Thursday, January 11, 2018

Thursday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

(I Samuel 4:1-11; Mark 1:40-45)

After every human tragedy – earthquake, hurricane, tsunami – humans ask themselves why it happened.  They wonder whether God is capricious, whether they did not respond properly to His initiatives, or whether He exists at all.  Such questions echo the elders of Israel in today’s first reading.

 “’Why has the Lord permitted us to be defeated today by the Philistines?’” the men ask themselves. Apparently assuming that the problem lies with God’s lack of attention, they summon the Ark of the Covenant to be brought to the battlefront.  “Surely the Lord will wake up,” the elders seem to say, “when He sees His people’s need.”  Of course, the tactic fails.  God knows quite well what their situation, yet chooses not to support the Israelites. 

God has His reasons which will always, to some degree at least, remain obscure to humankind.  We might speculate in the case under consideration that God is changing the center of human authority from judges to a king as well as the center of cultic worship from Shiloh to Jerusalem. Or it may be that God is chastening his people for thinking that the mere presence of holy things, not their becoming wholly dedicated to God, is what is most important.  Still, God’s ways are often inscrutable.  If we could figure them out, we would sit on an equal level with God.  But this does not mean that God caresses and despises humans at whim.  No, He has definitively shown favor toward all of us in Jesus Christ.  Like the leper Jesus cures in today’s gospel, God loves us despite our not always heeding His commands.  

Wednesday, January 10, 2018

Wednesday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

(I Samuel 3:1-10.19-20; Mark 1:29-39)

The reference in today’s gospel that Peter had a mother-in-law is the only indication that he was married.  Ironically, the Roman Catholic tradition, which looks to Peter as the key figure in its theology of Church, has insisted on celibacy for a clerical norm.  In contrast, Protestant traditions find in Paul, the attested bachelor, its ecclesiastical model.  Of course, Jesus too was a committed celibate and defended that state of life as summoned by God on behalf of His kingdom.  At least one prominent biblical theologian thinks it necessary that celibacy be maintained as a discipline to preserve this insight of Jesus.

Still the argument for relaxing the discipline within the Catholic Church is cogent.  In both countries with a long Christian heritage and those where the Church is still getting started there is a need for more priests.  Most people think that ordaining married men would result in a spike of vocations to the priesthood.  But counterarguments to ordaining married men to the priesthood also have considerable force.  There are the traditional problems of patrimony to the offspring of the priest.  More critical is celibacy’s concrete testimony of the priority of God in a world obsessed with sexual curiosity.

We should be wary of simplistic ideas on either side of the argument for a married clergy.  Certainly many married men can perform the duties of a priest.  On the other hand, most married men will not want to live in extremely deprived areas where the gospel needs to be preached.  What is paramount is that we continue to ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into the field.

Tuesday, January 9, 2018

Tuesday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time

(I Samuel 1:9-20; Mark 1:21-28)

The people of Capernaum are impressed with Jesus because he speaks “with authority.”  That is, unlike the scribes who constantly defer to the Scriptures, Jesus speaks with confidence and conviction.  They hear him as the people of England heard their Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, announce opposition to Adolph Hitler.  The English steeled up for the long fight ahead because they believed that Churchill had the courage and prudence to win the war.

Jesus shows that his authority is more than bravado when the evil spirit obeys his command.  He tells it to leave the man it possesses so that the man can live in peace.  The spirit attempts to create difficulty by revealing Jesus’ identity as God’s Son.  In the end, however, it fully submits.  The people at this point are not sure what to make of Jesus other than he speaks with authority.

Sometimes we feel out of control.  Perhaps we are in the midst of a heated discussion or being tempted by a sensual desire.  In such moments it behooves us to call out to Jesus for assistance.  He will unfailingly help us regain equilibrium.

Monday, January 8, 2018

Feast of the Baptism of the Lord

(Isaiah 42:1-4.6-7; Mark 1: 7-11)

After the Revolutionary War the United States were floundering.  States’ representatives could not agree.  The nation’s currency failed to win confidence.  Something had to be done.  The Federalists devised a workable government order, but there was still need for leadership.  The people looked to George Washington to make the critical difference.  However trivial the comparison may seem, today’s gospel looks to Jesus in a similar way.

John tells the people that his baptism is but a shadow of that of the mightier one who is to come.  John’s baptism forgives sins, but the mightier one’s will bestow the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit, John implies, will remake the entire nation in righteousness and power.  Israel will then whip the world into shape.  The rest of the passage pictures this prophecy being fulfilled with Jesus.  He receives the Holy Spirit from on high along with recognition of being God’s Son.  He will now lead the nation to glory.

Jesus goes about his work in an unconventional way.  He does indeed create a righteous nation but not a political entity.  He stirs up a revolution within the hearts of those who hear his voice.  It moves them to set aside a narrow self-love to see the graciousness of God’s love and to respond to it in kind.  The result has been the saints who lead the rest of us to a renewed humanity.

Friday, January 5, 2018

Memorial of St. John Neumann, bishop

(I John 3:11-21; John 1:43-51)

“How do I love thee? Let me count the ways,” writes poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning.  She continues to name manifold ways from childhood faith to eternal joy in which her love thrives.  There is a similar concentration on the glory of love in the First Letter of John.  Because Christmas is, above all, a testament to God’s love for us, the first reading these days is taken from this work.

John has testified that God is love.  In order to please God then, John indicates that Christians must imitate His loving.  This means that love flows from words into action.  If not, he would say, then it is counterfeit.  The test comes when one sees a member of the community in need.  Just as Jesus gave his life for his followers, one has to assist the needy brother or sister.

Love, like all virtue, is not a habit in the sense that it is performed in a rote way.  It calls for creativity at times, along with care.  This may be why John Neumann is declared a saint.  He came to the New World because the bishop of his native land did not need more priests.  In the United States he first worked in rural areas – offering sacraments, preaching, and training catechists so that the faith might grow.  As bishop of Philadelphia, Neumann founded the nation’s first diocesan school system.  Speaking several languages, he was also able to meet the spiritual needs of the various immigrant populations.