Thursday, February 27, 2025

Thursday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

(Sirach 5:1-8; Mark 9:41-50)

A saying about God’s mercy and justice is both helpful and hopeful to recall: God’s justice never sinks lower than his mercy is able to retrieve.  People who commit grave crimes as well as regular sinners need to remember that God never abandons them.

Both readings today emphasize God’s justice.  In the first wise Ben Sira advises his readers not to presume God’s mercy.  Rather they are to live always carrying out God’s will.  In the gospel Jesus warns his disciples about giving scandal to the young.  He exaggerates when he says that body members should be destroyed if their use is involved in sin.  However, he definitely wants his disciples to avoid sinning.

God’s mercy foils severe judgment when sinners recognize their crimes, beseech God’s forgiveness, and resolve not to offend again.  Far from opposing His justice, mercy complements it since God’s commands are not given to condemn but to save.

Wednesday, February 26, 2025

Wednesday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

(Sirach 4:11-19; Mark 9:38-40)

Wisdom seeks what is truly good in life.  Like a counterfeit detector, she sets off an alarm with the initially pleasing but ultimately disillusioning.  Like a wine taste’s nose, she can sniff supreme quality in something new.  In patriarchal societies wisdom is compared to a woman with whom a person must share full and lasting intimacy to realize its promise.

In today’s reading from the Book of Sirach wisdom is described as a demanding companion who will discipline her pursuant.  But for whatever investment of time or energy she exacts, she brings the inestimable rewards of peace and happiness.  This lesson is akin to the Scriptural dictate, “Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”  Making the effort to abide by God’s eternal laws brings His infinite favor.

We live in a world with a myriad of information at our fingertips, but wisdom remains elusive.  By taking care not to become absorbed in the ease of attaining the former but ever pondering its meaning, we can achieve the latter.

Tuesday, February 25, 2025

Tuesday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

(Sirach 2:1-11; Mark 9:30-37)

Yesterday we started reading at Mass from an Old Testament book that has been called by different names.  Our translation entitles it Sirach after the original author, Jesus ben Sira, a Jewish rabbi of the early second century before Christ.  For a long time it was known as “Ecclesiasticusbecause it was used in the Church (in Latin ecclesia) for moral instruction.  Although Sirach was originally composed in Hebrew, for centuries only the Greek translation was known.  For this reason it is listed among the deuterocanonical books of the Old Testament.  These books were accepted into the Old Testament canon after a second review.  This distinction, however, should not be taken as a relegation to second-class authority.

Sirach is part of the Wisdom literature of the Old Testament along with books like Ecclesiastes and Job. In today’s passage ben Sira gives his disciple, whom he calls “my son,” general advice on how to live.  The message is as wise as it is simple.  The disciple is to always trust in the Lord.  Especially in bad times he is not to fret.  Rather he is to first remember the Lord’s mercy toward their ancestors.   Then he should pray for deliverance.

Is it not true that when we are undergoing punishment, misunderstanding, or trial, we think of possible negative outcomes?  Then we calculate how to deal with the crisis.  Perhaps we want to rebel, counterattack our oppressors, or run away.  No, Sirach tells us, it’s best to remember the Lord’s goodness in the past and to ask for similar assistance.

Monday, February 24, 2025

Monday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

(Sirach 1:1-10; Mark 9:14-29)

Today’s gospel has a parallel at the beginning of Mark’s Gospel.  After he was baptized and heard God proclaiming him His Son, Jesus confronted the devil in the desert.  Here, he comes down from the mountain, where God again declared him His Son, to battle again with the devil.  This time the devil has possessed a boy.

On both occasions Jesus triumphs.  The devil, no match for God’s grace, yields to Jesus’ command.  He tells his disciples that the reasons he succeeds can be found in the prayer he makes.  He has prayed for the boy’s deliverance. 

When we pray constantly, we will experience many marvelous deeds.  They will surprise us at times, not being the expected answers to our requests.  Social scientists might tell us that prayer makes little, if any, difference among the people they survey.  Yet we know from believers that prayer’s effects may be uncanny but nevertheless are real.

Sunday, February 23, 2025

SEVENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

(I Samuel 26:2.7-9.12-13.22-23; I Corinthians 15:45-49; Luke 6:27-38)

Today's gospel touches on a very pressing political issue in recent years. Read carefully, it can lead us to a greater compassion for immigrants and a policy to lessen a world-wide crisis.

Jesus is in the middle of his “Sermon on the Plain” in the Gospel according to Saint Luke. It is the counterpart to the more famous “Sermon on the Mount” in the Gospel of Saint Matthew. In truth, neither comprises a complete sermon. Rather, both are compilations of various sayings of Jesus organized around different themes. In Saint Matthew Jesus chooses the mountain to deliver his high teachings on morality. Saint Luke reserves the mountains for prayer and has Jesus giving moral lessons on a plain.

We heard the first part of the “Sermon on the Plain” last Sunday. Jesus announced four beatitudes consoling the oppressed and four “woes” warning the oppressors. Now Jesus focuses on divine love; that is, love that seeks nothing in return. It gives of itself simply to help the other. The surprising thing is that Jesus requires his disciples to practice this kind of love toward their enemies as well as their friends.

Enemies are not only those who would harm us but also those who threaten our interests. People in rich countries often see immigrants as enemies who want to take advantage of the resources of their adopted land without contributing proportionally. In Italy for many years the Roma, often called “zincari” (the Italian word for “gypsies”), have attracted the opprobrium of the people. Roma women can be seen begging in public places with their children. Meanwhile, their men have the reputation of being pickpockets and thieves. Generally, Italians resent the Roma and want them deported. The ethics that Jesus proposes in the gospel urges another stance. He calls on the disciples to support the Roma. This may be in direct aid or in contributions to charities that care for the poor.

Right now the entire world is focused on what the president of the United States will do with the millions of undocumented immigrants in America. Will he begin mass deportations, or will he limit his extraditions to those undocumented who have committed crimes? In this gospel Jesus is addressing individuals, not governments. However, it can be said that deporting millions of people would reflect a stance of disdain and abuse, not gospel love.

The second part of the reading has to do with the treatment of one's neighbor - that is, an acquaintance who might ask us for a loan. According to Jesus, we should respond in favor of this type of person, not react against him. It is really the same kind of response that we should give to our enemies. Instead of worrying about our own interests, we should act with the true interests of other people in mind. In short, as children of God, we are to treat everyone as the One who blesses everyone.

Certainly the Gospel of St. Luke has exquisite stories and portraits of Jesus. We hear of the Prodigal Son and of Jesus forgiving the “Good Thief” in this gospel alone. But the beauty of the images that the gospel leaves us does not diminish the vehemence of Jesus’ demands in this gospel. In fact, it increases their force because only with divine love -- a strong love that seeks nothing in return -- are we going to become people with everlasting beauty. Only with divine love, are we going to become sons and daughters of God.