Tuesday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time
(II Kings 19:9b-11.14-21.31-35a.36; Matthew 7:1-5)
A few years ago a Catholic magazine parodied the Church’s concern that people who are not prepared to receive Holy Communion nevertheless go to take it. The magazine likened giving notice that reception of the Eucharist is intended for faithful Catholics in the state of grace to having a bouncer at the Communion rail. Yet the gospel proscription today of giving “what is holy to dogs” has been interpreted from ancient times as a warning not to admit the un-baptized or the unrepentant to the Eucharist.
The Eucharistic bread and wine are, above all, Christ himself. He comes to bring us peace and to strengthen us against evil. Everyone, of course, needs this assistance. But unless one recognizes him and is not spiritually dead due to mortal sin, accepting him in Communion, like exercising immediately after eating, will not improve but imperil one’s well-being.
Of course, suggesting that people are like dogs sounds rash to our ears. It was an expression of first century Judaism just as twenty-first century Americans innocently call elderly women and men “guys” – a term once reserved for young men. We do well not to judge Jesus by the colloquialisms he uses but to judge ourselves by his standard, “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction...”
Monday, June 21, 2010
Memorial of St. Aloysius Gonzaga
(II Kings 17:5-8.13-15a.18; Matthew 7:1-5)
The story is told how an English newspaper held an essay contest in the early 1930s. Participants were to submit compositions answering the question, “What’s wrong with the world today?” Even more than at most times, there were troubles then. The great economies of the world were in depression. Many people were looking toward communism as an answer to social problems. Germany was on the verge of rearmament. Interestingly, the winning essay did not touch on any of these concerns. As a matter of fact, it was composed of just two words. “What’s wrong with the world...?” “I am,” wrote G.K. Chesterton to capture the prize.
Chesterton took to heart Jesus’ message in the gospel today. Rather than criticize others’ faults, Jesus insists that we are to acknowledge and correct our own. Still, at times we will have to make judgments over others’ performance as, for example, a supervisor assessing an assistant’s work. We might remember the Native American adage then, “Walk a mile in another man’s moccasins before you criticize him.”
(II Kings 17:5-8.13-15a.18; Matthew 7:1-5)
The story is told how an English newspaper held an essay contest in the early 1930s. Participants were to submit compositions answering the question, “What’s wrong with the world today?” Even more than at most times, there were troubles then. The great economies of the world were in depression. Many people were looking toward communism as an answer to social problems. Germany was on the verge of rearmament. Interestingly, the winning essay did not touch on any of these concerns. As a matter of fact, it was composed of just two words. “What’s wrong with the world...?” “I am,” wrote G.K. Chesterton to capture the prize.
Chesterton took to heart Jesus’ message in the gospel today. Rather than criticize others’ faults, Jesus insists that we are to acknowledge and correct our own. Still, at times we will have to make judgments over others’ performance as, for example, a supervisor assessing an assistant’s work. We might remember the Native American adage then, “Walk a mile in another man’s moccasins before you criticize him.”
Friday, June 18, 2010
Friday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time
(II Kings 11:4-9.9-18.20; Matthew 6:19-23)
It is said that if you give a child a choice between a worn dime and shiny penny, she will choose the penny. This may be true in general, but often enough there is a different result. Since they have difficulty making choices, children generally want both offerings. A sign of maturity is the ability to decide on a goal and to marshal one’s resources to achieve it.
In the gospel today Jesus is calling his disciples to maturity and beyond. He wants us not only to choose a heavenly treasure but to live implicitly righteous lives in order to achieve it. Wealth is a fleeting blessing, he would say, where divine love lasts forever. To achieve eternal life we are to share with others the love which the Holy Spirit pours into our hearts.
(II Kings 11:4-9.9-18.20; Matthew 6:19-23)
It is said that if you give a child a choice between a worn dime and shiny penny, she will choose the penny. This may be true in general, but often enough there is a different result. Since they have difficulty making choices, children generally want both offerings. A sign of maturity is the ability to decide on a goal and to marshal one’s resources to achieve it.
In the gospel today Jesus is calling his disciples to maturity and beyond. He wants us not only to choose a heavenly treasure but to live implicitly righteous lives in order to achieve it. Wealth is a fleeting blessing, he would say, where divine love lasts forever. To achieve eternal life we are to share with others the love which the Holy Spirit pours into our hearts.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Thursday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time
(Sirach 48:1-14; Matthew 6:7-15)
Although no book of the Bible bears his name, Elijah may be considered the preeminent prophet of Israel. As a prophet, he received a special revelation from God, spoke on God’s behalf, and suffered at the hands of kings and people because of God’s message. However, he was not martyred, which was considered the prophet’s fate. Rather, he was taken up into heaven in a fiery chariot, which was fitting since fire was Elijah’s trademark. Pope Benedict in his book Jesus of Nazareth writes that the people of Israel awaited Elijah’s return so that he might experience a true martyr’s death.
Because of his expected return, some thought Jesus himself was Elijah reincarnated. When he asked his disciples who the people were calling him, they answered that some considered him to be Elijah. But Jesus had another candidate for the Elijah role: John the Baptist, who was beheaded after telling the truth about Herod Antipas. For Jesus, John’s death anticipates the prophetic “Day of the Lord” which is how the evangelists saw the paschal event.
Christians understand the prophets as foretelling Jesus’ coming. How did Elijah do this? There are incidents about Elijah that parallel experiences in Jesus’ life like providing food for the widow and her son prefiguring Jesus’ feeding the multitude. Perhaps more indicative, however, is the story of the Lord God coming to Elijah as a whisper at the mouth of a cave. We see the whisper as Jesus, the full revelation of God in the quite unassuming figure of a carpenter from Nazareth, and the cave as the depths of his being where he talks with the Father because he is one with Him.
(Sirach 48:1-14; Matthew 6:7-15)
Although no book of the Bible bears his name, Elijah may be considered the preeminent prophet of Israel. As a prophet, he received a special revelation from God, spoke on God’s behalf, and suffered at the hands of kings and people because of God’s message. However, he was not martyred, which was considered the prophet’s fate. Rather, he was taken up into heaven in a fiery chariot, which was fitting since fire was Elijah’s trademark. Pope Benedict in his book Jesus of Nazareth writes that the people of Israel awaited Elijah’s return so that he might experience a true martyr’s death.
Because of his expected return, some thought Jesus himself was Elijah reincarnated. When he asked his disciples who the people were calling him, they answered that some considered him to be Elijah. But Jesus had another candidate for the Elijah role: John the Baptist, who was beheaded after telling the truth about Herod Antipas. For Jesus, John’s death anticipates the prophetic “Day of the Lord” which is how the evangelists saw the paschal event.
Christians understand the prophets as foretelling Jesus’ coming. How did Elijah do this? There are incidents about Elijah that parallel experiences in Jesus’ life like providing food for the widow and her son prefiguring Jesus’ feeding the multitude. Perhaps more indicative, however, is the story of the Lord God coming to Elijah as a whisper at the mouth of a cave. We see the whisper as Jesus, the full revelation of God in the quite unassuming figure of a carpenter from Nazareth, and the cave as the depths of his being where he talks with the Father because he is one with Him.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Wednesday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time
(II Kings 2:1.6-14; Matthew 6:1-6.16-18)
Students at a Catholic high school would piously enter chapel during the lunch break for mass when their priest-teacher was observing, grade book in hand. Once the teacher left his post, however, the adolescents would sneak out thinking that they put something over him. But the teacher -- no one’s fool -- likely gave no real credit for mass attendance. He probably was well aware of what his students were up to and just hoped that the chicanery would result in their saying a few prayers.
In today’s gospel Jesus warns about performing acts of piety so that others may see them. He says that such hypocrisy finds no favor with the Father. He does not say, but we can presume, that such behavior has a net negative effect as one of its purposes is deception. We know eternal life or heaven to be reserved for the righteous with no wicked or faulty admitted. This means that when we are called, all deceit, hatred, and base desires will have to be seared from our souls. This purgation is often pictured as taking place on the outskirts of hell with all its blazing heat. Of course, we really don’t know what purgatory is like. Still we can say from our experience in trying to undo harmful habits that it is likely to be an unpleasant process we would do well to avoid. It would be much easier for us if we make transparency our way of life now.
(II Kings 2:1.6-14; Matthew 6:1-6.16-18)
Students at a Catholic high school would piously enter chapel during the lunch break for mass when their priest-teacher was observing, grade book in hand. Once the teacher left his post, however, the adolescents would sneak out thinking that they put something over him. But the teacher -- no one’s fool -- likely gave no real credit for mass attendance. He probably was well aware of what his students were up to and just hoped that the chicanery would result in their saying a few prayers.
In today’s gospel Jesus warns about performing acts of piety so that others may see them. He says that such hypocrisy finds no favor with the Father. He does not say, but we can presume, that such behavior has a net negative effect as one of its purposes is deception. We know eternal life or heaven to be reserved for the righteous with no wicked or faulty admitted. This means that when we are called, all deceit, hatred, and base desires will have to be seared from our souls. This purgation is often pictured as taking place on the outskirts of hell with all its blazing heat. Of course, we really don’t know what purgatory is like. Still we can say from our experience in trying to undo harmful habits that it is likely to be an unpleasant process we would do well to avoid. It would be much easier for us if we make transparency our way of life now.
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