Monday, July 18, 2016

Monday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Micah 6:1-4.6-8; Matthew 12:38-42)

In today’s first reading the person who asks if sacrifices would please the Lord is actually defying Him.  Adding insult to injury, the person suggests that the Lord wants human sacrifice.  The gospel passage carries a similar rebellious tone.  The Pharisees demand a sign from Jesus that he is God’s envoy.  But Jesus has already worked numerous healings.  What good would another mighty deed do?  All need to recognize what God demands of humans: that they repent of their sins and show mercy.  This has been Jesus’ teaching from the beginning.

In one family the children would ask their mother every year what she wanted for Christmas.  The mother invariably replied, “Good kids.”  The children knew what she meant but were not eager to comply.  Like the petitioners in today’s readings, they tried to dodge what they know to be right.

It is not nearly as hard to consistently do the right thing as we fear.  It takes some effort, but often we feel much better for doing it.  We should find satisfaction just in knowing that we please God who is worthy of all our love.

Friday, July 15, 2016

Memorial of Saint Bonaventure, bishop and doctor of the Church

(Isaiah 38:1-5.21-22.7-8; Matthew12:1-8)

St. Bonaventure was baptized Giovanni.  It is said that his name was changed by St. Francis of Assisi who cured him of a childhood illness.  The name that stuck means good fortune. The good fortune was both his and Francis’.  Bonaventure not only experienced physical healing but also came to know the greatest of the medieval saints.  Francis found in Bonaventure a truly wise man who became his successor and biographer.  Today’s gospel shows Jesus’ disciples with similar good fortune.  They have him as their defender while he has them -- some of whom will die for him – as followers.

The disciples are being criticized for picking grain on the Sabbath.  It is not a major offense and may be justified in cases as Jesus demonstrates.  Interestingly, Jesus himself is not accused of breaking the Sabbath law here.  Evidently he is more ascetic than the others.  But he neither extols liberality or abstinence on this occasion.  He uses the situation to proclaim the urgency for practicing mercy.  He wants his followers to be less critical and more understanding of people’s needs.

We tend to judge harshly when others do not conform to the standards which we use for ourselves.  We may be practicing what we preach, but we miss the higher bar of mercy that Jesus sets.  He is asking us to discern carefully before criticizing others.

Thursday, July 14, 2016

Memorial of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, virgin

(Isaiah 26:7-9.12.16-19; Matthew 11:28-30)

St. Kateri Tekakwitha was the first Native American born in the present United States to be canonized a saint.  When her Mohawk people were persecuted in what is now upstate New York, she became a refugee to Canada.  There she devoted herself to God by caring for others.  She followed the way to sanctity which today’s readings outline.

In the first reading Isaiah recognizes that left on their own humans achieve on the whole little of value.  He says that writhing in pain, they only give birth to the wind.  It may be explained that they either pursue material goods which render illusory happiness or, in striving for spiritual goals, they may end with a self-satisfaction that undermines their achievements.  Humans will achieve salvation only when they submit to the Lord’s ways of humility and love.  Jesus highlights this message as he invites all to take on his “yoke,” that is, his rule of life.

In an age when athletes regularly cheat to win medals, it is difficult to practice the humility that Jesus embodies.  We may feel that we pursue it almost alone.  We need to recognize not only saints like Kateri Tekakwitha who have gone before us but also many good people sitting beside us in church who consistently put others first.  In conforming themselves to Christ, they give witness to his saving the world.

Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Wednesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Isaiah 10:5-7.13b-16; Matthew 11:25-27)

Theodore Parker, a nineteenth century Unitarian minister, penned a hopeful phrase that Martin Luther King used in the struggle for civil rights. “The arc of the moral universe is long,” Reverend Parker wrote, “but it bends toward justice.”  These words reflect the Judeo-Christian tradition that God is the Lord of history making all things good.  The prophet Isaiah clings to this premise in today’s first reading. 

Assyria is the mighty nation from the northeast that has destroyed the Northern Kingdom of Israel and now threatens the Southern.  It sees itself as the greatest power on earth and subject to no one.   It certainly pays no heed to the God of Israel.  But Isaiah sees Assyria differently.  For him the mighty nation is only a pawn in the hand of the Almighty.  He predicts that Assyria will shrivel like a log in a campfire.  His prophecy is realized in not too many years when Assyria is vanquished by Babylonia.

Today’s gospel indicates that the Lord of history has put His Son at its center.  Jesus is the hope for justice and peace to which all peoples aspire.  He is also the source of bliss with his message of love and the power of his resurrection.  In deepening our relation with him through the Eucharist, we should expect to witness the victory of goodness.

Tueday, July 12, 2016

Tuesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Isaiah 7:1-9; Matthew 11:20-24)

Is faith possible today?  There will always be exceptions, but having faith is increasingly hard.  Faith is, first and foremost, a relationship of trust with God.  For a Christian it is the gift of self to Christ.  Throughout the world the movement is in the other direction.  People find the building up of self as the purpose of life.  As much as any contemporary phenomenon, the ubiquity of the selfie demonstrates this reality.  In today’s first reading Isaiah tells the King of Judah not only that faith has meaning but that it is the only way he and his nation can survive.

King Ahaz is in a desperate situation.  Two rival kingdoms have conspired against him.  He wants to seek help by allying Judah with more powerful nations.  But he is told by Isaiah not to.  Isaiah warns him that only by clinging to the Lord in faith will he survive.  Thus Ahaz learns the meaning of faith – standing fast in the Lord.  As a matter of fact, the situation turns out well.  Ahaz’s enemies are throttled; Judah survives with faith.

We may find difficulty going against the grain.  Like everyone else (or so it seems) we would like to pursue wealth and pleasure.  Perhaps more than that, we would like to brag about ourselves.  But we have faith in Christ’s word.  He saves us if we band with him – giving of ourselves to bring his love to the world.