Monday, August 24, 2015

Feast of Saint Bartholomew, apostle

(Revelation 21:9b-14; John 1:45-51)

Recent popes have encouraged Catholics to have a personal relationship with Jesus.  No doubt, some are suspicious that developing a personal relationship with the Lord sounds like a very Protestant exercise.  However, the Gospel of John shows Jesus initiating personal relationships in almost every chapter.

In today’s reading Jesus recognizes Nathanael, whom we believe to be the same Bartholomew because of his association with Philip.  Jesus tells Nathanael that he saw him “under the fig tree.”  It is not known what Nathanael was doing “under the fig tree,” but the remark does touch Nathanael’s heart.  He immediately responds with the Messianic claim that Jesus is “the Son of God…the King of Israel.”  How could Nathanael not follow Jesus now?

We might imagine Jesus saying to us, “Mary, I saw you shopping at Kohl’s,” or “Richard, I noticed you in the office today.”  He is not spying on us, but calling us to join his band of disciples.  It is a community of love in which we will know his peace.

Friday, August 21, 2015

Memorial of St. Pius X, pope

(Ruth 1:1.3-6.14b-66.22; Matthew 22:34-40)

At the beginning of the twentieth century revolutionary intellectual discoveries were beckoning radical changes in Catholic theology.  Darwin had proposed the evolution of species, Freud was reinterpreting psychology, and Einstein was developing his theories of relativity.  Some Catholic theologians began to question the eternal human destiny.  Pope St. Pius X had to respond.  He was stricter than necessary, but his decrees against “Modernism” spared the Church aberrant theological thinking.  More than that, however, Pius X showed himself a genuine pastor by promoting reception of the sacraments by people who unnecessarily thought themselves unworthy.  His faithfulness to Catholic tradition can be seen as a parallel to Ruth’s faithfulness in the first reading today.

When Ruth married her Israelite husband, she accepted the Lord as her God.  Coming to trust in Him, how could she return to the gods of her own ancestors when her husband dies?   Despite her mother-in-law’s releasing her from filial responsibility, Ruth decides that she will be faithful to her mother-in-law as well as the Lord.

Faithfulness or loyalty impels us to fulfill the commitments that we have made.  It enables us to focus on the good of what we have rather allow our hearts to incessantly search for something other.  In an individualistic age faithfulness sets us on a course beyond independence and selfishness.

Thursday, August 20, 2015

Memorial of Saint Bernard, abbot and doctor of the Church

(Judges 11:29-39a; Matthew 22:1-14)

Today’s readings illustrate two seriously defective ways of living the faith.  Rigorism and laxity are extremes that are to be shunned. 

In the first reading the warrior Jephthah makes a vow.  He asks the Lord’s help in battle and promises to sacrifice to Him whatever he meets when he returns to his homestead.  No doubt, he has a farm animal in mind.  But when his daughter greets him, he rigorously considers himself obliged to keep the vow.  He does not waver despite the fact that the Law explicitly forbids human sacrifice. 

In the gospel a man enters the king’s wedding feast without a proper garment.  All he has to do is to know that he is out of place to look around.  Everyone else is wearing formal dress.  Ignoring the fact, he laxly carries on until the king confronts him.  He should have realized from the beginning that an invitation to a wedding feast requires some preparation.  It is like the invitation to participate in the Eucharist.  All are invited, but people have to prepare themselves for it by being baptized and properly disposed. 

Virtue is said to lie in the middle between two extremes.  If we desire to live excellently (what it means to be virtuous), we must keep ourselves well within the boundaries of rigorism and laxity.

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Wednesday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

(Judges 9:6-15; Matthew 20:1-16)

In An Introduction to Christianity Joseph Ratzinger, the future Pope Benedict XVI, writes of the “law of excess or superfluity.”  This evangelical principle claims that Jesus’ righteousness goes far beyond what is necessary for the salvation of fallen humanity.  The term expresses the infinite graciousness of the Kingdom of God which Jesus came to the world to initiate.  In today’s gospel parable he gives a verbal illustration of this graciousness.

The parable is one of the most astounding in the four gospels.  Laborers are all paid the same amount despite the fact that some worked all day and others merely an hour.  It does not seem that the latter deserve as much as the former.  But the landowner is merciful.  He recognizes every man’s need to support his family and will graciously pay all workers accordingly.

The story should make us both grateful and charitable.  We – all of us -- are those latecomers who have not worked to receive the salvation Jesus offers.  We all sin but find ourselves being perfected through the sacraments.  This should make us grateful.  We are also to imitate God’s mercy by patiently teaching others how to live virtuously.

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Tuesday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

(Judges 6:11-24a; Matthew 19:23-30)

The casual talk between Gideon and the angel sounds something like “Saturday Night Live.”  When the angel assures Gideon that the Lord stands with His people, Gideon retorts cynically.  “If the Lord is with us,” he asks, “then why has all this (humiliation) happened to us?”  The answer to the query, however, should be obvious to Gideon.  The reason for the lack of Israelite success against the Midianites is their infidelity to their Covenant with God.  Compromising their integrity as a people, they become easy prey to enemies.

Gideon may be talking flippantly because he is not sure whether the stranger before him is really the Lord.  He asks for a sign which is soon given when fire consumes Gideon’s sacrificial offering.  Knowing that he is in the Lord’s presence, Gideon begins to wonder if he will suffer for his impertinence.  However, God assures him not to worry.

We should not hesitate to open our hearts to God in prayer like Gideon.  But humility is called for in such awesome company.  God is, after all, our Creator and not our buddy.  He befriends us out of love but does not share our tendencies to complain and gossip.  We should speak with Him as with a revered professor who has deigned to give us his time.  That is, we are wise to be attentive to His correction and appreciative of His encouragement.