December 17, 2009
(Isaiah 45:6c-8.18.21c-25; Matthew 1:1-17)
Readers of Genesis are sometimes confounded why the royal lineage of Israel passed through Judah, and not Rueben, Jacob’s first-born, or Joseph, his charismatic favorite. Judah, however, was chastened by his affair with Tamar to become a wise leader. He seems to have had good instincts as he won the argument not to murder the haughty brother, Joseph, but to sell him to merchants. Still, the unrighteous incident with Tamar taught Judah responsibility for his actions as well as the need for consummate virtue in leading a nation. Later in Genesis Judah shows his willingness to sacrifice himself for his family before Jacob chooses him as his successor.
The genealogy in the Gospel of Matthew read today shows Jesus as the culmination of Abraham’s dynasty. We can assume that wisdom grew as one generation succeeded another. Certainly there were setbacks along the way, but Matthew tells us that at the appointed time God presents His Son through the lineage that includes Joseph, Mary’s husband. The stage is set. Humans have achieved about as much natural knowledge as they need. Now Jesus will give God’s supreme lesson of unmerited and unlimited love.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Wednesday of the Third Week in Advent
(Isaiah 45:6c-8.18.21c-25; Luke 7:18a-23)
Although there are other global icons today, forty years ago it was said that three things existed throughout the earth– Coca-Cola, Volkswagen, and the Chinese. The thrust of the second part of the book of the prophet Isaiah – which is conveniently called “Second Isaiah” – is that the same God exists throughout the world. The prophet himself, schooled in Babylonia, declares that other nations may have had idols but they are trinkets, not gods. He could say even more confidently than his ancestors: Yahweh alone is God!
Monotheism sends missionaries throughout the world so that all men and women might know the one God. It also makes us prepare with as much fervor as we can manage for the coming of this God among us as human.
(Isaiah 45:6c-8.18.21c-25; Luke 7:18a-23)
Although there are other global icons today, forty years ago it was said that three things existed throughout the earth– Coca-Cola, Volkswagen, and the Chinese. The thrust of the second part of the book of the prophet Isaiah – which is conveniently called “Second Isaiah” – is that the same God exists throughout the world. The prophet himself, schooled in Babylonia, declares that other nations may have had idols but they are trinkets, not gods. He could say even more confidently than his ancestors: Yahweh alone is God!
Monotheism sends missionaries throughout the world so that all men and women might know the one God. It also makes us prepare with as much fervor as we can manage for the coming of this God among us as human.
Tueday, December 15, 2009
Tuesday of the Third Week in Advent
(Zephaniah 3:1-2, 9-13; Matthew 21:28-32)
In his book on faith historian Paul Johnson tells of a fire-and-brimstone preacher who had to change his tune. The preacher said that in his early years people packed the churches and hung on his words. But with a new era (the 1970s or so) similar congregants no longer believed in the ravages God supposedly racks on sinners.
John the Baptist seems to have a similar difficulty, at least with the more sophisticated type of listener. According to today’s gospel his warnings about hellfire cause at least some publicans and prostitutes to change their ways but the self-righteous ignore him. Today we imagine these sophisticates making excuses for their sins like the delinquents in West Side Story: “I’ve got a social disease”
Jesus, however, assures us that there is no excuse for not repenting. Each of us is in constant need of repair to extract prejudice, carelessness, and pride. That he is here to help us is what Christmas is all about.
(Zephaniah 3:1-2, 9-13; Matthew 21:28-32)
In his book on faith historian Paul Johnson tells of a fire-and-brimstone preacher who had to change his tune. The preacher said that in his early years people packed the churches and hung on his words. But with a new era (the 1970s or so) similar congregants no longer believed in the ravages God supposedly racks on sinners.
John the Baptist seems to have a similar difficulty, at least with the more sophisticated type of listener. According to today’s gospel his warnings about hellfire cause at least some publicans and prostitutes to change their ways but the self-righteous ignore him. Today we imagine these sophisticates making excuses for their sins like the delinquents in West Side Story: “I’ve got a social disease”
Jesus, however, assures us that there is no excuse for not repenting. Each of us is in constant need of repair to extract prejudice, carelessness, and pride. That he is here to help us is what Christmas is all about.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Memorial of St. John of the Cross, priest and doctor of the Church
(Numbers 24:2-7, 15-17a; Matthew 21:23-27)
Balaam was a holy man who lived in Palestine just before the Israelites occupied the territory. When Balak, the king of the Moabites, saw the oncoming Israeli horde, he summoned Balaam to curse the intruders. Balak’s strategy was that a saint’s curse would provide him the margin of victory in war with the newcomers. Balaam, however, could not comply with the king wishes because he saw how God was favoring the Israelites. The rising star which he saw in the heavens represented the ascendency of Israel’s prominence in the land.
Christians at least since the time of the writing of Matthew’s gospel view the star as a reference to Jesus. He is the light shining from the Jewish people to guide the world in righteousness.
The gospel today shows us to take Jesus’ seriously. Many have trivialized the salvation which he offers by reducing Christmas and, indeed, Christianity to nostalgia. As the passage demonstrates, Jesus can outwit sanctimonious adversaries who mean trip him up. He also provides us the capacity to prevail in our struggle with sin.
(Numbers 24:2-7, 15-17a; Matthew 21:23-27)
Balaam was a holy man who lived in Palestine just before the Israelites occupied the territory. When Balak, the king of the Moabites, saw the oncoming Israeli horde, he summoned Balaam to curse the intruders. Balak’s strategy was that a saint’s curse would provide him the margin of victory in war with the newcomers. Balaam, however, could not comply with the king wishes because he saw how God was favoring the Israelites. The rising star which he saw in the heavens represented the ascendency of Israel’s prominence in the land.
Christians at least since the time of the writing of Matthew’s gospel view the star as a reference to Jesus. He is the light shining from the Jewish people to guide the world in righteousness.
The gospel today shows us to take Jesus’ seriously. Many have trivialized the salvation which he offers by reducing Christmas and, indeed, Christianity to nostalgia. As the passage demonstrates, Jesus can outwit sanctimonious adversaries who mean trip him up. He also provides us the capacity to prevail in our struggle with sin.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Friday of the Second Week in Advent
(Isaiah 48:17-19; Matthew 11:16-19)
It is curious to hear people making excuses for not exercising daily. They say that early in the morning they are not ready to move their bodies and that later in the day they are too busy. Or that they are too cold in the morning and too tired in the evening. Doctors, no doubt, wonder if this kind of patient really wants good health.
Jesus feels the frustration of doctors in the gospel passage today. He sounds amazed that the people refuse to repent despite the testimony of God’s best preachers. John, who warned the people to repent or face God’s wrath, was rejected because he lived on grasshoppers and honey. Then Jesus, who preached a similar message of repentance but for the motive of sharing in God’s goodness, is repudiated for eating and drinking with everyone.
We are required to repent and our repentance must be on-going. Perhaps it is more helpful to use the word conversion. The twentieth century theologian Bernard Lonergan wrote of the need for ever deeper conversion. He says that we convert intellectually by knowing ever more deeply through experiencing, understanding, judging, and believing. Then we convert morally by calling good not what satisfies but what corresponds to true value. Finally, we convert religiously by falling in love as God loves which, we may say, is the full realization of sanctifying grace.
(Isaiah 48:17-19; Matthew 11:16-19)
It is curious to hear people making excuses for not exercising daily. They say that early in the morning they are not ready to move their bodies and that later in the day they are too busy. Or that they are too cold in the morning and too tired in the evening. Doctors, no doubt, wonder if this kind of patient really wants good health.
Jesus feels the frustration of doctors in the gospel passage today. He sounds amazed that the people refuse to repent despite the testimony of God’s best preachers. John, who warned the people to repent or face God’s wrath, was rejected because he lived on grasshoppers and honey. Then Jesus, who preached a similar message of repentance but for the motive of sharing in God’s goodness, is repudiated for eating and drinking with everyone.
We are required to repent and our repentance must be on-going. Perhaps it is more helpful to use the word conversion. The twentieth century theologian Bernard Lonergan wrote of the need for ever deeper conversion. He says that we convert intellectually by knowing ever more deeply through experiencing, understanding, judging, and believing. Then we convert morally by calling good not what satisfies but what corresponds to true value. Finally, we convert religiously by falling in love as God loves which, we may say, is the full realization of sanctifying grace.
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