Thursday, January 29, 2015

Thursday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time

(Hebrews 10:19-25; Mark 4:21-25)

For quite a while, Catholics in the United States have maintained a consistent Sunday mass attendance.  More or less twenty-three percent honor the Sunday obligation.  “What’s so good about that?” some might ask.  Actually, it is not an impressive record.  But non-attendance is nothing new in the history of the Church as the first reading today attests.

The Letter to the Hebrews underlines a fault in the customs of the people.  It tells its readers, “We should not stay away from our assembly…”  Evidently, some in the community have given up the practice of common worship.  It is possible that they lived in fear of being noticed at Christian worship as the letter at different points suggests religious persecution.  More likely, however, the people were growing apathetic waiting for Christ to return. 

We can do something to increase mass attendance.  Showing interest in the people who come to worship, perhaps taking the time to talk with them over coffee when the service is over, will make everyone a more caring individual.  After all, it is Christ whom we engage in the Eucharist.  He doesn’t leave us when we are dismissed but brightens our whole lives.

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Memorial of Saint Thomas Aquinas, priest

(Hebrews 10:11-18; Mark 4:1-20)

If the seed is the word of God and if it produces an abundant harvest when it falls on fertile ground as today’s gospel proclaims, then it has seldom yielded more than when it struck the ears of Thomas Aquinas.  Few writers have been more prodigious and few thinkers more profound than the thirteenth century Dominican friar.

What made Aquinas such rich soil for an intellectual yield?  Three factors come to mind.  First, as a child he was sent to a Benedictine monastery for school.  There he probably learned to savor the word of God in his heart so that he could appreciate its every aspect.  Second, as an adolescent Thomas studied Aristotelean philosophy in Naples.  The ancient Greek’s rigid analysis of the real world gave the budding genius a penchant to express the truth with the purity of an angel.  Finally, Thomas embraced the radical life of the Dominican friars who depended implicitly on Divine Providence and allowed no concern to impede their vocation of saving souls.

Like all the saints, Thomas Aquinas was especially endowed by God.  As very few possess his genius, we can hardly rival his holiness.  But God continually breaks down the rocky texture of our lives so that we might, like Aquinas, produce an output of wise words and loving deeds that assist others on the road to salvation.

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Tuesday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time

(Hebrews 10:1-10; Mark 3:31-35)

Catholics and Protestants have long tried to prove one another wrong on matters of doctrine.  The perpetual virginity of Mary is a particularly contentious debating point.  The Church has declared that Mary remained a virgin before, during, and after giving birth to Jesus.  Protestants often use today’s gospel passage as a proof text that Mary had other children besides Jesus.

The passage speaks of Jesus’ mother and brothers coming to see Jesus.  It shows Jesus gesturing at his disciples and calling them his “mother and (my) brothers.”  The scene leaves a sense of the remarkably close relationship Jesus has developed with those who follow him.  It may not be complimentary to Jesus’ family, but it does not show Jesus renouncing them either.

Biblical experts tell us that Mary’s virginity is not addressed in the New Testament.  They say that the names of Jesus’ brothers given later in Mark (James, Joses, Siman, and Judas) are plausibly the sons of the Mary who is pictured with Mary Magdalene and Salome at the cross with Jesus.  Thus, these “brothers” may very well have a more distant affiliation with Jesus than a sibling relationship.  In any case we are wise not to be querulous about the issue.  Rather, there is reason to rejoice in the possibility of joining with Jesus’ disciples as his “mother and (my) brothers.”

Monday, January 26, 2015

Memorial of Saint Timothy and Saint Titus, bishops

(II Timothy 1:1-8; Mark 3:22-30)

Saints Timothy and Titus assisted Saint Paul in his missionary efforts.  Timothy accompanied Paul on part of his so-called second missionary journey and stayed with him in Corinth.  Later Paul places Timothy’s name with his own as the authors of the Second Letter to the Corinthians.  This same letter speaks of Titus as Paul’s emissary who brought a lost letter to the Corinthians after they evidently reacted to Paul’s scolding in First Corinthians.  In Second Corinthians Paul calls Titus, “my partner and co-worker with you.”

A few facts about Timothy and Titus can be gleaned from the New Testament.  Timothy was the son of a Greek father and Jewish mother.  Paul permitted him to be circumcised because of his Jewish heritage.  On the other hand, Paul insisted that Titus not be circumcised because he was of completely Gentile origins.  More significant than their personal stories is what the references to the two men in the New Testament reveal about Paul.  They indicate that he was hardly a one-person show.  Indeed, it seems that in part his ability to collaborate made his evangelizing efforts successful.  He also felt great affection for his associates and was magnanimous enough to mention them as contributors to his writing.

It may seem self-evident that ultimately there are no Christians without a church community, but some do speak and act as if they have both personal and private relationships with the Lord.  Yet there is always need for other people to pray with, to support our faith, and to assist our apostolic efforts.  This was true of the archetypal missionary, Paul of Tarsus, and it remains so for us today.

Friday, January 23, 2015

Friday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time

(Hebrews 8:6-13; Mark 3:13-19)

Today’s passage from the Letter to the Hebrews presents Christians with a dilemma.  We know that the Old Testament (or Old Covenant, the words mean the same thing) has immense value.  After all, it inspired and informed Jesus.  Nonetheless Hebrews, which is part of the New Testament, indicates that it is “obsolete” and “close to disappearing.” 

We must hold up both the old and the new as critical.  The Old Testament enables us to understand Jesus, and the New Testament brings him into even clearer focus.  Yet neither of them nor both together is the perfect revelation of God.  That comes in the person of Jesus.  Scripture, howsoever indispensable it is for us, is the Word of God in human words.  This last phrase bespeaks inevitable limitation and even error.  In other words, both Old and New Testaments are defective.  We only find God revealing Himself to us perfectly in the living presence of Jesus.

How can we so meet Jesus today?  We find him in the Eucharist where he nourishes us with his body and blood.  For sure, we will not interpret him perfectly there.  Nevertheless, receiving the Eucharist we hold Jesus close to our hearts.  Then we want to implore him to purify our understanding so that we live up to his call for us.