Memorial of St. Bonaventure, bishop and Doctor of the Church
(Isaiah 26:7-9.12.16-19; Matthew 11:28-30)
Is the resurrection from the dead a Christian idea or does it have origins in pre-Christian times? This question gives many people pause as they are afraid that eternal life is too great a prize to be hoped for. There may be little evidence in the Torah, the primordial Hebrew Scriptures, on eternal life, but in the reading from Isaiah today we do find testimony to its standing in Israel.
In an encomium to righteousness, Isaiah tells us that those who have lived close to the Lord will not lie in the dust forever. Rather, he says, their corpses will rise from the dead like the dew flushes the earth with life. Then they will live forever in the light of God. The writings of St. Bonaventure express how this happens. “We cannot rise above ourselves,” he states, “unless a higher power lifts us up.” Who but God, the Lord of creation, is this “higher power”?
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Memorial of Blessed Kateri Tekawitha, virgin
(Isaiah 10:5-7.13b-16; Matthew 11:25-27)
In trying to come to terms with the great evils that have racked humankind, some theologians have concluded that God has no power over forces like armies or hurricanes. Rather, they say, God only inspires people to carry out His will like a father might encourage his sons not to defile the family name. However, it is hard to square such a weak conception of God with Scripture as we see in the first reading today.
Assyria is a mighty power in the first third of the millennium before Christ. Scripture sees it becoming God’s instrument to punish the Northern Kingdom of Israel for the latter’s wickedness. However, according to Isaiah, Assyria has gone too far in its demolition of Israel. Now, the prophet predicts, God will call Assyria to account for its excesses. In fact, Babylonia will conquer Assyria a hundred years later.
When we suffer, we should call to mind that God is in control of the universe and all that is within it. Although we cannot understand why He allows good people to undergo terrible misfortune, we still can turn to God in prayer for mercy. We should not doubt an instant that God loves us and will come to our assistance. Blessed Kateri Tekawitha demonstrated this trust as a believer in the primitive society which we know as the missionary frontier of America. Despite facial deformation, sickness and persecution, Kateri showed great care for her people. No doubt her devotion to the Eucharist generated her charity toward others.
(Isaiah 10:5-7.13b-16; Matthew 11:25-27)
In trying to come to terms with the great evils that have racked humankind, some theologians have concluded that God has no power over forces like armies or hurricanes. Rather, they say, God only inspires people to carry out His will like a father might encourage his sons not to defile the family name. However, it is hard to square such a weak conception of God with Scripture as we see in the first reading today.
Assyria is a mighty power in the first third of the millennium before Christ. Scripture sees it becoming God’s instrument to punish the Northern Kingdom of Israel for the latter’s wickedness. However, according to Isaiah, Assyria has gone too far in its demolition of Israel. Now, the prophet predicts, God will call Assyria to account for its excesses. In fact, Babylonia will conquer Assyria a hundred years later.
When we suffer, we should call to mind that God is in control of the universe and all that is within it. Although we cannot understand why He allows good people to undergo terrible misfortune, we still can turn to God in prayer for mercy. We should not doubt an instant that God loves us and will come to our assistance. Blessed Kateri Tekawitha demonstrated this trust as a believer in the primitive society which we know as the missionary frontier of America. Despite facial deformation, sickness and persecution, Kateri showed great care for her people. No doubt her devotion to the Eucharist generated her charity toward others.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Tuesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time
(Isaiah 7:1-9; Matthew 11:20-24)
Isaiah’s exhortation to Ahaz in the first reading, “…unless your faith is firm, you shall not be firm,” enables us to understand the critical importance of faith to survival as a nation. God wants to assure Judah that its hope ultimately lies in Him. Trusting in armies or in alliances will not suffice. It must do as the Lord commands; it must trust in God above all.
Such a stance seems naïve if not bizarre to many today. After all, no nation makes a covenant with God like Israel did. And all nations know the necessity of military strength to deter rogue counterparts from taking advantage of them. However, nations still rise and fall by their fundamental beliefs which are spiritual in substance. The United States, for example, could not have become the power that it is without beliefs in the sanctity of the individual and the need of discipline for development both as a society and as individuals. These values are not exclusively Judeo-Christian, but the dominant American religious heritage has fostered them from the beginning. To continue as one nation in the future then, Americans must inspire their young to maintain firm belief in both. They certainly do so when they pass on religious faith as the basis of standing in society.
(Isaiah 7:1-9; Matthew 11:20-24)
Isaiah’s exhortation to Ahaz in the first reading, “…unless your faith is firm, you shall not be firm,” enables us to understand the critical importance of faith to survival as a nation. God wants to assure Judah that its hope ultimately lies in Him. Trusting in armies or in alliances will not suffice. It must do as the Lord commands; it must trust in God above all.
Such a stance seems naïve if not bizarre to many today. After all, no nation makes a covenant with God like Israel did. And all nations know the necessity of military strength to deter rogue counterparts from taking advantage of them. However, nations still rise and fall by their fundamental beliefs which are spiritual in substance. The United States, for example, could not have become the power that it is without beliefs in the sanctity of the individual and the need of discipline for development both as a society and as individuals. These values are not exclusively Judeo-Christian, but the dominant American religious heritage has fostered them from the beginning. To continue as one nation in the future then, Americans must inspire their young to maintain firm belief in both. They certainly do so when they pass on religious faith as the basis of standing in society.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Monday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time
(Isaiah 1:10-17; Matthew 10:34-11:1)
In the Middle East where Christians still live among Muslims, it is not unusual for Muslims to challenge Christians about our belief that God is both one and three. “This is contradictory,” the Muslims would say. We Christians, of course, are not without answers. Our responses generally restate the great theological declarations of the fourth century that the Father, the Son, and Spirit share the same divinity with distinct, although not individual, personhoods. In the gospel proclamation today we find Scriptural basis for our stand that Jesus is one with the Father.
First and foremost, Jesus speaks with divine authority. Who but God would dare to say that anyone who “loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me”? Even a fool would allow some slack for family before claiming personal allegiance. Jesus, however, knowing himself to be divine can demand utmost loyalty. Second, Jesus states that anyone who accepts one of his apostles, accepts him just as anyone who accepts him, accepts the Father who sent him. It is not strange to say that to accept an ambassador with credentials from an earthly leader, accepts the leader. But it is brazen to make the same equation between oneself and God without divine testimony. It may be that Jesus is simply deluded, but the gospels show him to be very much in touch with reality. We conclude then that Jesus is as he indicates, God.
Acknowledging Jesus as God implies compliance with his teaching. We take up our cross and follow him without grumbling, much less rebellion. Likewise, we assist the “little ones,” the poor, whom Mother Teresa recognized as “Jesus in disguise.”
(Isaiah 1:10-17; Matthew 10:34-11:1)
In the Middle East where Christians still live among Muslims, it is not unusual for Muslims to challenge Christians about our belief that God is both one and three. “This is contradictory,” the Muslims would say. We Christians, of course, are not without answers. Our responses generally restate the great theological declarations of the fourth century that the Father, the Son, and Spirit share the same divinity with distinct, although not individual, personhoods. In the gospel proclamation today we find Scriptural basis for our stand that Jesus is one with the Father.
First and foremost, Jesus speaks with divine authority. Who but God would dare to say that anyone who “loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me”? Even a fool would allow some slack for family before claiming personal allegiance. Jesus, however, knowing himself to be divine can demand utmost loyalty. Second, Jesus states that anyone who accepts one of his apostles, accepts him just as anyone who accepts him, accepts the Father who sent him. It is not strange to say that to accept an ambassador with credentials from an earthly leader, accepts the leader. But it is brazen to make the same equation between oneself and God without divine testimony. It may be that Jesus is simply deluded, but the gospels show him to be very much in touch with reality. We conclude then that Jesus is as he indicates, God.
Acknowledging Jesus as God implies compliance with his teaching. We take up our cross and follow him without grumbling, much less rebellion. Likewise, we assist the “little ones,” the poor, whom Mother Teresa recognized as “Jesus in disguise.”
Friday, July 9, 2010
Friday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time
(Hosea 14:2-10; Matthew 10:16-23)
Often the Church is criticized for distinctions she makes in moral theology. For example, many eschew the difference the Church sees between taking contraceptives, which she condemns, to avoid conception when a couple cannot afford to have a child and, as she recommends, using natural family planning. A similar objection is made to the Church’s condoning the possibility of removing a cancerous uterus even when it contains a fetus to save a woman’s life and her forbidding the direct killing of the fetus for the same purpose. We, however, should understand these distinctions as the Church’s putting into practice Jesus’ admonition in the gospel today to be “shrewd as serpents and as simple as doves.”
As doves, the Church holds that her members must not directly do evil. Rather, we must endeavor to act righteously at all costs. Yet this does not mean that we cannot make shrewd determinations to navigate through an often murky moral world. Natural family planning requires sacrifice to forego sexual intercourse during the considerable time when the wife may conceive; but, more importantly morally, it does not frustrate nature by constructing barriers to conception. Similarly, removing a defective uterus to save the life of a pregnant woman may result in her baby’s death, but it does not directly destroy the nascent life as abortion ruthlessly does.
(Hosea 14:2-10; Matthew 10:16-23)
Often the Church is criticized for distinctions she makes in moral theology. For example, many eschew the difference the Church sees between taking contraceptives, which she condemns, to avoid conception when a couple cannot afford to have a child and, as she recommends, using natural family planning. A similar objection is made to the Church’s condoning the possibility of removing a cancerous uterus even when it contains a fetus to save a woman’s life and her forbidding the direct killing of the fetus for the same purpose. We, however, should understand these distinctions as the Church’s putting into practice Jesus’ admonition in the gospel today to be “shrewd as serpents and as simple as doves.”
As doves, the Church holds that her members must not directly do evil. Rather, we must endeavor to act righteously at all costs. Yet this does not mean that we cannot make shrewd determinations to navigate through an often murky moral world. Natural family planning requires sacrifice to forego sexual intercourse during the considerable time when the wife may conceive; but, more importantly morally, it does not frustrate nature by constructing barriers to conception. Similarly, removing a defective uterus to save the life of a pregnant woman may result in her baby’s death, but it does not directly destroy the nascent life as abortion ruthlessly does.
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