Amos holds out hope to Israel; God said, "I will rescue my people."
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Recall a pain that we brought on ourselves by our own refusal to do what was right. "We cannot break God's commandments; we can only break ourselves against them." Author unknown
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It goes without saying that the quality of the agricultural produce of the land depends very much on the weather. Yet another fundamental factor is also the stability of the land, i.e. the political and social condition of the people living on that land.
If there were wars and bloodshed and unrest, would we expect the land to bear quality produce even if the land was fertile? And if grapes were planted during a time of turmoil and distress, what would be harvested could be sour grapes that are neither edible nor suitable for winemaking.
In the 1st reading, the planting and the harvesting of grapes were in the background of a land that was restored and the people were at peace. Yet, it must be remembered that the rich harvest of grapes, the sweet taste of wine and the joy it brings to a people at peace was the work of God who restored the land and blessed the people.
In the gospel, Jesus also talked about wine and wineskins, and He said that no one puts new wine into old wineskins. It may simply mean that the new wine of restoration and blessing cannot be put into the old wineskins of turmoil and distress that comes from unfaithfulness to the Lord. By now we should know the dire consequences of being complacent and being unfaithful to the Lord.
Yet, as much as the Lord is merciful and restores us and blesses us so that we can have peace in our lives, may we also prepare new wineskins for our hearts so as to receive and treasure God's blessings.
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Prayer: Lord our God, we are your people on the march, moving forward to you with your Son who came to make everything new. Dispose of us, Lord, to accept the pain of leaving the familiar behind us. Uproot us from our established ways and guide our faltering steps toward your new future in Jesus Christ, your Son, and our Lord forever. Amen
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St. Elizabeth of Portugal
On July 4, the Catholic Church celebrates St. Elizabeth of Portugal, a queen who served the poor and helped her country avoid war during the 13th and 14th centuries.
Elizabeth of Portugal was named for her great-aunt, St. Elizabeth of Hungary, who was canonized in 1235. Their lives were similar in some important ways: both of them were married at very young ages, they sought to live the precepts of the Gospel despite their status as royalty, and finished their lives as members of the Third Order of St. Francis.
The younger Elizabeth was born in 1271, the daughter of King Pedro III of Aragon and his wife Constantia. Even in her youth, Elizabeth showed a notable devotion to God through fasting, regular prayer, and a sense of life's seriousness. While still very young, she was married to King Diniz of Portugal, a marriage that would put her faith and patience to the test.
King Diniz was faithfully devoted to his country, known as the “Worker King” because of his diligence. Unfortunately, he generally failed to live out the same faithfulness toward his wife, although he is said to have repented of his years of infidelity before his death. Diniz and Elizabeth had two children, but the king fathered an additional seven children with other women.
Many members of the king's court likewise embraced or accepted various forms of immorality, and it would have been easy for the young queen to fall into these vices herself. But Elizabeth remained intent on doing God's will with a humble and charitable attitude. Rather than using her status as queen to pursue her own satisfaction, she sought to advance Christ's reign on earth.
Like her namesake and great-aunt Elizabeth of Hungary, Elizabeth of Portugal was a devoted patroness and personal friend of the poor and sick, and she compelled the women who served her at court to care for them as well. The queen's bishop testified that she had a custom of secretly inviting in lepers, whom she would bathe and clothe, even though the law of the land barred them from approaching the castle.
Elizabeth's commitment to the Gospel also became evident when she intervened to prevent civil war in the kingdom on two occasions. Alfonso, the only son of Diniz and Elizabeth, resented the king's indulgent treatment of one of his illegitimate sons, to the point that the father and son gathered together rival armies that were on the brink of open war in 1323.
On this occasion, St. Elizabeth placed herself between the two opposing armies, insisting that Diniz and Alfonso come to terms and make peace with one another. In 1336, the last year of her life, she intervened in a similar manner to prevent her son from waging war against the King of Castile for his poor treatment of Alfonso's own daughter.
Following King Diniz's death in 1325, Elizabeth had become a Franciscan of the Third Order, and had gone to live in a convent that she had established some years before. The testimony of miracles accomplished through her intercession, after her death in 1336, contributed to her canonization by Pope Urban VIII in 1625.
