Sunday, January 16, 2022

 

SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

(Isaiah 62: 1-5; I Corinthians 12: 4-11; John 2: 1-11)

Forty years ago, a journalist reported that race relations were improving. However, he said, in a way things hadn't changed. Mixed couples were still taboo at that time. This prohibition does not exist today. At least you can see interracial couples regularly. Although his dream has not been fully realized, Martin Luther King's efforts have had an effect. In any case, the first reading today tells of a more impressive mixed marriage.

Isaiah says on behalf of God that the fortunes of Jerusalem have changed. No more will the city be ashamed of the sins of its past. No longer will it be famous for its iniquity. Rather, it will be known as the center of a just nation. The prophet uses a brilliant comparison. God, creator of the universe, will take the city as his bride. He will endow it with virtue. Instead of being "abandoned," the city will be recognized as "betrothed." Instead of being "desolate," it will be the "pleasure" of God Himself.

God fulfilled this intention with the birth of when Jesus. Christmas represents the wedding of God with the people of Israel. Therefore, it is no coincidence that the first miraculous sign made by Jesus takes place at a wedding. It relates the same message. By changing the water to wine, Jesus manifests himself as the Son of God who has arrived among humans. Now he will fulfill his marital responsibilities of making his bride virtuous.

The wedding between the Son of God and the people will have repercussions around the world. As the prophets indicated, the whole world will come to learn from him. They will profit of his saving actions by joining with him in Baptism. The benefits of Baptism may be seen in the second reading where Saint Paul writes about the gifts of the Holy Spirit. He says that each member of the community has a gift that contributes to the good of all. Likewise, the different nations that make up the Church have their particular gifts. Each one will lend its particular gift to the good of the universal Church. We can name some of these gifts. Africans will contribute their joy. Asians will give their concentrated effort. Latinos will provide deep faith. Europeans will contribute to their organization. We will be more with the contribution of each one’s gift. And we would be less without the gift from one or the other.

Marriage helps us understand God's closeness to His people. As a reciprocal benefit, God has elevated marriage to a preeminent level. Because it is associated with God Himself, marriage is more than a contract or a legal way to satisfy the sexual appetite. It is a sacred vow between a man and a woman to remain faithful in bad times and good times. It is a total surrender of one to another so that the couple become a family where offspring are raised. It is a commitment of love until the end of life.

This year, called the “Year C of the lectionary,” we are going to read regularly from the Gospel according to Luke. But this Sunday we use this passage from the Gospel according to John for a specific reason. With the visitation of the Magi and the Baptism of Jesus, the story of the wedding at Cana forms a triple epiphany of the Lord. In these three passages Jesus manifests himself as the Son of God who has finally come into the world. He is here to empower us to be better persons, better spouses, and better parents.

Friday, January 14, 2022

 Friday of the First Week in Lent

(I Samuel 8:4-7.10-22a; Mark 2:1-12)

It is easier for one to say, “Your sins are forgiven?” because forgiveness is impossible to verify.  This is not the case with saying to a paralytic, “Arise…”  Onlookers will know straightaway whether the speaker is bluffing.  Verification is especially important in the modern world

Many today look for verification before they will assent to the truths of faith.  Of course, if there were proof of religious truth, then there could not be faith.  Faith presumes a certain opaqueness in front of which one takes a stand for a loving God.  Although they do not amount to proof, good things happen when one takes the stand.  Faith opens one to abundant blessings.

Let’s not hedge on our faith.  Let’s not say we believe, then live like everyone else.  Rather let our faith in God result in living as God dictates in the teaching of the Church.  Let’s open ourselves to God’s abundant blessings.

Thursday, January 13, 2022

 Thursday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

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

St. Christopher was a legendary figure who was said to have carried the Christ child across a river.  He became known as the patron of travelers.  Medals were made of him which Catholics fixed to one of their car’s sun visors.  Priests, however, preached not to depend on the medal to protect them if they drove recklessly.  The Israelis should have been told something similar about bringing the Ark of the Covenant into battle.

In today’s first reading the Israelis are confident that they are invincible with the Ark.  This miscalculation cost them a terrible defeat.  They would have been better off sharpening their swords and kneeling before the Lord in prayer like the leper in the gospel.  Such actions do not assure victory, but they open their doers to God’s will.  They also attract God’s mercy.

We must take care not to be presumptuous.  We rightfully call upon the Lord for help.  But we should remember that prayer does not substitute for preparation.  There is a synergy between our efforts and the Lord’s help.  Results depend as much upon God’s input as upon our work.

Wednesday, January 12, 2022

 Wednesday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time

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

One of Flannery O’Connor’s last short story “Revelation” describes the conversion of a bigot.  Mrs. Turpin, a baptized Christian, has a vision of people, whom she disdains, entering heaven.  Then she realizes that she has been called to join them.  But first she must repent of her prejudices.  Like the first reading says of its epoch in ancient Israel, such revelation is rare.

Revelations are rare when people do not orient themselves to God.  They attend to the world around them as if what they see and hear is all that is.  Eli, the old priest, still has an inkling of what true revelation consists.  He tells the boy Samuel to act on his perception of a voice calling him.  Jesus in today’s gospel heeds an inner voice calling him.  He is not to settle in any town as the local shaman.  Rather his mission is to preach the Kingdom of God in different places.

The Lord calls each of us through the Church.  He wants us to be his disciples-missionaries.  We are to study the ways of God.  Then we are to tell others about him.  It is not an esoteric mission.  First, we tell our children and those closest to us.  Then, as we discern more in depth our mission, we can tell others as well

Tuesday, January 11, 2022

 Tuesday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time

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

Jesus’ teaching threatens evil spirits.  He speaks “with authority.”  What can this mean but that he does not waver on right and wrong?  He goes to the heart of the matter calling lust a sin as well as adultery and vengeance a sin as well as murder.  As he pinpoints the sections of the human heart that require attention, people give assent while devils recoil.

Jesus speaks with such authority at a cost.  The evil spirits will regroup to eliminate Jesus.  In the end they will be only marginally successful.  They will bring about Jesus’ death in the most horrible of ways.  But God, the just judge, will raise him from the dead.  In the process He will send evil spirits packing, at least from those who trust in Jesus.

Let us take heed of what is happening.  It is not enough to be amazed like the people at the Capernaum synagogue.  We have to entrust ourselves to Jesus’ care.  This means to do as he tells us and not to flirt with his enemies.