Thursday, July 20, 2017

Thursday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Exodus 3:13-20; Matthew 11:28-30)

“Call me whatever you like,” people used to kid, “just don’t call me late for dinner.” Did they really mean that?  Is it all right to be called anything whatsoever as long as one has three squares a day? The first reading today indicates something different.

When Moses asks God for a name, God responds enigmatically. It is not easy to interpret what “I am who am” means.  Some philologists find the term a way to conceal one’s identity.  For them it means “I am what I am (and that’s enough for you to know).”  They understand God as saying that He is a mystery who remains beyond human comprehension.  Others find the term more revelatory.  They would say that God is declaring Himself to have all Being as His essence.  For them God is the source and horizon of all that is.

In any case the purpose of God giving His name here is to tell the people of Israel that He is on call to help them.  They now know where to look when troubles pile up.  In time God will come even closer to His people.  He will present Himself in the person of Jesus Christ.  Perhaps today’s gospel passage indicates God’s readiness to help us as well as any.  Jesus invites us to go to him when we find life burdensome.  He assures us that we will find our relief in him.

Wednesday, July 19, 2017

Wednesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Exodus 3:1-6.9-12; Matthew 11:25-27)

The other day a woman left a picture of her five-year old grandson Luke in the sacristy.  She asked for prayers for the boy who had a brain tumor.  After mass she explained that the surgeons operated on him once but couldn’t tell if they were the tumor or his brain.  Now they were operating again.  How, people ask, could God allow a child to be stricken so?  As terrible as Luke’s cancer is, there are certainly other more perplexing calamities taking place all the time.  Why, we might as well ask, does humanity continue to suffer so much from poverty, disease, natural calamity, and war?

We believers often put the question another way.  If God is as good and as powerful as we claim, why does He not halt the violence, end the disease, and stem the disaster?  These are ancient questions that resist definitive answers.  But there are multiple attestations in Scripture showing how God takes note of human suffering and acts to relieve its conditions.  In today’s first reading we hear of God coming to the rescue of Israel trapped in an intolerably unjust situation.

God not only will deliver the Israelites out of captivity in Egypt but will also form them according to His law.  Looking back on the history of Israel, we Christians recognize that the Israelites’ unique covenant with God will not be enough to stem the tide of evil.  A more powerful solution will be required.  This will be God’s sending in time His son to save humanity.  But even that will not end suffering on earth.  Evil is no weed easy to uproot.  Still victory belongs to those who conform themselves to Christ.  He will relocate them in a new world where war, disease, and disaster are eternally void.

Tuesday, July 18, 2017

Tuesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Exodus 2:1-15a; Matthew 11:20-24)

Other than Abraham Lincoln, no American president is better known for his moral character than George Washington.  The first president was courageous and restrained.  He sacrificed his comfort in order to serve his country.  He also arranged for the release of his slaves.  He might be compared with Moses in today’s first reading.

The incidents described in the reading portray Moses as a man of justice.  He slays the Egyptian to protect the defenseless from unjust aggression.  He admonishes the Hebrew who picked a fight with another to indicate the need for solidarity among the oppressed.  His sterling character makes him an excellent choice to lead his nation from slavery to freedom.

Moral excellence is even more attributable to Jesus.  The gospels portray him as literally flawless.  In today’s passage he cries out to the towns of Galilee exhorting them to heed his call to repentance.  Virtue will eventually impel Jesus to confront the dual powers of religion and state in Jerusalem so that the people would finally heed his message.  “’The Kingdom is at hand!’” he continually says.  So let us give up our vices in order to fully experience it.

Monday, July 17, 2017

Monday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Exodus 1:8-14.22; Matthew 10:34-11:1)

The word genocide catches people attention. Since the Nazis killed over six millions Jews in an attempted genocide during World War II, nations react with concern when the claim is made.  Three years ago, for example, spokespersons for Christians in Iraq were able to win U.S. support for the beleaguered group by showing how ISIS was attempting genocide against it.  In the first reading today the Egyptians have genocide in mind as they deal with the Israelites.

The conditions for genocide are rife.  The Israelites, once no more than an extended family, have become a numerous and prosperous nation.  The ruling Egyptian kingdom views them as a potential threat to their rule.  The overlords try to wear the Israelites down with increased work, but added labor seems to make the Israelites more industrious.  As a final solution to the threat, the Egyptian pharaoh orders the death of all Israelite boys.  The girls would be married to Egyptians and their offspring assimilated in the dominant culture. 

Pharaoh’s plan, of course, fails and the Israelites are led out of Egypt to the desert where they are formed as God’s chosen people.  The saga clues us on how to deal with oppression.  We are not to give into evil but to maintain our noblest values.  As Jesus shows in today’s gospel, we are to honor those who bear the word of God and cherish that word as the source of our hope in trial.is own goodness.hi

Friday, July 14, 2017

Friday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Genesis 46:1-7.28-20; Matthew 10:16-23)

A Mexican child will answer the call of a parent by saying, “Mande,” meaning, “Send (me).”  The implication is that the child will do whatever he is commanded.  We find this willingness to comply in the first reading when Israel responds to the call of the Lord, “Here I am.”  In other often quoted biblical texts, Samuel goes to Eli saying, “Here I am.  I come to do your will” and of the Virgin Mary answers the angel, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done unto me according to your word.”  It should be noted that Israel did not always acquiesce to God’s will.  As a young man, he cheated his brother in order to obtain his father’s blessing.  Through a slow but sure process, however, God has taught Israel how to trust in Him. 

Willingness to conform to God’s will is one requirement of fathering a great nation.  Another, more obvious need is to assure the welfare of one’s family.  Israel proves that he has looked after this concern when he travels to Egypt to be reunited with his son Joseph.  He has been faithful to the tradition of his father Isaac and his grandfather Abraham although he followed it in a highly individual way.

Jesus also manifests these two traits of nation-building.  He implicitly follows his Father’s will to the end, and he sends his Spirit, as today’s gospel indicates, to protect his apostles.  With such care the Church has become like a great nation that gives God glory throughout the earth.