Monday, July 1, 2013

Monday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Genesis 18:16-33; Matthew 8:18-22)

C.S. Lewis published a series of essays entitled God in the Dock.  The book presents evidence for what the title suggests: that modern humanity has placed God on trial.  Rather than trusting God, many today prefer to blame at least the concept of God for the world’s wars.  It is not an entirely new concept as today’s first reading shows.

Sodom and Gomorrah are known for corruption, but not all of their inhabitants are sinful.  God could not be considered just if He, as Abraham probes, destroyed the cities with as few as fifty good people.  But what if there were not quite fifty good people?  He equally could not be considered just if there were forty or thirty or even ten.  Beyond that God could destroy the cities and save any of the just through special acts of mercy.  In the end this is what God does sending fire and brimstone and Sodom and Gomorrah while sparing Lot and his family.

For us God has shown himself more than any human concept of justice would have Him.  He not only refuses to destroy humanity for its outrages but has sent His Son to save us from our folly.  But we have to trust in Him by following Jesus’ ways.

Friday, June 28, 2013

Memorial of Saint, Irenaeus, bishop and martyr

(Genesis 17:1.9-10.15-22; Matthew 8:1-4)

St. Irenaeus of Lyons has been called the greatest biblical theologian in history.  He was, in fact, first a missionary to France.  True to his calling, he worked in the lingua franca which was Celtic and died a martyr’s death.  Regarding his work as a biblical theologian, Irenaeus expounded on the critical biblical insight that God created the world good.  He wrote how human sin distorted that goodness, but now that Jesus has rooted out sin, humans can overcome any of sin’s residual effects.   We might see this lesson in the gospel reading today.

Jesus has just delivered his gospel of grace in the Sermon on the Mount.  As he descends his pulpit, he meets a leper who begs Jesus to clean him.  Leprosy is a disease that symbolizes sinfulness in that it eats away the goodness of the human body.  The same grace proclaimed in the gospel Jesus preached now eradicates the leprosy of sin.

In living the gospel of grace, we too are cleansed of sin – not just on the surface but inside.  When we love God and neighbor from the heart and with good deeds, we shine like the stars with God’s goodness.

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Thursday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time

(Genesis 16:1-12.15-16; Matthew 7:21-19)

If Abram showed himself in yesterday’s reading to be a man of faith, he betrays that faith in the sequel today.  Rather than trusting in God to bring about a great nation, Abram acts against God’s will as it is implied in nature.  He accedes to Sarai’s treacherous plan to give him progeny by means of her maidservant. It is wrong because, as Jesus reminds the Sadducees in the gospels, from the beginning one man and one woman were created to form one partnership.

Some background to Abram’s adulterous consent helps to appreciate what the story intends.  Abram and Sarai sojourned for a while in Egypt where Abram coaxed Sarai into doing something similar to what she has him do in the reading today.  Out of fear for his life when Pharaoh takes a shine to the beautiful Sarai, Abram asks Sarai to join his harem.  After Pharaoh experiences hardship, he gives Abram back his wife and chastises him for his deceit.  In the reading today, of course, Sarai turns table on Abram by suggesting that he sleep with another woman.

We should draw at least two lessons from the stories.  First, marriage has a sanctity that is not to be violated.  Wife and husband form an inseparable union that demands sacrifice even, if necessary, of one’s life.  Second, and no less insufferable to contemporary ears, we are not to do evil to bring about good.  Abram commits a grave sin by acceding to Sarai’s scheme.  Although we are to move with God’s promptings, we must never think that God wants us to do what is wrong.

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Wednesday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time

(Genesis 15:1-12.17-18; Matthew 7:15-20)

In order to stem the tide of divorce in the late twentieth century, some American couples entered “covenant marriages.”  The two parties agreed to counseling before marriage and to limited grounds for divorce once married.  The arrangement takes its name from the type of relationship between Abram and the Lord witnessed in the first reading today.

At the basis of the relationship is Abram’s faith in God which was “credited to him as an act of righteousness.”  As long as Abram maintains that faith, he can be assured of the Lord’s assistance.  God, of course, has not failed in giving Abram innumerable descendants.  Today they include not only the millions of Jews throughout the world, but the billions of Christians and Muslims as well.

We have entered into a new covenant with God through Jesus Christ.  By being baptized in his name we become heirs to the promise of his resurrection from the dead.  But it is not an imperishable legacy  in the sense that we too must keep faith in him. 

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Tuesday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time

(Genesis 13:2.5-18; Matthew 7:6.12-14)

Country crooners are fond of singing, “How could something that is so wrong feel so right?”  They are only mimicking the Christian’s dilemma as Jesus presents it in today’s gospel.

He is addressing his disciples when he lays out the alternatives of a wide gate/road leading to destruction and a narrow gate/road bringing one to life.  Christians are not to see the possibility of being damned only applicable to the unchurched.  They can, like anyone else, lose their way by pursuing pleasure or power or prestige.

We must keep faith in Jesus.  Although it is possible to lead a righteous life without learning of his promises, it is likely our trust in his word that will keep us on the path of eternal glory.