Monday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time
(I Samuel 15:16-23; Mark 2:18-22)
A young couple is thinking of marriage. They live in a city away from where either grew up. As the date of their wedding is still undetermined, they decide to share an apartment. They realize that it will create more temptation to have sex than they will be able to resist, but they justify the plan by noting the money they will save will expedite the wedding date. Unfortunately, they are reasoning like Saul in the first reading today.
The king of Israel has allowed his men to take animals for booty in order to sacrifice them to God. Yes, they will probably eat some of the partially-burnt offering, but they could use the nourishment. It seems like a waste of good meat to exterminate the enemy’s entire flock. Yet this is exactly what God has commanded, and not without reason. Eating the enemy’s meat, taking their wives, appeasing their gods – all form a slippery slope which God wants His people to stay clear of.
God’s commands always have their logic although at times it is obscure to us. Why, for example, must we run a high risk of losing mother and child when a “therapeutic abortion” can at least save the mother’s life? It is a hard case that necessitates that everything possible is done to save both lives. But still we know that it is always wrong to do evil in order to produce the good.
Friday, January 13, 2012
Friday of the First Week in Ordinary Time
(I Samuel 8:4-7.10-22a; Mark 2:1-12)
The man was having a hard time. He moved out of his parents’ house to marry a divorced woman. When the marriage didn’t work out, he came back to his parents but slept on a bed in the basement. He seemed to feel unworthy of the dignity of having his own room. Some would say that he could not forgive himself for marrying outside the Church. But is it not more the point that he refused to accept God’s forgiveness? Today’s gospel offers some insight into the dynamic.
When Jesus tells the paralytic that his sins are forgiven, nothing is mentioned of the man’s disappointment with not being healed forthrightly. Perhaps, believing that Jesus’ word is as trustworthy as a ride on a mule, he gives a sigh of relief that his past no longer threatens his eternal life. At least he can raise his head in public again because he acknowledged his faults and accepted the grace of forgiveness. However, the scribes – Jesus’ law-obsessed adversaries – do take umbrage. They object that Jesus outrageously presumes divine power by claiming to forgive sins. Jesus then shows that he indeed has supernatural power by enabling the paralytic to walk. The healing dramatizes the meaning of forgiveness. Now the man can walk freely in society.
In a secularized society speaking of “forgiving oneself” will have currency as people believe that they are accountable mostly to themselves for the lives they lead. We Christians, however, know that we are made by God and for God. Assured of His forgiveness when we repent of our sins, we recognize our place as His beloved children awaiting the fullness of redemption.
(I Samuel 8:4-7.10-22a; Mark 2:1-12)
The man was having a hard time. He moved out of his parents’ house to marry a divorced woman. When the marriage didn’t work out, he came back to his parents but slept on a bed in the basement. He seemed to feel unworthy of the dignity of having his own room. Some would say that he could not forgive himself for marrying outside the Church. But is it not more the point that he refused to accept God’s forgiveness? Today’s gospel offers some insight into the dynamic.
When Jesus tells the paralytic that his sins are forgiven, nothing is mentioned of the man’s disappointment with not being healed forthrightly. Perhaps, believing that Jesus’ word is as trustworthy as a ride on a mule, he gives a sigh of relief that his past no longer threatens his eternal life. At least he can raise his head in public again because he acknowledged his faults and accepted the grace of forgiveness. However, the scribes – Jesus’ law-obsessed adversaries – do take umbrage. They object that Jesus outrageously presumes divine power by claiming to forgive sins. Jesus then shows that he indeed has supernatural power by enabling the paralytic to walk. The healing dramatizes the meaning of forgiveness. Now the man can walk freely in society.
In a secularized society speaking of “forgiving oneself” will have currency as people believe that they are accountable mostly to themselves for the lives they lead. We Christians, however, know that we are made by God and for God. Assured of His forgiveness when we repent of our sins, we recognize our place as His beloved children awaiting the fullness of redemption.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Thursday of the First Week in Ordinary Time
(I Samuel 4:1-11; Mark 1:40-45)
After every human tragedy – earthquake, hurricane, defeat in war – humans ask themselves why it happened. They wonder whether God is capricious, whether they did not respond properly to God’s initiatives, or whether He exists at all. Such questions echo the elders of the Israel in the first reading.
“’Why has the Lord permitted us to be defeated today by the Philistines?’” the men ask themselves. Apparently assuming that the problem lies with God’s lack of attention, the elders summon the Ark of the Covenant to be brought to the battlefront. “Surely the Lord will wake up,” the elders seem to say, “when He sees His people’s need.” Of course, the tactic fails. God knows quite well what their situation, yet chooses not to support the Israelis.
God has His reasons which will always, to some degree remain, obscure to humankind. We might speculate in the case under consideration that God is changing the center of human authority from judges to a king as well as the center of cultic worship from Shiloh to Jerusalem. But God’s reasons are, in the end, often unfathomable. If we could figure them all out, we would sit on an equal level with God. This is not to say that God caresses and despises humans at whim. No, He has definitively shown favor toward us in Jesus Christ. What Jesus suffered to liberate humans from sin manifests majestically the Father’s love. We must respond by embracing whole-heartedly the mystery of God -- both when it seems to favor us and when it seems to reject us.
(I Samuel 4:1-11; Mark 1:40-45)
After every human tragedy – earthquake, hurricane, defeat in war – humans ask themselves why it happened. They wonder whether God is capricious, whether they did not respond properly to God’s initiatives, or whether He exists at all. Such questions echo the elders of the Israel in the first reading.
“’Why has the Lord permitted us to be defeated today by the Philistines?’” the men ask themselves. Apparently assuming that the problem lies with God’s lack of attention, the elders summon the Ark of the Covenant to be brought to the battlefront. “Surely the Lord will wake up,” the elders seem to say, “when He sees His people’s need.” Of course, the tactic fails. God knows quite well what their situation, yet chooses not to support the Israelis.
God has His reasons which will always, to some degree remain, obscure to humankind. We might speculate in the case under consideration that God is changing the center of human authority from judges to a king as well as the center of cultic worship from Shiloh to Jerusalem. But God’s reasons are, in the end, often unfathomable. If we could figure them all out, we would sit on an equal level with God. This is not to say that God caresses and despises humans at whim. No, He has definitively shown favor toward us in Jesus Christ. What Jesus suffered to liberate humans from sin manifests majestically the Father’s love. We must respond by embracing whole-heartedly the mystery of God -- both when it seems to favor us and when it seems to reject us.
Wednesday, January 11, 2011
Wednesday of the First Week in Ordinary Time
(I Samuel 3:1-10.19-20; Mark 1:29-39)
Many people discern a call to serve the Church, but few believe that God may be asking them to remain unmarried. They fear being left unfulfilled as human beings if they do no give themselves to another in sexual intimacy. Entertainment almost invariably sends a similar message. Parents as well, having few children, encourage the ones they have to marry so that they may see their family increase. Albeit in an oblique way, the first reading today addresses this question of vocational celibacy.
The biblical author indicates that a vocation is not easily discerned by commenting that “a revelation of the Lord was uncommon.” Yet the Lord does not cease to knock at Samuel’s door. The priest Eli provides the key to discernment of God’s call. Samuel must converse with the Lord in concentrated prayer if he is to understand what God wants of him.
We should understand that the Church does not hold virginity and celibacy high because sexual intimacy is suspect. Quite the contrary, it recognizes the beauty and, indeed, the necessity of married love. But it also is alarmed by the fancy of uncommitted sex that grips the world today. By holding its priests to celibacy and by encouraging women to consecrate their lives to a special relationship with Christ, it preaches the existence of the One who orders our lives so that we might experience not passing pleasure but lasting happiness. Deep and continual prayer will tell whether we have the vocation to preach in this special way.
(I Samuel 3:1-10.19-20; Mark 1:29-39)
Many people discern a call to serve the Church, but few believe that God may be asking them to remain unmarried. They fear being left unfulfilled as human beings if they do no give themselves to another in sexual intimacy. Entertainment almost invariably sends a similar message. Parents as well, having few children, encourage the ones they have to marry so that they may see their family increase. Albeit in an oblique way, the first reading today addresses this question of vocational celibacy.
The biblical author indicates that a vocation is not easily discerned by commenting that “a revelation of the Lord was uncommon.” Yet the Lord does not cease to knock at Samuel’s door. The priest Eli provides the key to discernment of God’s call. Samuel must converse with the Lord in concentrated prayer if he is to understand what God wants of him.
We should understand that the Church does not hold virginity and celibacy high because sexual intimacy is suspect. Quite the contrary, it recognizes the beauty and, indeed, the necessity of married love. But it also is alarmed by the fancy of uncommitted sex that grips the world today. By holding its priests to celibacy and by encouraging women to consecrate their lives to a special relationship with Christ, it preaches the existence of the One who orders our lives so that we might experience not passing pleasure but lasting happiness. Deep and continual prayer will tell whether we have the vocation to preach in this special way.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Tuesday of the First Week in Ordinary Time
(I Samuel 1:9-20; Mark 1:21-28)
Parents in Australia worry when their children finish secondary school. Graduation there is typically followed by a week with classmates at the beach. Un-chaperoned, the teens are likely to turn the rite of passage into a seven-day orgy. Some families offer their graduates a trip to Hong Kong if they forego the week-long partying. In today's gospel Jesus presents himself as the rescue of such people given to drink, drugs, and sex.
The passage speaks of "unclean spirits" which are normally considered devils possessing the innocent. However, it may be profitably read today as hedonists obsessed by lust and craving stupor. Jesus addresses this condition with authority. He is not concerned with how pitiful the situation appears but with the well-being of the people involved. He commands the spirits to leave the infected; that is, in a contemporary interpretation his care engenders a genuine love of self that moves hedonists out of self-abuse.
In a society that condones libertine sex and blinks at drunkenness we should see Jesus as a champion of spiritual integrity. His love for us suppresses bodily urges for illegitimate pleasure. He provides us with peace of mind and the tranquility of self-control.
(I Samuel 1:9-20; Mark 1:21-28)
Parents in Australia worry when their children finish secondary school. Graduation there is typically followed by a week with classmates at the beach. Un-chaperoned, the teens are likely to turn the rite of passage into a seven-day orgy. Some families offer their graduates a trip to Hong Kong if they forego the week-long partying. In today's gospel Jesus presents himself as the rescue of such people given to drink, drugs, and sex.
The passage speaks of "unclean spirits" which are normally considered devils possessing the innocent. However, it may be profitably read today as hedonists obsessed by lust and craving stupor. Jesus addresses this condition with authority. He is not concerned with how pitiful the situation appears but with the well-being of the people involved. He commands the spirits to leave the infected; that is, in a contemporary interpretation his care engenders a genuine love of self that moves hedonists out of self-abuse.
In a society that condones libertine sex and blinks at drunkenness we should see Jesus as a champion of spiritual integrity. His love for us suppresses bodily urges for illegitimate pleasure. He provides us with peace of mind and the tranquility of self-control.
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