Monday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time
(Tobit 1:3.21a-8; Mark 12:1-12)
In a reflection on funerals the Committee on Divine Worship of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops calls the human body “’the primordial sacrament’ that makes the life and love of God present in the world.” For this reason Christians have traditionally reverenced the dead body in funerals. Moreover, our belief in the resurrection of the dead when Christ returns impels us to bury the body decorously. These traditions stem from Jewish customs regarding the dead of which we have a glimpse in the reading from Tobit today.
Although there is an air of pretension about him, Tobit should be seen as an upright, God-fearing man. In burying the dead man, he saves the memory of the person from the curse of having his carcass become prey to animals. The fact that his neighbors mock him for doing good indicates moral cynicism that infects an oppressed people. To be sure, Tobit’s piety should be admired, not disdained.
We live in a culture which seems to deny death. Cremation quickly removes the body that handily reminds survivors of the loss of life. Funerals “celebrating life” feature stories more appropriate at a birthday party than a burial. Most telling, a presumption reigns at funerals that no matter how they lived, the dead revel in eternal life. Of course, we hope that everyone will partake in God’s heavenly banquet. However, acknowledging the possibility of damnation, the Christian tradition is to pray for the dead’s salvation, not to assume it.
Friday, March 4, 2011
Friday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time
(Sirach 44:1.9-13; Mark 11:11-26)
Poets use objective correlatives as ways of describing the mind’s inner-working. For example, when Robert Frost describes watching the woods fill up with snow, he means to tell the reader about his contemplating the eeriness of death.
The evangelist Mark presents an objective correlative in the passage today about the fig tree that does not bear fruit. Jesus curses its sterility as a sign of disgust with the Temple which he will enter shortly. Because the Temple has not fostered a holy people, it is doomed. The money changers are only the tip of the iceberg. More dangerous, the priests control the business and profit handsomely from it. As Jesus curses the fig tree, he will throw the money changers out of the Temple. And as he cleans up the Temple, he will perfect the Temple sacrifices with his own death on the cross.
Of course, we should not think of Jesus as anti-environmental for cursing the fig tree. Throughout the gospel Jesus is at home in nature. He retreats from the crowds to the mountains. He spends time by the sea. He even pacifies stormy weather. St. Paul will acknowledge that Jesus redeems the natural world as he saves humankind.
(Sirach 44:1.9-13; Mark 11:11-26)
Poets use objective correlatives as ways of describing the mind’s inner-working. For example, when Robert Frost describes watching the woods fill up with snow, he means to tell the reader about his contemplating the eeriness of death.
The evangelist Mark presents an objective correlative in the passage today about the fig tree that does not bear fruit. Jesus curses its sterility as a sign of disgust with the Temple which he will enter shortly. Because the Temple has not fostered a holy people, it is doomed. The money changers are only the tip of the iceberg. More dangerous, the priests control the business and profit handsomely from it. As Jesus curses the fig tree, he will throw the money changers out of the Temple. And as he cleans up the Temple, he will perfect the Temple sacrifices with his own death on the cross.
Of course, we should not think of Jesus as anti-environmental for cursing the fig tree. Throughout the gospel Jesus is at home in nature. He retreats from the crowds to the mountains. He spends time by the sea. He even pacifies stormy weather. St. Paul will acknowledge that Jesus redeems the natural world as he saves humankind.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Thursday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time
(Sirach 42:15-25; Mark 10:46-52)
Ministers working in hospitals and prisons are accustomed to patients and inmates telling them that they will contact them after being released. However, such communication seldom takes place. It is not that they lied before or that they intentionally wish to avoid those who helped them, but that they lack the spiritual energy to revisit the place of confinement. Bartimaeus in the gospel today would be an exception to this observation. Jesus sends him away, but he steadfastly follows Jesus.
The passage is a healing story laced with irony. Bartimaeus does not see Jesus with his eyes but possesses faith in him, which is another way of seeing. He acknowledges Jesus as “’son of David’” meaning that Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah. By restoring his physical sight, Jesus confirms the efficacy of Bartimaeus’ faith. Although one might argue that in obedience to Jesus, Bartimaeus should have gone his own way, he is more coherent for following the one whom he believes will liberate Israel from bondage.
We are not being called to such a radical following since Jesus does not now humanly walk the earth. Nevertheless, if, like Bartimaeus, we acknowledge him as our savior, we should conform ourselves to him spiritually. This means not only that we accept the suffering that comes our way without grumbling, but also that we go out of our way to share the burden of those who may be hurting more than we.
(Sirach 42:15-25; Mark 10:46-52)
Ministers working in hospitals and prisons are accustomed to patients and inmates telling them that they will contact them after being released. However, such communication seldom takes place. It is not that they lied before or that they intentionally wish to avoid those who helped them, but that they lack the spiritual energy to revisit the place of confinement. Bartimaeus in the gospel today would be an exception to this observation. Jesus sends him away, but he steadfastly follows Jesus.
The passage is a healing story laced with irony. Bartimaeus does not see Jesus with his eyes but possesses faith in him, which is another way of seeing. He acknowledges Jesus as “’son of David’” meaning that Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah. By restoring his physical sight, Jesus confirms the efficacy of Bartimaeus’ faith. Although one might argue that in obedience to Jesus, Bartimaeus should have gone his own way, he is more coherent for following the one whom he believes will liberate Israel from bondage.
We are not being called to such a radical following since Jesus does not now humanly walk the earth. Nevertheless, if, like Bartimaeus, we acknowledge him as our savior, we should conform ourselves to him spiritually. This means not only that we accept the suffering that comes our way without grumbling, but also that we go out of our way to share the burden of those who may be hurting more than we.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Wednesday of the Eighth Week In Ordinary Time
(Sirach 36:1.4-5a.10-17; Mark 10:32-45)
In the last days of 1776 George Washington and the cause of American independence were having a rough time. The general had been routed in New York, and confidence in him was waning. The army was literally in tatters, and the winter was one of the worse in years. Added to all this, many of the soldiers’ inscriptions would expire on January 1. Then fortune suddenly blew the other way. On Christmas night the American army in a surprise attack on the Hessian garrison at Trenton took almost nine hundred prisoners with few casualties. Most of Washington’s soldiers reenlisted wanting to follow their commander to victory. Such a turnabout is what Ben Sirach seeks in the reading today.
In the second century before Christ, the people of Israel are almost completely suppressed. Long conquered, they are forced to see their holy places desecrated by their Greek rulers and the compromised Jewish elite. Ben Sirach, who lived in Jerusalem, wants to remind the people of their rich heritage. In the prayer that comprises today’s passage, he pleads God to give a demonstration of power to restore the people’s morale. He is coy about his reason, however, preferring to cajole the Lord with pretensions of worldly praise if He exalted His own.
God, of course, does not need public support. He seems to eschew it, in fact. In the gospel Jesus predicts that he will be defiled, whipped, and executed. He will rise from the dead as well but will appear only to a select few so that they might realize that the greatest grandeur lies in self-sacrificing love not acts of awe and wonder.
(Sirach 36:1.4-5a.10-17; Mark 10:32-45)
In the last days of 1776 George Washington and the cause of American independence were having a rough time. The general had been routed in New York, and confidence in him was waning. The army was literally in tatters, and the winter was one of the worse in years. Added to all this, many of the soldiers’ inscriptions would expire on January 1. Then fortune suddenly blew the other way. On Christmas night the American army in a surprise attack on the Hessian garrison at Trenton took almost nine hundred prisoners with few casualties. Most of Washington’s soldiers reenlisted wanting to follow their commander to victory. Such a turnabout is what Ben Sirach seeks in the reading today.
In the second century before Christ, the people of Israel are almost completely suppressed. Long conquered, they are forced to see their holy places desecrated by their Greek rulers and the compromised Jewish elite. Ben Sirach, who lived in Jerusalem, wants to remind the people of their rich heritage. In the prayer that comprises today’s passage, he pleads God to give a demonstration of power to restore the people’s morale. He is coy about his reason, however, preferring to cajole the Lord with pretensions of worldly praise if He exalted His own.
God, of course, does not need public support. He seems to eschew it, in fact. In the gospel Jesus predicts that he will be defiled, whipped, and executed. He will rise from the dead as well but will appear only to a select few so that they might realize that the greatest grandeur lies in self-sacrificing love not acts of awe and wonder.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Tuesday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time
(Sirach 35:1-12; Mark 10:28-31)
What Jesus says is true. People who commit themselves to a vocation as a priest or religious often receive several times more than what they give up. Moving away from relatives as a young woman or man may be wrenching, but priests and religious typically find themselves in communities which becomes like a second family.
There are other blessings associated with religious life. Above all, religious and priests develop a closeness to the Lord. All Christians should pray, but those who publicly dedicate themselves to the Church have daily occasion to seek the Lord. By meditating on how God painstakingly prepared His people for His Son, how Jesus lovingly lived and died, and how the new People of God eagerly accepted him as Savior, priests and religious come to trust Christ as both Lord and brother.
Ministry for priests and religious can also be particularly meaningful. They usually assist well-intentioned people needing guidance in the quest for holiness. Speaking about Jesus brings great satisfaction as they are describing one whom they love. Finally, Jesus assures his disciples that those who serve him faithfully will receive eternal life. He means that not even death will separate them from the joy of his companionship.
(Sirach 35:1-12; Mark 10:28-31)
What Jesus says is true. People who commit themselves to a vocation as a priest or religious often receive several times more than what they give up. Moving away from relatives as a young woman or man may be wrenching, but priests and religious typically find themselves in communities which becomes like a second family.
There are other blessings associated with religious life. Above all, religious and priests develop a closeness to the Lord. All Christians should pray, but those who publicly dedicate themselves to the Church have daily occasion to seek the Lord. By meditating on how God painstakingly prepared His people for His Son, how Jesus lovingly lived and died, and how the new People of God eagerly accepted him as Savior, priests and religious come to trust Christ as both Lord and brother.
Ministry for priests and religious can also be particularly meaningful. They usually assist well-intentioned people needing guidance in the quest for holiness. Speaking about Jesus brings great satisfaction as they are describing one whom they love. Finally, Jesus assures his disciples that those who serve him faithfully will receive eternal life. He means that not even death will separate them from the joy of his companionship.
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