Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Tuesday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time

(Ezra 6:7-8.12b.14-20; Luke 8:19-21)

Washington, D.C. is said to be the first important city created without a church at its center.  Rather the city features the huge domed capital building, the stately White House, and the tributes to three of the country’s greatest presidents.  It was no doubt a deliberate omission on the part of the city’s planners.  They may well have meant no affront to the Almighty but only wanted to stay clear of religious preference.  In any case, the Jews in today’s first reading do not hesitate to give due prominence to the house of God. 

At this juncture in history the Jews are a broken people.  Their once great royalty has been humiliated and deposed.  Their capital was destroyed, and many of its citizens sent into exile.  Then the Persians conquered Babylonia, and their kings, Cyrus and Darius, came to the people’s rescue.  The kings allowed the Jews to return to their native land and even contributed funds to rebuild the temple.  Once again God is seen as taking pity on lowly Israel.  The temple being constructed will be a tribute to Israel’s merciful Lord.

Likewise we must recognize God’s eternal mercy.  Beyond family and community, God has given us His Son, Jesus Christ, to follow.  He himself serves as a kind of temple.  In him we offer fitting praise to the Father.  In him we find the locus of peace. 

Monday, September 21, 2015

Feast of Saint Matthew, apostle and evangelist

(Ephesians 4:1-7.11-13; Matthew 9:9-13)

Sojourners, the premier Christian social justice magazine, recently featured a woman pastor whose body was covered with tattoos.  According to the article the pastor is doing remarkable work shepherding a Lutheran community that includes gays and lesbians.  Seeing her picture, however, strikes many as odd. It must have been as peculiar for Jews to see a tax collector following Jesus in the gospel today.

In Palestine at the time of Christ tax collectors are seen as collaborators with the imperial government.  Moreover, they are generally considered as using their authority to swindle people.  This judgment is not made of Matthew, but certainly the Pharisees criticize Matthew’s house guests as sinful.  Jesus, on the other hand, is not repulsed by the company but attracted to it.  He came precisely to tell sinners of God’s unique love for them.

We need to refrain from judging others by their appearance.  Rather let us not be afraid to dialogue with everyone.  Like Jesus we want to intimate God’s love by our friendliness.  We also might relate how we find the hand of the Lord making us into who we are.

Friday, September 18, 2015

Friday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time

(I Timothy 6:2c-12; Luke 8:1-3)

A cartoon shows a fat corporate executive describing a recent business decision.  “It was a matter,” he says, “of either losing a friend or losing money.”  No doubt is left as to which of the two the tycoon values more. 

However, the New Testament repeatedly indicates that money makes a lousy friend.  In Luke’s gospel Jesus often warns against the accumulation of wealth.  Still, as today’s passage indicates, he and his disciples had needs which the women’s money met.  Perhaps Scripture is nowhere more wary of money than in the first reading.  We should note, however, that First Timothy does not condemn money itself as the root of evil but “the love of money.”  

Should charities accept money from patently sinful sources?  Much good can be done with so-called tainted money, but then virtue’s kissing vice leaves many people morally bewildered.  Scandal must be avoided, but at times thieves make reparation for their crimes by privately reciprocating institutions that care for the needy.

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Thursday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time

(I Timothy 4:12-16; Luke 7:36-50)

There is a story about two monks – one old and one young walking on a road.  At a riverbank a beautiful woman comes along.  She asks the monks to carry her across the river.  The old monk takes her into his arms, wades through the water to the other side, and lets her down.  The younger monk follows behind.  When the monks are alone again, the younger monk addresses the older unapprovingly, “How could you hold that beautiful woman in your arms and not commit the sin of lust.”  The elder monk replied, “Son, I took her in my arms on one side of the river and let her go on the other.  But you have held her in your thoughts all this while.”  One may have a similar question of Jesus in today’s gospel.

The passage calls the woman who weeps on Jesus’ feet, wipes them with her hair, kisses them, and anoints them with oil “sinful.”  It is not said that she is a prostitute although she is obviously a sensuous person.  Jesus, however, appears unaroused.  At least it can be said that he did not react to the woman’s caresses by either embracing or rejecting her.  Rather he calmly makes the point to his host that she was in need of forgiveness and found it in Jesus.  Steeped in virtue, Jesus knows that the woman’s affection was not directed at him at all but to God.

We all need such self-control and understanding.  We may think that the solicitations on Yahoo advertisements are meant for us as individuals.  Of course, they are a ploy to get our money.  Even when a person shows affection, often enough it is misdirected.  If one gets entangled in a relationship under such a condition, he or she will regret it.  We will find true peace if we can put aside lustful thoughts to view the other as a child of God like us standing in the need of grace.

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Memorial of St. Cornelius, pope, and St. Cyprian, bishop, martyrs

(I Timothy 3:14-16; Luke 7:31-35)

“You will be known by the company you keep,” our mothers used to tell us.  They were only repeating a folk that generally serves its listeners well.  Not only are people inclined to judge us as good or bad on the basis of our associates, but also we tend to become like our friends. 

But folk wisdom has its limitations.  What do we do, for example, when proverbs contradict one another?  Is “discretion the better part of valor” or is “the one who hesitates lost”?  Obviously, we have to look beneath the surface to attain the truth in matters like this.  Just so, Jesus appeals to his listeners in the gospel today to look beyond what they see as a fault.  His eating and drinking with sinners does not result in his conforming to their sinful ways.  Rather it is causing them to repent of their sins. 

Jesus is telling us not only to stop judging by superficial criteria but also to step out of our social confines.  He wants the young to greet the elderly, blacks and whites to dialogue together, and workers to extend a hand to the unemployed.  Whether or not we talk explicitly about Jesus, we will be giving testimony to his goodness.  Like him, we will be extending ourselves to those outside of our comfort zones.