Wednesday of the First Week in Ordinary Time
(Hebrews 7:1-3.15-17; Mark 3:1-6)
The word tithe originally meant just tenth although today we think of it exclusively as a tenth of what one earns. Of course, pastors like to think of the tithe, ten percent of a family’s income, as the appropriate amount for its church donation. In the reading from Hebrews today we find a biblical antecedent for the directive.
It should be noted, first, that the passage does not pretend to counsel churchgoers about their offerings. Rather it tries to establish Jesus’ foundation as the eternal high priest in three ways. First, like the mysterious Melchizedek, his origins have no beginning or end. What is more, as the father of faith Abraham honors the priest Melchizedek with his tithe so Jesus through his death on the cross deserves our confidence. Finally, in the gospels Jesus is called “the Prince of Peace” and preaches nonviolence; likewise, the name Melchizedek means “King of Peace” and the person – a presumably rival king -- comes and goes amicably.
We can count on Jesus. He is as wise as the ages and will never do us harm. But there is much more reason to trust him. He has shown his love for us by dying on the cross. What happened afterwards proves that it was neither a foolish gesture nor an inconsequential sacrifice. In raising Jesus from the dead, the Father has indicated our destiny if we abide by him.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Tuesday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time
(Hebrews 6:10-20; Mark 2:23-28)
Today’s first reading is the source of the familiar Christian icon for the virtue of hope. The author of the Letter to the Hebrews is saying that hope steadies our belief in God’s promise as an anchor stays a boat. Without hope we would drift away with the currents of fashion or the breezes of comfort. Hope moves us to struggle if necessary to maintain our faith in God.
But what do we hope for? We use the word all the time and for the most frivolous of things. Some say they hope that their football team wins or that it snows tomorrow. Hebrews expresses hope for the “unshakeable kingdom,” which we know as eternal life. It is not a far off “never, never land” but as close to us as we are to ourselves. It is the joy of sharing with loved ones – both living and dead – a smile along with a piece of bread.
Hope has been called the youngest of three children addling between her sisters, faith and love. Often it seems that the elder children must pull along hope which wonders how God might reverse the arrow of time so that we might approach again our parents, friends, or teachers who have crossed death’s threshold. But at times hope is distinctly in the lead urging us to believe and to care so that we might enjoy renewed companionship with our loved ones.
(Hebrews 6:10-20; Mark 2:23-28)
Today’s first reading is the source of the familiar Christian icon for the virtue of hope. The author of the Letter to the Hebrews is saying that hope steadies our belief in God’s promise as an anchor stays a boat. Without hope we would drift away with the currents of fashion or the breezes of comfort. Hope moves us to struggle if necessary to maintain our faith in God.
But what do we hope for? We use the word all the time and for the most frivolous of things. Some say they hope that their football team wins or that it snows tomorrow. Hebrews expresses hope for the “unshakeable kingdom,” which we know as eternal life. It is not a far off “never, never land” but as close to us as we are to ourselves. It is the joy of sharing with loved ones – both living and dead – a smile along with a piece of bread.
Hope has been called the youngest of three children addling between her sisters, faith and love. Often it seems that the elder children must pull along hope which wonders how God might reverse the arrow of time so that we might approach again our parents, friends, or teachers who have crossed death’s threshold. But at times hope is distinctly in the lead urging us to believe and to care so that we might enjoy renewed companionship with our loved ones.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Memorial of Saint Anthony, abbot
(Hebrews 5:1-10; Mark 2:18-22)
Writer-teacher Frank McCourt tells of a bus driver who was able to relate to an African-American high school student in a way that he never could. McCourt’s class was returning from a cultural activity when the student began talking with the bus driver who was also African-American. She asked the driver about his family. The driver said that he had children and was working hard to send them to school so they wouldn’t have to drive buses for a living. He said that Black people had to work hard in the United States if they were going to get by but in the end that was good because the struggle made them stronger. When the girl told him that she wanted to become a hairdresser, he chided her that she could do better, that she was smart and could go to college.
Although there is nothing wrong with being a bus driver or a hairdresser, the lesson which the bus driver gave resembles the wisdom of the Letter to the Hebrews. Jesus’ suffering allowed him not only to identify with the rest of humanity; it also purified him so that he might give himself completely to his Father. In these ways he also “was made stronger.” This truth may sound strange if we think of Jesus as one conscious of his divinity since the day he was born. But in numerous passages the New Testament relates that he suffered like the rest of humanity. Yet the suffering did not deplete him of virtue but multiplied it within him.
Today the United States honors one of its greatest heroes. Martin Luther King, Jr., spoke up for struggling minorities who were being deprived of opportunity to show their ability. He preached to the well-off of Christ’s love for the poor and also to the impatient of Christ’s way of nonviolence. He dreamed not so much of a color-blind America but of a society in which all peoploe would be respected for the “content of their character.”
(Hebrews 5:1-10; Mark 2:18-22)
Writer-teacher Frank McCourt tells of a bus driver who was able to relate to an African-American high school student in a way that he never could. McCourt’s class was returning from a cultural activity when the student began talking with the bus driver who was also African-American. She asked the driver about his family. The driver said that he had children and was working hard to send them to school so they wouldn’t have to drive buses for a living. He said that Black people had to work hard in the United States if they were going to get by but in the end that was good because the struggle made them stronger. When the girl told him that she wanted to become a hairdresser, he chided her that she could do better, that she was smart and could go to college.
Although there is nothing wrong with being a bus driver or a hairdresser, the lesson which the bus driver gave resembles the wisdom of the Letter to the Hebrews. Jesus’ suffering allowed him not only to identify with the rest of humanity; it also purified him so that he might give himself completely to his Father. In these ways he also “was made stronger.” This truth may sound strange if we think of Jesus as one conscious of his divinity since the day he was born. But in numerous passages the New Testament relates that he suffered like the rest of humanity. Yet the suffering did not deplete him of virtue but multiplied it within him.
Today the United States honors one of its greatest heroes. Martin Luther King, Jr., spoke up for struggling minorities who were being deprived of opportunity to show their ability. He preached to the well-off of Christ’s love for the poor and also to the impatient of Christ’s way of nonviolence. He dreamed not so much of a color-blind America but of a society in which all peoploe would be respected for the “content of their character.”
Friday, January 14, 2011
Friday of the First Week in Ordinary Time
(Hebrews 4:1-5.11; Mark 2:1-12)
When Martin Luther King and companions called the bus strike in Montgomery, Alabama, many African-Americans walked to work. It was no mean sacrifice since the walkers often stood on their feet all day at their jobs. Yet they were willing to do it because they knew the bus strike was a step toward racial justice. One elderly lady who had participated in the strike expressed her satisfaction at day’s end. “My feet are tired,” she said, “but my soul’s at rest.” The author of the Letter to the Hebrews expresses such paradoxical rest as his hope for the people he addresses in the first reading today.
Rest is always more than inaction. True rest includes the satisfaction of knowing that one has done his or her very best. When a teacher returns home after of a full day of instructing, disciplining, and encouraging her students, she can rest. We bear with difficulties and seek ways to announce the good news of God’s love so that we might enter God’s eternal rest. Others may dismiss our efforts with faint praise, but we do not live to impress them, at least beyond the desire that they too might know the love of Jesus. No, we live in order to rest with our Lord.
(Hebrews 4:1-5.11; Mark 2:1-12)
When Martin Luther King and companions called the bus strike in Montgomery, Alabama, many African-Americans walked to work. It was no mean sacrifice since the walkers often stood on their feet all day at their jobs. Yet they were willing to do it because they knew the bus strike was a step toward racial justice. One elderly lady who had participated in the strike expressed her satisfaction at day’s end. “My feet are tired,” she said, “but my soul’s at rest.” The author of the Letter to the Hebrews expresses such paradoxical rest as his hope for the people he addresses in the first reading today.
Rest is always more than inaction. True rest includes the satisfaction of knowing that one has done his or her very best. When a teacher returns home after of a full day of instructing, disciplining, and encouraging her students, she can rest. We bear with difficulties and seek ways to announce the good news of God’s love so that we might enter God’s eternal rest. Others may dismiss our efforts with faint praise, but we do not live to impress them, at least beyond the desire that they too might know the love of Jesus. No, we live in order to rest with our Lord.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Memorial of St. Hilary of Poitiers, bishop and doctor of the Church
(Hebrews 3:7-14; Mark 1:40-45)
In the Western world material comfort distracts many from following Christ. Pastors should urge their congregations to keep their eyes on him whose resurrection from the dead is their hope and promise. In the East the situation is more dire, and the pastoral challenge more daunting. Christians are persecuted regularly and, all too often, with little recourse to justice. In November Muslims massacred sixty Catholics who were worshipping in church, and last month a similar atrocity was inflicted on Coptic Christians in Egypt. Pakistani Christians are also constantly harassed. Lest we think discrimination against Christians is exclusively the work of Muslims, in India the Hindu majority can show prejudice toward to both Christians and Muslims which has erupted into violence.
Throughout the whole world then the admonition of the reading from the Letter to the Hebrews today is relevant. We must hold fast to belief in Christ, as hard as it sometimes is. It is a sure road to personal peace as Jesus provides spiritual companionship that cannot be taken away. More significantly, he is the only way to eternal life. In our liturgy today we remember a model of religious endurance under persecution. St. Hilary was exiled from his native France for defending Christ’s divinity against the compromising assertions of the Arians. In exile he did not stop proclaiming the truth of Christ, and when returned to his diocese of Poitiers, he proclaimed Christ as the eternal God until his death.
(Hebrews 3:7-14; Mark 1:40-45)
In the Western world material comfort distracts many from following Christ. Pastors should urge their congregations to keep their eyes on him whose resurrection from the dead is their hope and promise. In the East the situation is more dire, and the pastoral challenge more daunting. Christians are persecuted regularly and, all too often, with little recourse to justice. In November Muslims massacred sixty Catholics who were worshipping in church, and last month a similar atrocity was inflicted on Coptic Christians in Egypt. Pakistani Christians are also constantly harassed. Lest we think discrimination against Christians is exclusively the work of Muslims, in India the Hindu majority can show prejudice toward to both Christians and Muslims which has erupted into violence.
Throughout the whole world then the admonition of the reading from the Letter to the Hebrews today is relevant. We must hold fast to belief in Christ, as hard as it sometimes is. It is a sure road to personal peace as Jesus provides spiritual companionship that cannot be taken away. More significantly, he is the only way to eternal life. In our liturgy today we remember a model of religious endurance under persecution. St. Hilary was exiled from his native France for defending Christ’s divinity against the compromising assertions of the Arians. In exile he did not stop proclaiming the truth of Christ, and when returned to his diocese of Poitiers, he proclaimed Christ as the eternal God until his death.
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