Reflection for Monday, July 9, 2018: 14th Week of Ordinary Time.

Abstract

"Courage, daughter! Your faith has saved you." (Matthew 9: 22)|No journey through the desert is required. We find You in the in the midst of it all. Both in serenity and strife, there You are. The mess we make does not drive You away. |Hosea was rejected by his wife Gomer. The wreckage of their marriage mirrored Israel's abandonment of God. Like Yahweh, Hosea was spurned by the one he loved. Hosea puts sorrow, anger, and yearning into vivid words. In closing came forgiveness. God leaves the door open for our return. All we need is a contrite heart.|Bible stories are simple. Trained in science, we leave the simple behind and embrace complexity. Data and expertise will solve our problems. Hosea and Gomer belong in marriage counseling. The Israelites need an anti-corruption campaign. A hemorrhaging woman is a patient, not a pariah. Electric shocks may start the child's heart beating again. |To pit science against religion displays faulty thinking. An "enlightened" society that disdains God is impoverished. We do not learn how to love from laws or psych theories. We do not learn the origin of life from the Book of Genesis. Both science and religion are ways of knowing. Both involve faith. Without trust, no human endeavors move forward. The more we understand the world, the greater God's glory appears. |Bleeding women were deemed unclean by custom. After 12 years, the woman expected little. In her community, she was hideous. None would come near. Yet some tattered sense of her worth persisted. Hidden by the crowd, she reached out and grazed the tassel on his cloak. Her yearning rang out and God heard it.|Humans inevitably believe in something. Those who trust in riches are dead already. Reach out to God and life soars through us again.