Tuesday, July 13, 2021

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 Tuesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Exodus 2:1-15a; Matthew 11:20-24)

The Book of Exodus might be called “the Book of Moses.”  He is the book’s central human figure.  Moses is not only a bigger-than-life personality; he is also a charismatic leader.  Today’s first reading indicates the sources of his leadership basic qualities.

It might be said that Moses has leadership in his genes.  He is the physical son of an unnamed Levite man and woman.  Levi was one of two brothers who led the ten others to take revenge on the Shechemites for raping their sister Dinah.  But Moses was not foremost a violent man.  He was raised by his stepmother, Pharoah’s daughter, who took compassion on the baby whom she found in the river.  She knew that he was one of the Hebrew children condemned by her father.  Moses possessed, as well, a sense of justice and an inclination to act on it.  When he saw the Egyptian overlord abuse the Hebrew worker, he responded carefully and decisively.  He was also inclined to find out the truth of a situation.  Finding two Hebrews fighting, he investigated by asking questions.

Moses might write on his CV that he came from ordinary but strong stock, that he possessed both compassion and justice, and that he acted after ascertaining the truth.  It is no wonder then why God chose and formed him to lead His people.  We should see in him a prototype for Christ.  Moses was a man worthy of teaching us God’s Law, that is His gracious will for us.

Homilette for Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Tuesday, XVIII Week of Ordinary Time

(Numbers 12)

Aaron and Miriam are the brother and sister of Moses. Much is written about Aaron but little about Miriam although it is likely that she had an important role in the exodus. We meet the two in the reading today griping about Moses’ wife. This seems to be a pretext, however, for a complaint that Moses is receiving all the glory while they do much of the work. They seek greater recognition for their efforts. Perhaps they feel that they will receive their due recompense when God calls all three into His presence.

God, however, has a different view of things. Moses is not only His choice for leadership but consistently shows greater virtue. Rather than consolidate power, Moses remains humble. So God chastises Miriam by inflicting her with leprosy. True to form Moses does not gloat over Miriam’s comeuppance. To the contrary, he immediately pleads to the Lord to end Miriam’s distress.

Meekness calls us to seek reconciliation among adversaries rather than standoff or subjection. It is a rare virtue in our times. Once, two couples were active leaders in Marriage Encounter. One couple judged the other as not faithfully following standard procedures. The other couple insisted they were and retreated with their following to continue doing things their way. Neither couple would give in. The former might have accepted the latter’s good intentions if not perfect compliance to somewhat arbitrary norms. The latter couple might have made more effort to adapt its ways to what was expected. Moses’ humility would have made both couples better leaders.

Homilette for Wednesday, August 1, 2007

Wednesday, Memorial of St. Alphonsus Ligouri

(Exodus 34)

One of Michelangelo’s most famous sculptures shows Moses with horns coming out of his head! It was not that Michelangelo thought Moses some kind of devil but that he was faithfully depicting the figure described in the Latin Bible that was used at the time. In it Hebrew word for radiance was incorrectly translated as horn; hence Moses had horns protruding from his head. Moses is radiant, of course, from having spent time with God who imparts his wisdom in the Ten Commandments.

Putting the Commandments aside for a moment, today, as yesterday, the Church celebrates the founder of a great religious order. St. Alphonsus Ligouri started the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer or Redemptorists. St. Alphonsus achieved notoriety also for his brilliance as a moral theologian. It is said that he consistently gave opinions that steered a prudent path between rigorism and laxity, two dangerous currents that can throw the People of God off course. Many Redemptorists have followed their patron in writing excellent moral theology.

We too want to follow St. Alphonsus’ prudent course in obeying the Ten Commandments and in practicing virtue. Rigorism can make us neo-Pharisees joylessly looking for faults in others. Laxity, the greater challenge today, can lead us to idolatry as we worship creation and not the Creator.

Homilette for Tuesday, July 31, 2207

Memorial of St. Ignatius of Loyola

(Exodus 33-34)

What kind of person can maintain herself or himself forty days without food or drink? We would say a strong-willed man or woman, someone who is tough, probably a person who no longer lives for himself or herself but one given in love for another whom he or she wishes to please with fullness of heart. As the reading from Exodus indicates, such a person was Moses, a Jew by birth, a noble by adoption, God’s prophet by divine election. Such a one is also Ignatius of Loyola who died on this date 451 years ago.

Like Moses before the burning bush Ignatius had a vision of God when he was a young man. He never revealed exactly what took place but said that he learned more from the vision than he did the rest of his life! It evidently taught him “to see God in all things” which became the inspiration of the Society of Jesus (or Jesuits), the religious order he founded. Ignatius wanted to spend his life in the Holy Land following the paths of Moses and, of course, of Jesus. But his holy land became a small apartment in Rome from which he directed the development of the Society into the foremost defenders of the Catholic faith.

Few or possibly none of us have the tenacity and, indeed, the love of God that characterize Moses and Ignatius. Yet, our lot is not simply to stand in awe at their accomplishments. Rather, ours is to practice discipline like they did. Discipline is a fundamental part of our discipleship of Christ. There may be no need, desire, or use in fasting forty days. However, going without a meal on a regular basis and abstaining from alcohol and coffee at an appointed should result in a clearer vision of God in the things He has created.