Monday, August 12, 2013

Monday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Deuteronomy 10:12-22; Matthew 17:22-27)

In his landmark “Gettysburg Address” Abraham Lincoln appealed to the “Declaration of Independence” in exhortation that the nation carry on the struggle for a united nation.  He said that the government founded to protect the freedom of all peoples is worth dying for.  In the Book of Deuteronomy Moses makes a similar argument. 

The Israelites are about to enter the Promised Land.  They have every reason to hope that they and their children will have all the resources they will need to live in prosperity.  But Moses, conveying the will of God, wants for them more than that.  He wants them to fulfill their destiny of being a model of God’s justice.  So he exhorts them to remember God’s graciousness to them and to their ancestors.  He is especially concerned that they treat other peoples fairly for, he says, “…you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt.”

As mass immigration has become a reality in all parts of the world, we should highlight these words of Moses.  It is difficult to sojourn in different lands with different customs and a different language.  Immigrants need understanding, fairness and even compassion.  Such treatment would show our solidarity not just across national boundaries but among generations.

Friday, August 9, 2013

Friday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Deuteronomy 4:32-40: Matthew 16:24-28)

Today’s optional memorial celebrates St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, more commonly known by her name at birth, Edith Stein.  Her death amply illustrates Jesus’ gospel message, “…whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

Edith Stein was born a German Jew.  She earned a doctorate in philosophy studying with the eminent phenomenologist Edmund Husserl.  Converting to Catholicism around thirty years of age, she joined a Carmel in Germany about the time when the Nazis started their systematic persecution of Jews.  Sr. Teresa Benedicta transferred to a Carmel in Holland where the Nazi regime was more tolerant of Jewish-Catholic converts. But when the Dutch bishops spoke out against the Nazis, the authorities rounded up known Jewish-Catholics there and sent them to Auschwitz.  Sr. Teresa Benedicta died in a gas chamber in 1942.

St. Teresa Benedicta’s life and death illustrate that following Jesus can be costly.  Many today think of being Catholic as belonging to a distinguishable social group that goes to mass on Sundays and says the rosary at wakes.  St. Teresa Benedicta testifies that to live the implications of our faith, we must be ready not only to make the daily sacrifices that faith requires but also to suffer humiliation and even death if systematic persecution should begin again.  

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Memorial of Saint Dominic, priest

(Numbers 20:1-13; Matthew 16:13-23)

“’You are thinking not as God does but as human beings do,’” Jesus tells Peter in the gospel today.  The lead disciple has just denied that Jesus will have to suffer and die because he is the Messiah.  He wouldn’t say the same thing to Dominic as a young cleric.

Dominic was studying in Palencia, Spain, when the region underwent a famine. The poor were perishing, but few rich people or the authorities came to their assistance.  Dominic could not bear the sight.  He gave away all his possessions to the poor and even sold the parchments he had for study with the proceeds going to feed the hungry.  Eventually Dominic founded his order based on radical poverty.  He did not mean to burden anyone but to preach that peace comes from trusting in God.

It may not be prudent to empty our bank accounts on behalf of charity. But it is certainly unjust to horde money or to spend it lavishly while people suffer want.  We should pray for the gifts of wisdom and generosity that we may come to think and live as God would have us do.

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Wednesday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Numbers 13:1-2.25-14.1.26a-29a.34-35; Matthew 15:21-28)

The movie “Chariots of Fire” features the men of great heart who composed the 1920 English Olympic track team.  In one scene their American rivals demonstrate technical excellence in training.  They do warm-up calisthenics as if they were jet engines tuning up for take-off.  In the end, however, the Americans are bettered by the determined Brits.  Such heart seems in short supply among the Israelites as they hear the reports of the inhabitants of the Promised Land in the first reading.

The Israelites fail to see that they have God on their side.  He has saved them from Pharaoh’s mighty army and provided for their needs in the desert.  Still the people cower after hearing of formidable enemies. They should know by now that it is not any physical advantage that would provide the margin of victory but God’s presence on their behalf.

When we face long odds, we best redouble our prayers.  It is not that we expect to triumph in every challenge, but we can pray that we emerge from the contest wiser, more gracious people.  Win or lose, we remain children of the unbeatable God.  In the end He will be our winning margin.  

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

The Transfiguration of the Lord

(Daniel 7:9-10.13-14; II Peter 1:16-19; Luke 9:28b-36)

In commenting on the Transfiguration in the Gospel of Luke, Pope Benedict XVI notes that it occurs when Jesus is praying.  He says that it is the interpenetration of Jesus with God the Father that produces the sensation of pure light.  Jesus becomes, as John’s gospel declares, “light from light.”

In prayer Jesus recognizes that God is calling him to suffer.   He can glimpse the cross awaiting him in Jerusalem, the “Exodus” which Moses and Elijah mention in the passage.  The vision does not deter him but compels him forward because he knows that it is the Father’s will.  Meanwhile, the disciples are being prepared for the shock ahead.

We should see a similar eventuality for ourselves in the future.  Whether we suffer through old age or face death in an instant, the experience will not be easy.  Like Jesus we should place our trust in God.  Like him we will be giving positive example to our associates.  Like him we will come to know God’s glory.