Friday, July 26, 2019

Memorial of Saints Joachim and Anne, parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary

(Exodus 20:1-17; Matthew 13:18-23)

Grandparents sometimes kid, “If we knew how much fun it would be to be grandparents, we wouldn’t have bothered having children but have had grandchildren right off.”  They are referring to the joy of seeing the wonder of children without all the responsibilities of assuring their growth.  But increasingly grandparents take on the duties of child-rearing as their own children give birth outside of marriage.  They will find a necessary resource for the task in today’s first reading.

The Ten Commandments, which the first reading dictates, serve as the basis of a truly good life.  Parents are wise to teach them to their children as early as possible.  More importantly, they have to model them so that children rightly assimilate them as habits.

Today we celebrate Saints Joachim and Anne, the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the grandparents of Jesus.  We know them only through what might be called legend.  Still we can assume that they were God-loving people who did more than recite the Ten Commandments.   They practiced them as well and handed them on to their children and grandchildren.

Thursday, July 25, 2019

Feast of Saint James, apostle

(II Corinthians 4:7-15; Matthew 20:20-28)

Remember the saying that chocolate or some other delicacy was “good enough to die for.”  In time people, following baser instincts modified the wording.  The chocolate was no longer “good enough to die for” but “good enough to kill for.”  Perhaps that phrase has now gone out of vogue.  In any case a similar evolution may be seen in the story of today’s patron, St. James.

The Acts of Apostles states that King Herod “had James, the brother of John, killed by the sword.”  In no way does Acts present James as a soldier.  As an original disciple of Jesus, he was probably a pacifist.  In today’s first reading St. Paul describes the kind of life James led.  The apostle writes of himself as well as the twelve that Jesus sent out to preach: “We are…always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus…”  In time, however, when Christians in Spain were being threatened by Muslims, St. James turned into a military hero.  He was thought to have killed many Muslims and has become known as “Santiago Matamoros.” This means St. James, the Moor (Muslim)-killer.

We must take care that our faith in Christ does not follow the human fascination with violence.  There is a Christian tradition of just war, but it never exalts in killing.  Jesus certainly was not a warrior.  He even exhorted his disciples to “turn the other cheek” when unjustly struck.  We honor St. James today not for killing but for witnessing to Christ’s peace.

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Wednesday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Exodus 16:1-5.9-15; Matthew 13:1-9)

Some seeds are so small that they cannot be seen with the naked eye.  No seed is very large.  Yet seeds can grow many times the stature of humans.  In today’s gospel passage Jesus intends to show how the word of God is like a seed.  It seems insignificant when it is first spoken.  But it can grow to do much good.

The history of Christianity is full of examples.  The Church itself began as a small community of disciples.  Within five centuries it became the most prominent institution in the western world.  St. Teresa of Kolkata started the Missionaries of Charity seventy years ago with a small group of woman.  Today the congregation has sisters tending the poor in most of the major cities of the world.

First and foremost, Christ is the Word of God.  Derivatively Holy Scripture telling about Christ is the word.  In a further relative sense we Christians are God’s word.  We become expressions of His love when we care for one another.  Thinking less of ourselves and doing more for others we will produce abundant fruit.

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Tuesday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Exodus 14:21-15:1; Matthew 12:46-30)

Today’s first reading describes perhaps God’s mightiest act in the Old Testament after creation.  He saved Israel from the Egyptian army as they crossed the Sea.  A careful reading of the text reveals two versions of what took place.  In what might be called the “natural version” of the event, God sends a dry wind over the Se of Reeds.  The shallow waters evaporate enough to allow the people to cross the seabed on foot.  But when Pharaoh’s army follows in pursuit, the wheels of their chariots become clogged with mud. 

The second “spectacular version” of the event shows Moses parting the sea under God’s instruction.  When the Israelis reach the far side, Moses makes another gesture which brings the waters together.  Pharaoh’s army then drowns in the middle of the sea.  The first version is obviously more plausible, but in either case God is the principal actor.  The narrative is meant to show that God saves His people from their enemies.

We must never forget the lesson.  God will bring about victory from defeat.  Martin Luther King, Jr., famously said that “the arc of the moral universe… bends toward justice.” It does so because God is the author of history.  As Moses does at the end of the reading, we want to praise God for the justice He has established.

Monday, July 22, 2019

Feast of Saint Mary Magdalene

(Song of Songs 3:1-4b; John 20:1-2.11-18)

Of Gods and Men is a movie about contemporary martyrs in Algeria.  In one poignant a young woman asks her monk-doctor what love is like.  He replies that it is “an attraction, a desire, a quickening of the spirits, an intensification of life itself.” The monk admits that he had fallen in love a number of times.  Why didn’t he ever marry?  He says that he met a greater love that led him to the monastery.  Something like this may be said of Jesus.

Mary Magdalene is sometimes portrayed as Jesus’ lover and even his wife.  There is no basis for these claims either in Scripture or in any other reliable source of antiquity.  However, today’s gospel indicates Mary’s physical attraction to him.  Yet, like the monk-doctor, Jesus knows a greater love - the love for his Father - which led him to the cross.  Meanwhile, Mary Magdalene did not spend her time pining the loss of Jesus.  Rather she announced his resurrection into glory.

Mary Magdalene can help us appreciate our own sexuality.  Just because we are attracted to someone should not allow us to harbor erotic desires.  As Mary with Jesus we cannot cling to these desires except, of course, for the one we will make our life’s partner.  Clinging to that person should even lead us to the Lord Jesus.