GOD’S WORD FOR THE DAY (based on Catholic Liturgical Readings)
DATE: 10TH JULY 2017
MONDAY OF THE FOURTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
FIRST READING: Genesis 28:10-22
PSALM: Psalm 91:1-4, 14-15
GOSPEL: Matthew 9:18-26
THEME: JACOB’S DREAM
Unlike post-freudian understanding of dreams as expressions of one’s psychological state or subconscious sentiments, dreams in several texts in the Book of Genesis serve as means of divine revelation. Through dreams, actual divine encounters took place and individuals received directions from the Lord.
Our First Reading gives an account of a divine encounter that Jacob had via a dream. It is situated within the context of his flight to Haran – his “home country” – to escape the wrath of his brother Esau after shrewdly ‘robbing’ the latter of the blessing of their father. It was on this journey that the Lord spoke to him one night in a dream. When Jacob woke up from sleep, he said: “Truly, the Lord is in this place and I did not know it!” (Gen. 28:16). He did not take the dream as mere psychological processes of the mind. The dream meant a lot to him and he marked this important moment in his life by erecting a sacred pillar with the stone he had previously used as a pillow. Spurred on by this dream, he made a vow: “If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God, and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house; and of all that thou givest me I will give the tenth to thee” (Gen. 28:20-22).
There is a saying that “the poorest person on earth is not the one without money, but the one without a dream.” It is true that not all dreams are worth pursuing but there are some dreams – ‘divine dreams’ – that give focus to one’s life’s journey. Such dreams inspire, liberate and make a person want to move on in life. They may come either in sleep or while a person is fully awake.
Jacob had a dream. What about you? What is the dream that propels your life’s journey? We may not be able to change the direction of the wind but we can adjust our sails to reach our destination when inspired by divine dreams, we perceive where grace is leading us to.
PRAYER OF BLESSING: May the Lord give you a DREAM beyond your wildest imagination. May the Lord multiply and increase you. May the Lord protect you and prosper you all the days of your life. Amen
Andrews Obeng, svd
DIVINE WORD MISSIONARIES
BIBLICAL PASTORAL MINISTRY
(Ghana Province)
“May the darkness of sin and the night of unbelief vanish before the light of the Word and the Spirit of grace. And may the heart of Jesus live in the hearts of all people” (St. Arnold Janssen).