Wednesday, July 6, 2016

Wednesday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Hosea 10:1-3.7-8.12;  Matthew 10:1-7)

The great twentieth century spiritual master Thomas Merton decried false piety.  He wrote that often in pursuit of an ideal, that ultimately proves to be mistaken, people misconstrue reality.  This error is seen in the person who “storms heaven” by exaggerated prayer and fasting in order to secure God’s help.  Merton indicated that the most people can do is to quiet themselves so that they may perceive the presence of God when He comes.  Merton echoed the prophet Hosea in today’s first reading.

Hosea is convinced that the Kingdom of Israel is lost; the nation will never be just.  He tells the people that they must start over again.  This time they are to practice true piety. “Sow for yourselves justice,” he says.  In other words they are to follow the Law anew in anticipation of the Lord’s coming.  God arrives, of course, with Jesus.

We must take care not to falsify religion with sanctimony like the people of Israel in Hosea’s time.  We should remember that love of neighbor is the surest way to love God.  Also, we should not forget that prayer and other acts of piety are not to be done to attract anyone’s attention, not even God’s.  Rather they make us open us to God’s coming with the fullness of life.

Tuesday, July 5, 2106

Tuesday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Hosea 8:4-7.11-13; Matthew 9:32-38)

A religious sister who worked with poor women in Ciudad Juarez used to teach that injustice is the result of broken relationships. The biblical stories of creation and of the fall reveal the truth of her statement.  After breathing life into the man, he and his partner walk with God in Paradise.  But their mistrust of the Creator’s goodness ruptures the friendship.  God’s subsequent interrogation reveals that the sin has also fractured their relationship with each other.  Finally, the due punishment breaches human rapport with nature.  

In time some of the closeness with God that the first humans enjoyed is restored.  Most notably, God leads the Hebrews through the desert for forty years forging a new covenant between God and humanity.  But the people always return to evil ways.  Hosea and the other prophets point out their fickleness.  They describe how the nation dallies with metal idols and scandalously satiate their passions.

In today’s gospel passage Jesus enables a deaf mute to speak as he has previously restored the sight of the blind and raised the dead.  These healings show God approaching the people in a personal and definitive way.  In short order Jesus will establish the unbreakable bond between God and humanity with his death and resurrection.  Now he points out the need to pray that the coming redemption will be announced throughout the world.

Monday, July 4, 2016

Monday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Hosea 2:16.17c-18.21-22; Matthew 9:18-26)

Today Americans celebrate the defining moment of their existence as a people.  Two hundred and forty years ago representatives from all thirteen colonies accepted the constitution drafted by Thomas Jefferson.  The document declared independence of the colonies from England and the establishment of a new nation.  In today’s first reading Hosea prophesizes of a similarly defining moment for Christians.

Hosea is a prophet of the northern kingdom.  Like Amos he denounces the nation for ignoring God’s commands.  Here he foretells the day when Israel will accept forever the Lord as its one and only God.  It will come only after trial expressed with the metaphor of a “desert.”  From that point on the people will no longer flirt with other gods.  Rather they will stick close to the one God who will have saved them.

We see the prophecy being realized in Jesus.  We recognize in his death the “desert.” That cataclysmic experience led to his resurrection which solidifies our relationship with God forever.  It offers us hope of eternal life as it moves us to care for others.  Now we pray that our country will follow Jesus’ witness of charity for all.

Friday, July 1, 2016

Friday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Amos 8:4-6.9-12; Matthew 9:9-13)

Of all the symbols of freedom in the United States none seems to capture the imagination like the Statute of Liberty.  Standing on a patch of land in New York harbor, the image of a strong and lovely woman holding a torch high has lifted the hopes of millions of immigrants.  The statute beckons the newcomers to take advantage of the opportunities which the country provides.

Today’s gospel shows Jesus in a similar vein.  He is not calling the righteous to follow him but sinners.  He provides them opportunity to begin life anew through repentance and commitment.  They have to forfeit their larcenies, but they are given a greater treasure in the friendship he offers.

It is necessary that we see ourselves as sinners, but we should not take pride in the fact.  Sin hardens us from becoming the loving persons God calls us to be.  We need to constantly purify our thoughts, actions, and desires so that our lives might reflect God’s goodness.

Thursday, June 30, 2016

Thursday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Amos 7:10-17; Matthew 9:1-8)

The other day the journalist George Will made the news himself.  He announced that he was leaving the Republican Party.  He said that he could not tolerate the nation’s leading Republican’s endorsement of Donald Trump for the presidency.  Will explained that he still sees himself as a conservative but judges the Republican Party as leaving conservatism behind.  He may feel like Amos in today’s first reading.

Amos has long preached reform in the Northern Kingdom of Israel.  He has tried to persuade the king as well as the people to give up flirting with foreigners.  He believes that salvation comes from the God of Israel alone.  Now he is being told to return to the Southern Kingdom where he was born.  He knows that Israel is rejecting the principles which made them a chosen people.

We rightly talk about God as having unconditional love for us.  But this truth should not delude us into thinking that we are free to do whatever we wish.  God has given us His Spirit so that we may become loving like He is.  The Spirit often requires sacrifice of personal desires to accommodate God’s ever-gracious will for us.