Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Tuesday, Christmas weekday

(I John 4:7-10; Mark 6:34-44)

The woman was fond of saying, “Where there is a will there is a way.”  She knew that people often find excuses for not doing things that they could do if they set their heart on it.  She herself gave her three children a Catholic education after her husband died in their eleventh year of marriage.  Jesus has a similar idea in mind in today’s gospel.

The disciples are growing desperate.  They see the crowds staying to listen to Jesus as the day wanes.  They must be thinking, “Who will feed this multitude?”  Perhaps they have provisions that they are reluctant to share.  But Jesus shows no such worry.  “Give them some food yourselves,” he says.  He then blesses the bread and fish at hand which turn out to be more than enough.  What happened?  The gospel itself does not mention a multiplication of loaves.  Nor is anything said about each person sharing from his or her personal provision.  The “how” question evidently does not really matter to the evangelist.  What’s important here is Jesus’ trust in his Father to feed the crowd. 

We too sometimes make excuses for not fulfilling responsibilities.  We do not have to give it “the old college try.”  What’s important is sincerely asking God’s assistance.  There are as many ways for God to accomplish His purpose as there are fish in the ocean.  God will provide when we bring our needs to Him.

Monday, January 5, 2015

Memorial of Saint John Neumann, bishop

(I John 3:22-4:6; Matthew 4:12-17.23-25)

A couple of years ago a Harvard professor claimed to have evidence that Jesus was married.  She produced a parchment with writing in Coptic in which JesJesus' wifeus refers to his wife.  By itself the document could not have disproved the Christian belief that Jesus was as he indicates, “a eunuch for the sake of the kingdom” (Matthew 19:12).  But it certainly could have sown doubt in believers that what the Church has been preaching since the beginning was not true.  Upon investigation, however, the parchment has been shown to be a forgery.  In the first reading today John the Elder calls for a similar kind of investigation regarding the claims of others about Christ and his community.  He tells his followers that they must “test the spirits to see whether they belong to God.”

Throughout Christian history the Church has been plagued by dissension and fragmentation.  Today’s reading tells us that it took place in the first century as well.  The writer, who represents orthodox Christianity, condemns the group that has withdrawn from his community.  He tells his readers that they can test the invalidity of the group essentially by their fruits.  Since they do not believe that the Messiah came in the flesh according to the way John has been teaching, they are tragically wrong.

Extravagant claims are constantly levered about Jesus.  Ten years ago, for example, people were taken up with Dan Brown’s allegation that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were lovers.  We need be very wary of such ideas by testing them.  In the end we will probably be convinced that the four canonical gospels say all that there is important to know about Jesus.  They do differ among themselves in minor details, but the core teaching is consistent.  We can put our trust in their claim that he died and rose that we might have eternal life.

Friday, January 2, 2014

Memorial of Saint Basil and Saint Gregory Naziazen, bishops and doctors of the Church

(I John 2:22-28; John 1:19-28)

Today we honor two giants of Eastern Christianity – Saints Basil and Gregory  Nazianzen.  These bishops, who were the best of friends, took up the fight against the persistent heresy of Arianism.  This distortion of Christian belief teaches that Christ was not really God but of a different nature, more than human yet not wholly divine like the Father.

Arianism is but one of many attempts to understand who Jesus is.  The readings today hint at others.  In the first reading John the Elder signals as equality between God the Father and God the Son when he writes, “…whoever confesses the Son has the Father as well.”  John the Baptist in the gospel betrays a rudimentary knowledge of the coming Messiah, who has not yet come on the scene, as he says, “’(his) sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.’”

A cousin of Arianism has reappeared in our time.  We see it in the homogenization of religion which considers each faith tradition as essentially equal to others.  In this formulation Jesus is not God but a prophet much like Moses and Mohammad.  Although this thinking appeals to many as brutes make religion the cause of war, it fails to comply with orthodox Christian belief.  We believe in Christ as we believe in God the Father.  He came to us as human so that communing with him, we share in God’s divine nature and inherit an eternal destiny. 

Thursday, January 1, 2015

Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God

(Numbers 6:22-27; Galatians 4:4-7; Luke 2:16-21)

Scientists have reported significant medical benefits from infant circumcision.  The procedure is said to reduce the risk of a large range of pathologies from the HIV virus to cervical cancer in sexual partners.  These findings corroborate what was at the root of the practice in ancient Israel: the awareness that the male foreskin is a locus of impurity.  The gospel today shows Jesus undergoing circumcision, but its concern transcends preventing disease.

Mary and Joseph have Jesus circumcised because they are pious Jews intent on obeying the prescriptions of Jewish law.  The gospel of Luke portrays Mary as particularly intent on fulfilling the word of God.  The angel Gabriel told her that the name of the child was to be named “Jesus” – a mandate that is duly carried out here.  Mary also keeps all the happenings of Jesus birth in her heart because she knows that they are ordered by God’s command.

In Mary we have both a grand intercessor and a model.  We should feel free to bring our needs to this woman who sits so close to God.  We should also strive to imitate Mary throughout 2015.  In these turbulent times we could benefit from both her contemplative spirit and her obedience to God’s commands.

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Seventh Day within the Octave of the Nativity of the Lord

(I John 2:18-21; John 1:1-18)

In the first reading, the author, who is known as John the Elder, writes of antichrists.  He finds them repugnant for having left his community.  Later on in the document he refers to those who do not acknowledge that Christ has come in the flesh as having the “spirit of the antichrist” (4:2).  The meaning of the passage is not completely clear, but given the times, one can offer an explanation.  It probably refers to those who deny that Jesus had a corporeal body -- a familiar concept of the Gnostic heretics prominent in the first centuries after Christ.  Dismissing Christ’s body enabled the Gnostics to downplay the need to guard against excesses of their own bodies.

If there are antichrists in the world today corresponding to those castigated in the first reading, they would include those eat foolishly and avoid exercise.  Often these people are plagued by emotional problems so that they deny the value and lack the will to care for their bodies.  They need the encouragement of others and a heightened sense that God cares about their health.

Taking our bodies seriously because Christ had a body is a worthy thought on the eve of a new year.  We do not want to party so much tonight that our bodies will ache tomorrow.  Also, we want to firmly resolve to diet and exercise regularly in 2015 so that our bodies may serve the glory of God.