Thursday, January 16, 2014

Thursday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

(I Samuel 4:1-11; Mark 1:40-45)

After every human tragedy – earthquake, hurricane, tsunami – humans ask themselves why it happened.  They wonder whether God is capricious, whether they did not respond properly to God’s initiatives, or whether He exists at all.  Such questions echo the elders of Israel in today’s first reading.

 “’Why has the Lord permitted us to be defeated today by the Philistines?’” the men ask themselves. Apparently assuming that the problem lies with God’s lack of attention, they summon the Ark of the Covenant to be brought to the battlefront.  “Surely the Lord will wake up,” the elders seem to say, “when He sees His people’s need.”  Of course, the tactic fails.  God knows quite well what their situation, yet chooses not to support the Israelites. 

God has His reasons which will always, to some degree at least, remain obscure to humankind.  We might speculate in the case under consideration that God is changing the center of human authority from judges to a king as well as the center of cultic worship from Shiloh to Jerusalem.  But God’s reasons are, in the end, unfathomable.  If we could figure them out, we would sit on an equal level with God.  This is not to say that God caresses and despises humans at whim.  No, He has definitively shown favor toward all of us in Jesus Christ.  What Jesus suffered to liberate humans from sin manifests majestically the Father’s love.  We must respond by embracing whole-heartedly the mystery of God -- both when it seems to favor us and when it seems to reject us.  

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Wednesday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

(I Samuel 3:1-10.19-20; Mark 1:29-39)

The reference in today’s gospel that Peter had a mother-in-law is the only indication that he was married.  Ironically, the Roman Catholic tradition, which looks to Peter as a key figure in its theology, has insisted on celibacy for a clerical norm whereas Protestant communities of faith find in Paul, the attested bachelor, its theological hero.  Of course, Jesus too was a committed celibate and defended that state of life as summoned by God on behalf of His kingdom.  One theologian thinks it necessary that celibacy be maintained as a discipline to preserve this insight of Jesus.

Still the argument for relaxing the discipline within the Catholic Church is cogent.  In both countries with a long Christian heritage and those where the Church is still getting started there is a shortage of priests.  Few doubt that ordaining married men would not result in a spike of vocations to the priesthood.  Counterarguments have weight also.  There are the traditional problems of patrimony to the offspring of the priest.  More forceful is celibacy’s concrete testimony of the priority of God in a world that is obsessed with issues of sexuality.

As Catholics we need be wary of simplistic ideas on either side of the argument for a married clergy.  Certainly many married men can perform the duties of a priest.  On the other hand, most married men will not want to live in extremely deprived areas where the gospel needs to be preached.  What is paramount is that we continue to “ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest field.”

Tuesday, January 14, 2013

Tuesday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

(I Samuel 1:9-20; Mark 1:20-28)

Ever fascinating, Pope Francis does not sidestep criticizing the clergy.  His reprimand of the German bishop who spent a lavish amount of money on his residence made world news.  Not so noticed by the press, he took aim at insipid clerical preaching in his recent exhortation The Joy of the Gospel.  Francis realizes that the people follow their clergy.  Where priests zealously live the gospel, the people will follow suit.  The first reading provides an example of a priest from the Old Testament whose laxness created great trouble for ancient Israel.

In the reading from I Samuel Eli harshly and erroneously rebukes Hannah for coming to the temple drunk.  In the end he sounds contrite enough for his mistake; however, further reading of I Samuel reveals Eli making other costly misjudgments.  He does not ban his two sons Hophni and Phinehas from temple service after they wantonly extort people.  More tragically, he evidently allows the Ark of the Covenant to be used as a talisman in the war against the Philistines leading to its loss in battle.

Although the universal priesthood of the baptized is rightfully given center attention in the Church today, we should not underestimate the need for competent, hard-working, holy priests.  At least in the United States, they do not need money or other material gifts, but they should be prayed for.  When they err in a significant way (or are perceived as having done so), they should be told politely rather than criticized behind their back or excused frivolously.  

Monday, January 13, 2013

Monday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

(I Samuel 1:1-18; Mark 1:14-20)

Many rabbis in ancient Israel had disciples.  But none treated their disciples like Jesus did his.  Other rabbis received students who came to them for instruction.  Jesus went out to seek his disciples as today’s gospel shows.  The duty of other rabbis was to teach their disciples the law.  Jesus, however, has another purpose  – to make his disciples fishers or gatherers of people.  Other rabbis had their disciples serve them; Jesus, on the other hand, came “to serve, not to be served.”

Jesus’s ways are so distinctive because he comes to proclaim the arrival of God’s Kingdom.  He knows that now is not the time to study God’s law; it is time to embrace the fulfillment of all that the law promises.  It is the difference between preparing for a feast and sitting down at table.  The people must be moved to give up prejudice toward other nations and hostility toward one another.  They must be shown that God, the Father of all, calls all to solidarity.

It may seem to some that the moment of the Kingdom has passed, that we live in post-religious times when the best we can hope for is growing the world economy so that everyone will have access to the Internet.  But this is not so.  The Kingdom is still within our grasp because Jesus is not a mere human whose bones have long rotten.  He is the resurrected Lord who always calls us to greater love.

Friday, January 10, 2014

Friday after the Epiphany

(I John 5:5-13; Luke 5:12-16)

Today’s first reading speaks of the Spirit of Jesus testifying to his being Son of God.  It is saying what Jesus himself expresses in the synagogue of Nazareth according to Luke’s gospel: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me…”  That is, Jesus’ marvelous deeds give testimony to his divine origin.  Something very similar can be said about Jesus’ followers.

Christians, including us, have been given the Spirit at Baptism to perform loving deeds.  We are enabled to assist others without concern for personal gain.  Indeed, we can help the oppressed even though it may bring about some loss.  One man has driven fifty miles every week for over five years to visit inmates in a state prison.  He is a cursillista who chose prison ministry as his apostolate.

Some of us are called to give further testimony.  These are the martyrs like the 500 Christians in India who were slaughtered by Hindu radicals in 2008.  Their adhesion to the faith despite the constant threat of persecution gives the most eloquent testimony to Jesus’ Spirit acting in them as well as Jesus’ being God’s Son.