Monday, July 7, 2025

 

Monday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Genesis 28:10-22a; Matthew 9:18-26)

Ask children what they will do when they grow up, and often enough they have an answer.  One girl approximately twelve years old says that she will be a pediatrician.  She will have to work hard to fulfill her plan, but it is not an impossible dream.  We meet Jacob in the first reading today in a comparable situation.

Jacob has left his house as a young man to pursue his destiny.  The reading shows him in communion with God who promises to make him the father of a nation that will bless the entire earth.  In making a shrine on the spot where he receives the revelation, Jacob shows his wholehearted acceptance.    Christians see this promise fulfilled in Jesus, Jacob’s descendant whom the world recognizes as a universal teacher of righteousness.

As we become older, our dreams often become humbler.  We no longer think of changing the world but only hope to change our own hearts.  We want to lose our preoccupation with self so that we might love others as Jesus has shown us.  It is helpful to remember that the same God who promised to accompany Jacob wherever he went is also at our side.

Monday, July 10, 2023

Monday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Genesis 28:10-22a; Matthew 9:18-26)

Although he does not know it, Jacob has come across a shrine.  It is a holy place sanctified by the prayers of many others on that spot.  The Lord is there ready to hear the request of this unwitting pilgrim.

Jacob has sneakily taken his brother’s birthright.  That is, he is to be, like Isaac and Abraham, the “father of many nations.”  Now he must escape Esau’s wrath and then establish himself with a wife and children.  God does not hold Jacob in contempt for his trickery.  Rather he has chosen Jacob, perhaps for his cleverness, to extend the heritage that will end in the birth of His own Son Jesus, the Christ.

Shrines are found in most cities with a Catholic heritage today.  They are places for us to ask the Lord for assistance.  There we are likely to find other good people whose faith helps us trust in God’s enduring love.

Monday, July 10, 2017

Monday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Genesis 28:10-22a; Matthew 9:18-26)

Ask children what they will do when they grow up, and often enough they have an answer.  One girl approximately twelve years old says that she will be a pediatrician.  She will have to work hard to fulfill her plan, but it is not an impossible dream.  We meet Jacob in the first reading today in a comparable situation.

Jacob has left his house as a young man to pursue his destiny.  The reading shows him in communion with God who promises to make him the father of a nation that will bless the entire earth.  In making a shrine on the spot where he receives the revelation, Jacob shows his wholehearted acceptance.    Christians see this promise fulfilled in Jesus, Jacob’s descendant whom the world recognizes as a universal teacher of righteousness.

As we become older, our dreams often become humbler.  We no longer think of changing the world but only hope to change our own hearts.  We want to lose our preoccupation with self so that we might love others as Jesus has shown us.  It is helpful to remember that the same God who promised to accompany Jacob wherever he went is also at our side.

Monday, July 6. 2015

Monday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Genesis 28:10-22a; Matthew 9:18-26)

Young men and women from Asia, Africa, and South America are leaving in droves.  They seek opportunity in Europe and North America where jobs will pay ten times as much as they receive at home.  They are not unlike Jacob as he leaves home in today’s first reading.

Jacob has demonstrated self-centeredness as he has just stolen the birthright of his older brother.  Now he is off seeking adventure although, to be sure, an angry Esau provides more than enough motive for him to leave home.  He is also taken up by experience as he describes the site of his dream in a peculiarly contemporary fashion -- “awesome.” And, again like contemporary youth, he is reluctant to commit himself beyond promising allegiance to God if God continues to bless him.  What advice might be given Jacob?

We would tell him that which we have to remind ourselves.  There is much to learn about life.  We have to understand that the world does not revolve around us.  In fact, other people have needs that not only are different from ours but also, at times, demand our attention.  Also, we must take to heart that God remains as the one whose commands are to be heeded.  Pope Benedict XVI tells a story about himself that illustrates this lesson.  Right after being ordained to the priesthood, he returned to his hometown in Bavaria for his first mass.  The townspeople prepared elaborate festivities for their simple faith stood them in awe that one of their own could now turn bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ.  The young Fr. Ratzinger had to remind himself continually as he was receiving royal treatment, “This is not about you, Joseph.  This is not about you.”  

Monday, July 8, 2013

Monday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Genesis 28:10-22a; Matthew 9:18-26)

Ask a child what they will do when they grow up, and often enough they have an answer.  One girl of approximately twelve years said that she will be a pediatrician.  She will have to work hard to fulfill her plan, but it is not an impossible dream.  We meet Jacob in the first reading today in a comparable situation.

Jacob has left his house as a young man to pursue his destiny.  The reading shows him in communion with God who promises to make him the father of a nation that will bless the entire earth.  Jacob accepts the revelation by making a shrine to the Lord on the spot where he received it.  It is a long, long story, but eventually the promise is fulfilled in Jesus, Jacob’s descendent.  The whole world recognizes him as the model of righteousness.

As we become older, our dreams often become humbler.  We may no longer think of changing the world but hope to change our own hearts.  We want to lose our preoccupation with self so that we might love others as Jesus has shown us.  It is helpful to remember that the same God who promised to accompany Jacob wherever he went is also at our side.

Monday, July 4, 2011

Monday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Genesis 28:10-22a; Matthew 9:18-26)

As Americans celebrate the Fourth of July, many may find Jacob’s declaration of the place where he slept to be “an abode of God” as characteristic of the United States. Like the Lord’s prediction of Jacob’s descendants, Americans are numerous. Although its extent is easily exaggerated, the United States has been a blessing to Europe during and after World War II and to many developing countries today.

The term “American exceptionalism” has been invented to explain how the United States has reached greatness. Separated from other powers by the vast Atlantic, the country was incubated without the constant threat of war. Equally important, the country did not have a history of feudalism that separated rich from poor as a matter of necessity. Now that slavery and its vestiges have been overcome, it is truly a land of opportunity for everyone. Belief in God and religious freedom has also played a significant part in America’s achievement. The idea of a “Creator” grounds the concept of human rights in the “Declaration of Independence.” More importantly even, Lincoln and other patriots have turned to God as an unerring judge who rewards the nation for its virtue and punishes it for its vice.

However much Americans like to compare its blessings with that of God to Jacob, they should note a critical difference. God’s benediction on Jacob is a solemn oath that He will never retract. Israel, not the country but the people, will endure forever. No such promise has been made to the United States as a country or a people. If the country is to continue to flourish, it must strive to be a blessing for others, to pursue virtue at all costs, and, as much as its freedom of religion will allow, to retain its belief in God.

Homilette for Monday, July 6, 2009

Monday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Genesis 28:10-22a; Matthew 9:18-26)

Jacob displays the character of most young people throughout time. He is obviously self-centered for he has just stolen the birthright of his older brother. He goes off seeking adventure although, to be sure, an angry Esau provides more than enough motive for him to leave home with all possible speed. He is also taken up by experience as he describes the site of his dream, in peculiarly contemporary fashion, as “awesome.” And he is reluctant to commit himself making a vow to God only with conditions. What more might be said of Jacob?

We have to say that he has much to learn about life. In growing up we come to understand that the world does not revolve around us. In fact, other people have needs that not only are different from ours but also, at times, we must attend to. Also we have to learn that God remains as the one whose commands we are to heed most. Pope Benedict XVI tells a story about himself that illustrates this lesson. Right after being ordained to the priesthood, he returned to his hometown in Bavaria for his first mass. The townspeople prepared elaborate festivities for their simple faith stood them in awe that one of their own could now turn bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ. The young Fr. Ratzinger had to remind himself continually as he was receiving royal treatment, “This is not about you, Joseph. This is not about you.”