that's our ultimate goal: life forever in heaven with God forever. From a certain point of view we could make a pretty good case that the Church is all about making present all the divine graces and helps that a person and a community needs in order to make salvation a reality in life.

Readings for 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (July 13, 2003) Amos 7:12-15 Psalm 85:9-10, 11-12, 13-14 Ephesians 1:3-14 or 1:3-10 Mark 6:7-13

Is it worship? That's a big part of Church life. Every weekend we come together to celebrate the Eucharist, the memorial of the Lord's passion, death, and resurrection. We receive his Body and Blood as our spiritual food, as nourishment for our journey on earth toward the kingdom of God.

Is it prayer? Our prayer life is closely aligned with our life of worship as members of the Church, as disciples of Jesus, as sons and daughters of the Father. Each time we go to our inner room, as Scripture says, close the door, and pray to our Father in secret, we are doing what Jesus taught and what the Church knows is vital to our spiritual growth.

Is it service? "Whatsoever you do," goes the song, quoting from the Gospel, "to the least of my brothers, that you do unto me." To feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, visit the sick and the imprisoned, and so many other aspects of Christian service are key to unlocking the best in human nature, when we face the worst the world has to offer.

Is it love? That was the great commandment of Jesus; "love one another as I have loved you." We can't be followers of Jesus without being a people of love. Love your enemies, Jesus says, and those who persecute you. This is a challenging love, a difficult love, an essential love.

Is it obedience? Maybe now we're getting warmer. Salvation and worship and prayer and service and love are important aspects of Christian life, of what the Church is really all about. But the Scriptures tell us that Jesus was obedient unto death. He accepted and obeyed his Father's will. Jesus asks us to take up our cross and follow him, too.

All of these ways of understanding what the Church is really all about flow from one thing that is at the beginning and the heart of the Gospel: conversion and repentance. Practically the first words Jesus preached as he began his ministry were "Repent, the kingdom of God is at hand!"

Repentance and conversion, then, have to be what the Church is really all about. In baptism the "old man" within dies, and with him sin. From the waters of baptism we rise with Christ to a new life, a life converted from the old ways of looking at the world to a new way of living for God and for one another.

That process of conversion and repentance must be an ongoing one, a daily one. As we repent of our old way of life, our sinful way of life, as we embrace conversion and invite the Holy Spirit to reside within our hearts, we can set aside all that drags us down.

Just as Jesus instructed his disciples to leave behind all that was non-essential to their mission of helping him to preach the Gospel, and just as "they went off and preached repentance," so can we experience a conversion of heart, a repentance that is God's gift to us.

Once we do that, then we can become more obedient to God's will. We can learn to love as Jesus did, and as he taught. We can serve one another out of that deep and abiding, divine love. We can pray with a clean heart and a clear conscience. We can worship God in Spirit and in truth. And we can know that we are on the path to the kingdom of God, where the salvation God has promised us will be ours.

Fr. John G. Stillmank is pastor of St. Andrew Parish, Verona, and St. William Parish, Paoli.