Wednesday, May 27, 2015

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 the cause of American independence was thrown into doubt.  George Washington’s army had been routed in New York, and confidence in the general was waning.  The army literally walked in tatters through one of the worse winters in years.  Added to all this trouble, many of the soldiers’ inscriptions would expire on January 1.  Then seemingly out of the dark a blessing came.  On Christmas night the American army took almost nine hundred prisoners with few casualties in a surprise attack on the Hessian garrison at Trenton.  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.  Having been long a conquered nation, they now see their holy places desecrated by the Greek lords and the compromised Jewish elite.  Living in Jerusalem, Ben Sirach wants to remind the people of their rich heritage.  In the prayer that comprises today’s passage, he pleads God to demonstrate His power so the morale of the people may be restored.  He is coy about this reason, however.  He tries to cajole the Lord with pretensions of praise from the entire world if He demonstrates His power.

God, of course, does not look for 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.  He wants his disciples to understand that the greatest grandeur lies in self-sacrificing love not acts of "shock and aw."

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Memorial of Saint Philip Neri, priest

(Sirach 35:1-12; Mark 10:28-31)

According to a folk-saying, life is God’s gift to us; what we make of our lives is our gift to God.  We can make a fitting gift to God by practicing works of mercy.  It is said that St. Philip Neri was not bothered by calls from prayer to hear someone’s confession.  Rather he thought of it as going “from Christ to Christ.”  The first reading today from the Book of Sirach advises us to make use of our lives as sacrifices to God.

The book known as Sirach takes its name from the author, a man named Jesus, son of Eleazar, son of Sirach.  It was written in Hebrew around the turn of the second century before Christ, and then translated into Greek by the author’s grandson.  Its contents of moral instruction place the work in the Bible’s wisdom tradition.

Not too long ago many Catholics began their day with the “Morning Offering.”  This was a prayer dedicating their “prayers, works, joys, and sufferings” to God.  It remains a fitting expression of our appreciation to God for all the benefits bestowed on us. 

Monday, May 25, 2015

Monday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time

(Sirach 17:20-24; Mark 10:17-27)

In The Red Wheel novelist Alexander Solzhenitsyn pictures a young army officer seeking advice from a priest about the morality of war.  The officer wonders what Jesus meant when he told his disciples not to resist evil.  He asks whether the Russian writer Leo Tolstoy was not correct to interpret the passage as a condemnation of war.  The priest responds that there are worse evils than war and that war is the necessary price for living together in a state.  On this Memorial Day we might understand the gospel in this light.

When Jesus tells the young man that he must give up everything and follow him to have eternal life, he means of course that the man becomes one of his disciples.  But cannot a disciple fight in the army to protect the common good?  The army is a great equalizer.  Soldiers give up individual privileges to become an effective fighting unit.  Often enough they are also called to give up their lives.  When they do these things out of love for country, they should indeed be considered as Jesus’ followers.

Today we honor especially those who have died in war.  Perhaps some did so reluctantly and maybe some fought for reasons other than love of country. We also pray for them that they may be judged for the good that they did.  After all, we hope to be judged ourselves according to the same measure.

Friday, May 22, 2015

Friday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

(Acts 25:13b-21; John 21:15-19)

Jerome Murphy-O’Connor died last year.  For a while at least he probably knew as much as any Catholic scholar about the apostle Paul.  One of Murphy-O’Connor’s books is entitled Jesus and Paul: Parallel Lives.  According to the author the two had much more in common than one being the prodigious proclaimer of the other.  We can find one of the parallels among the two men in today’s first reading.

In Luke’s gospel Jesus’ case presented a singular problem for Pontius Pilate.  The Roman procurator felt Jesus’ innocence but had to contend with the angry Jewish leaders.  When he heard that the Jewish king Herod Antipas was in Jerusalem, he referred the matter to him.  Herod recognized Jesus’ innocence and sent him back to Pilate who betrayed his conscience by sentencing him to death.  The Roman procurator a generation later is a man named Porcius Festus.  He has to deal with Paul who was brought to him much like Jesus to Pilate.  Because Festus is undecided about Paul’s innocence, he invites the Jewish king Herod Agrippa II to hear his story.  Like his ancestor determined of Jesus, Herod Agrippa finds Paul innocent.  Festus, however, finds a way to avoid giving making a final judgment.  Since Paul as a Roman citizen asked to be tried by the emperor, Festus sends him to Rome for judgment.

We too can live parallel lives to Jesus’.  He lived as a simple person like most of us.  When we are patient in suffering, always loving and serving others, and intent on our relationship with God, we become like Jesus.

Thursday, May 21, 2015

Thursday of the Seventh Week of Easter

(Acts 22:30.23:6-11; John 17:22-26)

Often when feeling criticized, we go on the offensive.  We search for impressive words to show off our wit and to put down the critics.  Surely this is a questionable strategy.  We would do better to listen carefully to what others are saying, pray to the Holy Spirit for guidance, and speak forthrightly what comes to mind.  Jesus tells us to do as much when he says, “'When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.’”  In today’s reading from the Acts of the Apostles, Paul follows Jesus’ advice. 

Paul is being held prisoner for allegedly starting a riot.  The crowds want to kill him, and the Roman officer does not know what to do with him.  Paul evaluates the crowd, sees a mixture of Pharisees and Sadducees in it, and speaks to it with ingenuity.  His reference to being a proponent of the resurrection of the dead divides his persecutors.  What starts as an attempt to kill Paul turns into a debate over the possibility of rising from the dead. 

The Holy Spirit is the driving force behind this and all apostolic activity in Acts of the Apostles.  It brings Christianity from its humble origins in Jerusalem to the corners of the whole world.  The Holy Spirit remains as God’s eternal presence in our lives.  The Spirit enlightens our minds and orders our wills so that we too might bring the light of Christ to the world.