Thursday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time
(Ezekiel 12:1-12, Matthew 18:21-19:1)
Exile is a terrible experience. We only have to review the situations of the hostages in Darfur or of the other thirty-odd million refugees and displaced persons in the world today to see what horrors people in exile live. The foreign cultures they inhabit lack familiar institutions that might provide some solace. They have trouble finding jobs which leads to their exploitation as slave labor. They are also exceptionally vulnerable to new diseases and to swindlers’ deceptions.
In the reading from Ezekiel today God wants the prophet to show the Jerusalemites that they are headed on a course of exile. Ezekiel is to act as a person uprooted from his native place to awaken the people that their sins are bringing them to ruin. The hope is that the people will reform their lives so God might spare them the trauma of exilic life. Sadly, however, they will refuse to repent.
We see Jesus as bringing us out of the exile that sin has caused. Adam and Eve’s expulsion from the garden was the prototype of exile from which Jesus has rescued us. He brought us to the Kingdom of God (or “of heaven” as Matthew’s gospel consistently calls it). This state is not so much a physical place as it is a renewed relationship with God in which we experience the fullness of peace. Acquiring the relationship, we will forgive others their offenses against us, as the gospel today recommends, because we realize how gracious God has been to us.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Wednesday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time
(Ezekiel 9:1-7.10:18-22; Matthew 18:15-20)
One moral question on which there has been a distinctive change in Catholic teaching is the freedom of conscience. Where for centuries the Church taught that it is permissible to punish members of the community who adopt foreign beliefs, she now honors the integrity of individual conscience. Freedom of conscience demands that no one be forced to declare as true what she or he does not believe. The age of the Inquisition, however inaccurately it may have been understood, is definitively past.
Still it might be pointed out that religious persecution has biblical roots. We see in the reading from Ezekiel how the Lord calls for the purification of idolaters in the time of Ezekiel. To be sure, the reading has more than a simple chastisement in mind. Rather, the Lord demands the death of those who have worshipped other gods in the Temple. Today we stand aghast at the suggestion of such practices in some societies.
Can such intolerance be justified in retrospect? Certainly something may be said that in times of less developed economies social cohesion standing on common beliefs and religious practices was critical. We can add that there is a progressive development in biblical teaching which reaches its culmination in Christ. The people came to understand God’s ways slowly and imperfectly until God sent His Son to reveal them in their fullness. Even now we continue to grapple with Jesus’ teaching and, even more challenging, how to put it into practice.
(Ezekiel 9:1-7.10:18-22; Matthew 18:15-20)
One moral question on which there has been a distinctive change in Catholic teaching is the freedom of conscience. Where for centuries the Church taught that it is permissible to punish members of the community who adopt foreign beliefs, she now honors the integrity of individual conscience. Freedom of conscience demands that no one be forced to declare as true what she or he does not believe. The age of the Inquisition, however inaccurately it may have been understood, is definitively past.
Still it might be pointed out that religious persecution has biblical roots. We see in the reading from Ezekiel how the Lord calls for the purification of idolaters in the time of Ezekiel. To be sure, the reading has more than a simple chastisement in mind. Rather, the Lord demands the death of those who have worshipped other gods in the Temple. Today we stand aghast at the suggestion of such practices in some societies.
Can such intolerance be justified in retrospect? Certainly something may be said that in times of less developed economies social cohesion standing on common beliefs and religious practices was critical. We can add that there is a progressive development in biblical teaching which reaches its culmination in Christ. The people came to understand God’s ways slowly and imperfectly until God sent His Son to reveal them in their fullness. Even now we continue to grapple with Jesus’ teaching and, even more challenging, how to put it into practice.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Feast of St. Lawrence, deacon and martyr
(II Corinthians 9:6-10; John 12:2-26)
It has been noted how stories about the popular St. Lawrence have indicated a change in times. Fifty years ago, before the second Vatican Council, catechists would tell children that when St. Lawrence was being burned alive, he told his executioners when it was time to turn him over because he was already done on one side. Such morbid humor indicates a saint’s certain conviction that he is bound for glory. After Vatican II the favorite anecdote about St. Lawrence is his response to the demand of the emperor that he hand over the jewels of the Church of Rome. Upon receiving the order, Lawrence gathered together the poor of the city and brought them to the Roman prefect announcing, “These are the church’s treasures.”
The second Vatican Council has infused the Church with a sense of optimism toward the world. We no longer only yearn for a happy death but also to know, love, and serve Christ in one another. Even the poor have this aim and assist in this purpose. Obviously this pursuit of Christ in this world is not really a contemporary insight but has been with the Church since her foundation. However, we should be eager to embrace it as well as to seek eternity at our deaths.
(II Corinthians 9:6-10; John 12:2-26)
It has been noted how stories about the popular St. Lawrence have indicated a change in times. Fifty years ago, before the second Vatican Council, catechists would tell children that when St. Lawrence was being burned alive, he told his executioners when it was time to turn him over because he was already done on one side. Such morbid humor indicates a saint’s certain conviction that he is bound for glory. After Vatican II the favorite anecdote about St. Lawrence is his response to the demand of the emperor that he hand over the jewels of the Church of Rome. Upon receiving the order, Lawrence gathered together the poor of the city and brought them to the Roman prefect announcing, “These are the church’s treasures.”
The second Vatican Council has infused the Church with a sense of optimism toward the world. We no longer only yearn for a happy death but also to know, love, and serve Christ in one another. Even the poor have this aim and assist in this purpose. Obviously this pursuit of Christ in this world is not really a contemporary insight but has been with the Church since her foundation. However, we should be eager to embrace it as well as to seek eternity at our deaths.
Monday, August , 2010
Monday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time
(Ezekiel 1:2-5.24-28c; Matthew 17:22-27)
Justice is the virtue by which we give to others their due. It is essential for harmonious social life. Love is the virtue by which we join ourselves spiritually if not physically to others. Family life would be inconceivable without it. Both virtues have natural and supernatural dimensions. Natural justice, for example, assures that we compensate properly those who work for us. Supernatural justice moves us to secure the rights of all people, whether or not we owe them anything personally. Pursuing supernatural justice, which is bestowed only through God’s grace, we merit everlasting life.
Parents, of course, love their children. Because they naturally identify their children’s welfare with their own, they make it a priority. Supernatural love moves people to identify with and to seek the good for God and others, beyond family and friends. We see supernatural love operative in the lives of the saints like Katherine Ann Drexel who spent her fortune and her life on the construction of missions for poor minorities in the United States.
The gospel today presents a negative instance of natural justice and a positive instance of supernatural love. Jesus instructs Peter that justice does not require him to pay the temple tax because he is the son of God for whom the temple was constructed. However, because supernatural love moves him not to give scandal to tax collectors, Jesus provides for the paying of the tax. In paying the tax voluntarily, Jesus demonstrates in a rather banal way that he is indeed of divine origin.
(Ezekiel 1:2-5.24-28c; Matthew 17:22-27)
Justice is the virtue by which we give to others their due. It is essential for harmonious social life. Love is the virtue by which we join ourselves spiritually if not physically to others. Family life would be inconceivable without it. Both virtues have natural and supernatural dimensions. Natural justice, for example, assures that we compensate properly those who work for us. Supernatural justice moves us to secure the rights of all people, whether or not we owe them anything personally. Pursuing supernatural justice, which is bestowed only through God’s grace, we merit everlasting life.
Parents, of course, love their children. Because they naturally identify their children’s welfare with their own, they make it a priority. Supernatural love moves people to identify with and to seek the good for God and others, beyond family and friends. We see supernatural love operative in the lives of the saints like Katherine Ann Drexel who spent her fortune and her life on the construction of missions for poor minorities in the United States.
The gospel today presents a negative instance of natural justice and a positive instance of supernatural love. Jesus instructs Peter that justice does not require him to pay the temple tax because he is the son of God for whom the temple was constructed. However, because supernatural love moves him not to give scandal to tax collectors, Jesus provides for the paying of the tax. In paying the tax voluntarily, Jesus demonstrates in a rather banal way that he is indeed of divine origin.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord
(Daniel 7:9-10.13-14; II Peter 1:16-19; Luke 9:28b-36)
Ted Kennedy wrote in his memoirs of an experience he had as a youth. His father, who was a successful businessman and diplomat, told him: “You can have a serious life or a non-serious life, Teddy; I’ll still love you whichever choice you make. But if you decide to have a non-serious life, I won’t have much time for you…. There are too many children here who are doing things that are interesting for me to do much with you.” Those words settled deep in the future senator’s brain and made a great difference in his life. With good reason we opposed Ted Kennedy’s position on abortion, but we admired him for his tireless support of the uninsured and undocumented.
Jesus’ prayer in the account of the Transfiguration today reminds us of the conversation between Ted Kennedy and his father. Dialoguing with the Father, Jesus becomes aware of the violent death with the glorious outcome that awaits him in Jerusalem. He does not shrink from it. Quite the contrary, he embraces it as his conversation with Moses and Elijah indicates. The first liberated the Israelites in Egypt; the second suffered to keep the people from idolatry. Like them, Jesus will liberate humankind from slavery to sin. His suffering will strengthen the people from idolizing pleasure, power, or possessions.
Each of us if we examine our lives closely has had experiences like Jesus’. That is, like Ted Kennedy, we have had a glimpse of the possibility of knowing God intimately by living a righteous life. We know that such a life requires effort and will not be free of pain. But we also know that God, who loves us more than we can imagine, will reward our effort abundantly.
(Daniel 7:9-10.13-14; II Peter 1:16-19; Luke 9:28b-36)
Ted Kennedy wrote in his memoirs of an experience he had as a youth. His father, who was a successful businessman and diplomat, told him: “You can have a serious life or a non-serious life, Teddy; I’ll still love you whichever choice you make. But if you decide to have a non-serious life, I won’t have much time for you…. There are too many children here who are doing things that are interesting for me to do much with you.” Those words settled deep in the future senator’s brain and made a great difference in his life. With good reason we opposed Ted Kennedy’s position on abortion, but we admired him for his tireless support of the uninsured and undocumented.
Jesus’ prayer in the account of the Transfiguration today reminds us of the conversation between Ted Kennedy and his father. Dialoguing with the Father, Jesus becomes aware of the violent death with the glorious outcome that awaits him in Jerusalem. He does not shrink from it. Quite the contrary, he embraces it as his conversation with Moses and Elijah indicates. The first liberated the Israelites in Egypt; the second suffered to keep the people from idolatry. Like them, Jesus will liberate humankind from slavery to sin. His suffering will strengthen the people from idolizing pleasure, power, or possessions.
Each of us if we examine our lives closely has had experiences like Jesus’. That is, like Ted Kennedy, we have had a glimpse of the possibility of knowing God intimately by living a righteous life. We know that such a life requires effort and will not be free of pain. But we also know that God, who loves us more than we can imagine, will reward our effort abundantly.
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