Friday, February 28, 2025

Friday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

(Sirach 6:5-17; Mark 10:1-12)

In a lovely ballad John Denver sang of his uncle named Matthew.  He said that Matthew grew up on a farm in Kansas where he learned to love others and believe in God.  When a tornado destroyed his farm and killed his family, Matthew was not devastated.  Rather he found a new life with Denver and his family.  As he says, “(Matthew) came to ease my Daddy’s burden and he came to be my friend.”

Today’s reading from the Book of Sirach recommends a friend like Matthew.  It says that a man who fears God is “a life-saving remedy,” who can be relied upon in catastrophe.  One can trust such a person not only for a helping hand, but also for a reminder of how one is to act in order to please the Lord.

In John’s gospel Jesus calls his disciples “friends.” He has taught them to be like himself.  As he has loved them, they must love one another.  Through Baptism and attention to the Gospel, we have been brought into Jesus’ circle of friends.  Now is our turn to help one another and remind those whom we meet of the Lord’s ways.

Thursday, February 27, 2025

Thursday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

(Sirach 5:1-8; Mark 9:41-50)

A saying about God’s mercy and justice is both helpful and hopeful to recall: God’s justice never sinks lower than his mercy is able to retrieve.  People who commit grave crimes as well as regular sinners need to remember that God never abandons them.

Both readings today emphasize God’s justice.  In the first wise Ben Sira advises his readers not to presume God’s mercy.  Rather they are to live always carrying out God’s will.  In the gospel Jesus warns his disciples about giving scandal to the young.  He exaggerates when he says that body members should be destroyed if their use is involved in sin.  However, he definitely wants his disciples to avoid sinning.

God’s mercy foils severe judgment when sinners recognize their crimes, beseech God’s forgiveness, and resolve not to offend again.  Far from opposing His justice, mercy complements it since God’s commands are not given to condemn but to save.

Wednesday, February 26, 2025

Wednesday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

(Sirach 4:11-19; Mark 9:38-40)

Wisdom seeks what is truly good in life.  Like a counterfeit detector, she sets off an alarm with the initially pleasing but ultimately disillusioning.  Like a wine taste’s nose, she can sniff supreme quality in something new.  In patriarchal societies wisdom is compared to a woman with whom a person must share full and lasting intimacy to realize its promise.

In today’s reading from the Book of Sirach wisdom is described as a demanding companion who will discipline her pursuant.  But for whatever investment of time or energy she exacts, she brings the inestimable rewards of peace and happiness.  This lesson is akin to the Scriptural dictate, “Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”  Making the effort to abide by God’s eternal laws brings His infinite favor.

We live in a world with a myriad of information at our fingertips, but wisdom remains elusive.  By taking care not to become absorbed in the ease of attaining the former but ever pondering its meaning, we can achieve the latter.

Tuesday, February 25, 2025

Tuesday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

(Sirach 2:1-11; Mark 9:30-37)

Yesterday we started reading at Mass from an Old Testament book that has been called by different names.  Our translation entitles it Sirach after the original author, Jesus ben Sira, a Jewish rabbi of the early second century before Christ.  For a long time it was known as “Ecclesiasticus” because it was used in the Church (in Latin ecclesia) for moral instruction.  Although Sirach was originally composed in Hebrew, for centuries only the Greek translation was known.  For this reason it is listed among the deuterocanonical books of the Old Testament.  These books were accepted into the Old Testament canon after a second review.  This distinction, however, should not be taken as a relegation to second-class authority.

Sirach is part of the Wisdom literature of the Old Testament along with books like Ecclesiastes and Job. In today’s passage ben Sira gives his disciple, whom he calls “my son,” general advice on how to live.  The message is as wise as it is simple.  The disciple is to always trust in the Lord.  Especially in bad times he is not to fret.  Rather he is to first remember the Lord’s mercy toward their ancestors.   Then he should pray for deliverance.

Is it not true that when we are undergoing punishment, misunderstanding, or trial, we think of possible negative outcomes?  Then we calculate how to deal with the crisis.  Perhaps we want to rebel, counterattack our oppressors, or run away.  No, Sirach tells us, it’s best to remember the Lord’s goodness in the past and to ask for similar assistance.

Monday, February 24, 2025

Monday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

(Sirach 1:1-10; Mark 9:14-29)

Today’s gospel has a parallel at the beginning of Mark’s Gospel.  After he was baptized and heard God proclaiming him His Son, Jesus confronted the devil in the desert.  Here, he comes down from the mountain, where God again declared him His Son, to battle again with the devil.  This time the devil has possessed a boy.

On both occasions Jesus triumphs.  The devil, no match for God’s grace, yields to Jesus’ command.  He tells his disciples that the reasons he succeeds can be found in the prayer he makes.  He has prayed for the boy’s deliverance. 

When we pray constantly, we will experience many marvelous deeds.  They will surprise us at times, not being the expected answers to our requests.  Social scientists might tell us that prayer makes little, if any, difference among the people they survey.  Yet we know from believers that prayer’s effects may be uncanny but nevertheless are real.