Friday, August 1, 2014

Memorial of Saint Alphonsus Ligouri, bishop and doctor of the Church

(Jeremiah 26:1-9; Matthew 13:54-58)

If a bank robber threatened you with your life to act as his accomplice by driving his get-away car, could you do so without committing a sin?  It’s not an easy question to answer since it seems that you would be giving immediate material cooperation that is generally forbidden.  Moralists are likely divided on the issue which brings us to St. Alphonsus Ligouri whose feast day is today.

Alphonsus lived during a time of great debate among moral theologians. Some, called probablists, held that one could take a position in favor of freedom on a difficult issue – in the above, that it would be permissible to cooperate with the bank robber – if at least one accredited moralist held that position.  Others, named probabilorists, believed that it is always necessary to follow the opinion with the most internal reasons.  St. Alphonsus settled the issue with his typical wisdom.  He wrote that one could take a position of freedom if there are as many internal arguments in its favor as there are in favor of the law.

We live in an age that exalts information.  Especially through the Internet a mountain of facts are at one’s fingertips.  But there is a scarcity of wisdom, the ability to live rightly in any circumstances in which we find ourselves.  People like St. Alphonsus are gifts from God to be heeded and followed.

Thursday, July 31, 2014

Memorial of Saint Ignatius Loyola, priest

(Jeremiah 18:1-6; Matthew 13:47-53)

Preachers today often speak of God’s “unconditional love.”  Rightly understood, the statement is on target.  Unlike most humans, God doesn’t reserve His affection for one nation or another, for one race or another, even for one religion or another.  There is something to the special love God has for the poor, but this does not mean that He does not care as well for the rich and the strong.

Yet it seems that some may run too fast with the idea of God’s unconditional love.  They would say that it assures everyone a place in the Kingdom.  They want to claim that nothing anyone does might alienate him or her from eternal life.  A funeral director, who hears plenty of homilies about God’s mercy, said that this was one of the results of Vatican II. 

But, of course, the bishops arrived at no such conclusion fifty years ago nor could they do so today.  It would counter Jesus’ teaching in this mass’s parable of a huge catch of fish some good and some bad.  In the first reading as well, written before a sense of personal salvation took hold in the biblical literature, the Lord declares Himself able to reject a people to whom He has shown great love.

A wise man once said that we cannot know if no one has been condemned but we can pray that no one has been condemned.  We also should pray that people who do evil things turn from their misdeeds.  And while we are at it, let us also pray that we who come to church to listen to pious homilies do not have hidden, darker motives for doing so.

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Wednesday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Jeremiah 15:10.16-21; Matthew 13:44-46)

Ralph Powell was a Dominican priest known for eccentricity.  He used to take two cups of coffee with him to his room every morning.  His brothers in community would joke that the one was meant for him and the other for God.  They did not doubt, however, that the priest had a close relationship with the Lord.  He knew that he was blessed.  Anytime -- on both good and bad days alike – he was asked how he was, he would respond, “Better than I deserve to be.”  It is precisely such a relationship with God that Jesus refers to as the treasure a man discovers in a field and the fine pearl a merchant finds.

When Jesus says that the Kingdom of Heaven is like riches or a jewel, he means that knowing God surpasses anything a person has or does.  Jesus’ preaching began with the proclamation, “The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand; repent and believe.”  Now he is making the claim that repentance is tantamount to selling everything one has.  It is turning away not just from evil things but from good things as well that might distract us from pursuing a relation with God.

More likely than not, the good things that distract us need to be put in their place rather than discarded.  We work too hard and should relax to pray more.  We enjoy wine, chocolate, and beef, but a day of abstinence each week from these goods would make us more appreciative to the Lord.  He is the one for whom we are to sacrifice everything.

Tuesday, Jul 29, 2014

Memorial of Saint Martha

(Jeremiah 14:17-22; John 11:19-27)

When the father of the boy possessed by a demon exclaims to Jesus, “I do believe; help my unbelief,” he expresses the faith of most every Christian.  Even Martha, a close friend of the Lord, shows a fault line in her belief as in today’s gospel.

Martha makes a declaration of faith as bold as Peter’s in the first three gospels.  She calls Jesus “’…the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.’”  But she fails to realize the meaning of her statement.  When Jesus says that her dead brother will rise, she considers it a reference to the vague end of times.  She does not recognize that the Jesus standing before her is new life itself.  Not understanding the full meaning of her words, Martha will worry about mundane things like the smell of decomposing flesh when Jesus orders her brother’s tomb opened.

Although we may take comfort in knowing that we are not alone in posing questions of faith, it is important to move beyond this point.  Full faith will make stronger and more attentive to others’ needs.  It will assure that we do what is right in trial and keep us squarely on the road to the fullness of life.

Monday, July 28, 2014

Monday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Jeremiah 13:1-11; Matthew 13:31-35)

Walking through a shopping mall, both men and women are allured by the lingerie shop.  The window display arouses such interest that all wonder what can be inside.  Of course, the apparel is meant to increase the intensity of desire of a husband for his wife.  In the first reading today the prophet Israel uses such an image to describe the relationship between God and Israel.

The loin cloth described in the passage was to be worn by men to cover their genitals.   In public the loincloth was worn under a tunic, but whether in private or in public it signifies intimacy.  The prophet himself states this meaning: “As close as the loincloth clings to a man’s loins, so had I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, says the Lord.”  The tragedy that Israel abandons God for the fetishes of their neighbors is symbolized by the loincloth being buried and rotting.

God has created humans as sexual beings so that they might relate to one another.  Genital sexuality is reserved for a man and a woman to solidify their union.  It becomes the proper environment for raising children and thus for fulfilling God’s plan for creation.  Quite unfortunately, humans often distort this blueprint by making pleasure the purpose of sexual fulfillment.  Like Jeremiah‘s rotting loincloth, such practice cannot last long.  We look to Jesus, who reinforces the original teaching on sexuality in Genesis, as our advisor in these affairs.