Tuesday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time
(Sirach 35:1-12; Mark 10:28-31)
Fr. Rick Matty was rector of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in
El Paso at his untimely death last year.
He did everything well. People loved
the stories he told when preaching. He
also touched his parishioners with pastoral solicitude. The poor as well as the rich were edified by
his words of consolation and hope. Those
who saw his office were impressed by its meticulous order. It seemed that there was not a pen on his
desk out of place. Today’s first reading
from Sirach transmits a similar sense of right order.
Sirach or, more correctly, Ben Sira names the Jewish
author of the work. He finds in “the law”
or first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures the fulfillment of a good
life. Thus, a good man or woman observes
the precepts, gives to the poor, refrains from doing evil, offers due
sacrifices, etc. The author does not
doubt a bit the outcome of such practices: “…the Lord gives back to (the just
person) sevenfold.”
We do not have to be meticulous in everything to be
virtuous, but we must abide by just laws and even go beyond their strict
compliance with generosity toward those in need. We too look toward a reward many times
greater than the sacrifices we make. In
the gospel passage Jesus tells us that our hope will be realized not only in the
current order of things but in God’s coming kingdom.
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