Monday, June 29, 2020

The Solemnity of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, apostles

(Acts 12:1-11; II Timothy 4:6-8.17-18; Matthew 16:13-19)

Today’s solemn feast celebrates the two original pillars of the Church.  Peter was a charismatic preacher. He was entrusted by the Lord to watch over the growing Church community spreading from Jerusalem in all directions.  Paul was an accomplished theologian who articulated the doctrine that defined the Church.  He also founded communities of faith where the doctrine was lived.

The first reading shows how the Lord sends an angel to save Peter from assassination.  Known for having authority, Peter becomes the man for the Jews to stop before Christianity takes root in Palestine.  In the second reading Paul announces his legacy before being martyred.  He has fulfilled the Lord’s mandate that he preach his name to non-Jews.  He has felt the Lord’s hand in his efforts so far and is confident of his help to the end. 

The two men are different in some ways.  Peter is a fisherman by trade and Paul, a scholar although he knows how to work with his hands as well.  Both are Jews but Peter spoke Aramaic and Paul Greek growing up. They are the same in that both have strong personalities.  They deserve our admiration as they are responsible for the establishment of our faith.  More than that, however, they elicit our imitation.  We too should proclaim our love for the Lord as openly and strongly as they.

Friday, June 26, 2020

Friday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time

(II Kings 25:1-12; Matthew 8:1-4)

We often think of pariah as describing the untouchables of the Indian caste system.  The actual term, however, is dalit.  Some Hindus evidently consider dalits as not having been formed from any of the body parts of their deities.  Dalits include leather workers, street cleaners, landless peasants, and people from a host of other humble professions.  Discrimination against dalits in India has largely disappeared in urban areas.  But it still exists in rural areas where dalits may be prohibited from sitting in eating places and using water sources.

In the gospel Jesus meets a dalit of his time and place.  Lepers were so feared among ancient Jews that they were banished from populated areas. In rural areas lepers had to wear a bell to warn others of their coming.  Yet Jesus shows no fear of the leper whom he encounters descending the mountain of his famous sermon.  Showing what it means to treat others as he would be treated, he touches the untouchable and cures him of leprosy.

We still have dalits in western society.  Twenty years ago people were often afraid to touch AIDS patients.  In some locales today the undocumented may be resented with the animus felt for dalits in rural India.  Alzheimer patients and, often enough, elderly living in nursing homes suffer such neglect that they may feel as if they lacked any relationship to divinity.  Like Jesus we must remember to treat all these groups as we wish to be treated.

Thursday, June 25, 2020

Thursday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time

(II Kings 24:8-17; Matthew 7:21-29)

The philosopher David Hume taught the modern era to distrust anything spiritual.  The scientist Charles Darwin showed how life in the natural world has evolved from one form to another.  The writings of these great thinkers among others have led to a rejection of core spiritual beliefs.  Everything seems physical and changeable to the contemporary human.  For this reason many reject Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount” which he completes in today’s gospel.

Jesus exhorts his followers not just to hear the sermon but to base their lives on it.  He tells them that only by doing so will they be able to withstand the storms that threaten every life.  Without hope of the kingdom of God they will likely leave the track of personal justice.  Without the Father’s grace they will never be able to live up to the demands that the Sermon makes. 

Jesus has drawn a line in the sand with this great discourse.  He wants us to commit ourselves to him by living what he has just taught.  To do so, we must buck much of modern intellectual thinking.  It may be a scary venture for some.  But we know from the saints that following Jesus leads to true peace.

Wednesday, June 24, 2020

Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist

(Isaiah 49:1-6; Acts 13:22-26; Luke 1:57-66.80)

John the Baptist has been called a figure of both the Old and the New Testament.  His parents are pious Jewish people awaiting the redemption of Israel.  John himself preaches the coming of the Messiah.  One is reminded of the Victorian poem saying: “Wandering between two worlds, one dead the other powerless to be born…”  This straddling two worlds may be found in today’s gospel.

John’s parents go through with the old custom of naming their child as he is presented for circumcision.  But contrary to the tradition, they do not choose the name of Zechariah, his father.  Rather they name him “John” as the angel Zechariah saw in a vision mandated.  “John” means “The Lord has shown favor.”  God has shown favor on Zechariah and Elizabeth as he had on Abraham and Sarah by granting them a child in their old age.  But more importantly, John becomes the herald of the greatest favor God has bestowed on anyone.  He announces to the world the coming of God’s only begotten Son.

Jesus brings us fully into a new age.  What we think of as novel – computers and other electronic gadgets – do not compensate for human defects.  Pride, ambition, greed, etc., are old vices that abound as much today as ever.  Jesus lifts us to a new plateau where we experience a renewal of heart.  He enables us to live free of vain desires to experience the joy of divine love.

Tuesday, June 23, 2020

Tuesday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time

(II Kings 19:9b-11.14-21.31-35a.36; Matthew 7:6.12-14)

In this time of pandemic it is instructive to note a similar one in Scripture.  Today’s first reading recounts how the mighty Assyrian army ready to attack Jerusalem was overwhelmed.  It says that tens of thousands of its troops succumbed to the pestilence on the fields of Judah.  Those who did not die fled back to their native land.

The Biblical writer understands the fall of the Assyrians as a divine triumph.  God responds to the prayer of Judah’s king for help.  In fact, Hezekiah has a reputation of piety.  He opposes worship of foreign gods and reforms Judah’s cultic worship. It is right, then, that God acts on his sincere plea for help.

In today’s gospel Jesus warns his disciples to “enter through the narrow gate.”  He means, of course, that they conscientiously do his Father’s will.  Hezekiah’s doing so spared the falling of his kingdom into the hands of Assyria.  Let us not doubt that our doing so will secure similarly favorable treatment.  It will likely spare us much trouble and usher us into God’s kingdom.