Friday, July 19, 2024

Friday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Isaiah 38:1-6.21-22.22,7-8; Matthew 12:1-8)

In today’s gospel Jesus makes an outrageous claim.  He says, “… the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”  In other words, Jesus, who frequently calls himself “the Son of Man,” created the sabbath as well as all in heaven and on earth.  It is like saying that some bricklayer built Yankee Stadium by himself. 

Some wonder whether Jesus ever said that he was Lord of the sabbath.  They note that in the Gospel of Mark, likely written before Matthew’s, Jesus gives another defense for the disciples’ Sabbath picking.  He tells the Pharisees, “The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath.”  According to those commentators, Matthew changed the reason to indicate that Jesus really was God’s Son with authority over God’s written law.

We should not be scandalized when we hear that the evangelists changed the wording of Jesus’ statements or even the basic idea of what Jesus said.  They believed on the testimony of the apostles that Jesus rose from the dead to give lasting life to his followers.  And they composed their gospels to assure others of the same belief.

Thursday, July 18, 2024

Thursday of the Fifteenth Week in ordinary Time

(Isaiah 26:7-9.12.16-19; Matthew 11:28-30)

St. Augustine begins his Confessions writing, "You stir us to take pleasure in praising you, because you have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you."  Human hearts are restless until they know the Lord in worship and in righteous living.  In these activities they find comfort and peace.  In today’s gospel Jesus invites all to find this rest in him.

People’s lives are burdensome when they become pointless.  In Jesus’ time as today those who consider their welfare as completely their own doing grow tired.  In time they will find their efforts incapable of providing all their needs.  Likewise, those who seek fortune, fun, or fame as their goal in life will likely find their striving futile.  Jesus gives peace because he promises eternal life where all their needs are met.

So why do we find worship tedious and doing the right thing difficult?  Most likely our own defects are causing the problem.  Limited talent in the community and our attitude demanding to have things our way take away enjoyment.  Again, we must go to Jesus to find in his patience and understanding our way out of difficulty. 

Wednesday, July 17, 2024

Wednesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Isaiah 10:5-7.13b-16; Matthew 11:25-27)

In trying to come to terms with the great evils that have racked humankind, some theologians have concluded that God has no power over forces like armies or hurricanes.  Rather, they say, God only inspires people to carry out His will like a father might encourage his sons not to defile the family name.  However, it is hard to square such a weak conception of God with Scripture as we see in the first reading today.

Assyria is a mighty power in the first third of the millennium before Christ.  Scripture sees it becoming God’s instrument to punish the Northern Kingdom of Israel for the latter’s wickedness.  However, according to Isaiah, Assyria has gone too far in its demolition of Israel.  Now, the prophet predicts, God will call Assyria to account for its excesses.  In fact, Babylonia will conquer Assyria a hundred years later.

When we suffer, we should call to mind that God is in control of the universe and all that is within it.  Although we cannot understand why He allows good people to undergo terrible misfortune, we still can turn to God in prayer for mercy.  We should not doubt an instant that God loves us and will come to our assistance. 

Tuesday, July 16, 2024

(Optional) Memorial of Our Lady of Mount Carmel

(Isaiah 7:1-9; Matthew 11:20-24)

Today’s first reading presents King Ahaz of Judah as a fearful man.  Two enemies, Israel and Aram, are threatening to attack his country.  Rather than trust in the Lord as the prophet Isaiah advises, the king sacrifices his son in a holocaust offering of appeasement.  He also seeks an alliance with mighty Assyria. In the end Assyria crushes Israel and Aram, and Judah becomes a vassal state.

This bit of history contains an enormous lesson.  Faith in God and appeal to His mercy is paramount for us.  When we swerve from God’s law and when we ignore the advice of prophets, not only we will suffer but also those around us. 

The celebration of Our Lady of Mount Carmel today serves as a counterexample.  This visualization of our Blessed Mother presents to devotees a brown scapular as a protection against physical and spiritual troubles.  It is not believed that the scapular has any healing power.  But it does express the faith of the bearer that God through Mary’s intercession will provide the grace to overcome life’s challenges.

Monday, July 15, 2024

Memorial of Saint Bonaventure, bishop and Doctor of the Church

(Isaiah 1:10-17; Matthew 10:38-11:1)

St. Francis founded the Order of Friars Minor, and St. Bonaventure guided it through a critical period after his death.  At the time there was rivalry between Franciscan progressives who wanted the Order to adapt to the times, and the “Spirituals” who wanted to keep a rigorous poverty as they thought Francis intended.  Bonaventure, the minister general of the order, allowed friars to buy books for their teaching, a ministry that was taking hold.  But he himself practiced simplicity and frugal poverty as a model for the friars.

Bonaventure is remembered for his scholarship and his holiness. He was a scholastic to be sure, but his work is not as reason centered as Thomas Aquinas’.   His fame today is more as a mystic than a dogmatic theologian.  Those who pray the Liturgy of the Hours remember his reflection on the Sacred Heart read on its Solemnity.

Bonaventure’s name is a compound of two Latin words, bona ventura, good venture.  He was a holy person whom every one of us might emulate as a good venture.