Thursday, August 18, 2016

Thursday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

(Ezekiel 36:23-28; Matthew 22:1-14)

When the Puritans arrived in Boston Harbor, John Winthrop of the Massachusetts Bay Company gave a famous sermon.  Invoking Jesus’ call to his disciples, he told the immigrants that they were going to be like a “city on the hill.”  That is, they were to exemplify Christian unity and charity to the world.  The words may also be traced to Ezekiel in today’s first reading.

Israel has been devastated.  Its peoples have been scattered throughout the Middle East.  Their future appears hopeless.  Into this dark abyss, the prophet announces a new beginning.  Speaking with God’s voice, he says the people will be reunited in holiness.  They will be cleansed of impurities, and their hearts of stone will be replaced by ones of flesh.  They will then live as a model for all to see.

Christ fulfills this promise with the Church.  He sprinkles us with the waters of Baptism to cleanse us of our sins.  He nourishes us with the Eucharistic food so that we might work for a better world.  We falter at times, but the world still takes note.  Everyone recognizes that being Christian means, above all, caring for others

Wednesday, August 17, 2017

Wednesday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

(Ezekiel 34:1-11; Matthew 20:1-16)

To turn green with envy is to show a very sick complexion.  It is used to indicate the sickness of soul that imbues people who resent the good fortune of others.  They cannot understand that they have no right to what others possess.  They would rather sulk in their lack of some desired good than be grateful for they have.  Envy colors some of the laborers in Jesus’ parable today.

Reading this parable, one must remember that Jesus is not giving a framework for worker relations.  Trying to justify paying workers the same wage for different amounts of work would be trying to square a circle.  Jesus’ intention lies elsewhere.  He wants to explain how God’s mercy extends to all people and will ultimately meet everyone’s needs.  Those who worked the whole day receive a just wage.  They may be content that the owner of the vineyard paid what was agreed upon.  Those who work only the last hour but receive the same wage should be grateful that they have enough to feed their families.  God dispenses graces freely, but He does not deny anyone his Holy Spirit.

We ought to be careful that envy does not overtake us.  It happens when we think too highly of ourselves or too little of others.  A much healthier tack in life is to cultivate gratitude.  We should daily recall God’s goodness and strive to use our talents for the benefit of all.  

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Tuesday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

(Ezekiel 28:1-10; Matthew 19:23-30)

The sports car wove in and out of three lanes as it moved up the highway.  It easily exceeded the sixty mile per hour speed limit, perhaps reaching eighty or more.  Its driver, succumbing to the same temptation as Eve in the garden, was acting as if he were a god.  Defying both traffic laws and death, the driver evidently thought that the limitations which felt by most humans did not apply to him.  We hear of the same kind of arrogance in the reading from Ezekiel today.

The prophet notes that the prince of Tyre calls himself a god.  The prince has accumulated a hefty treasure by his commercial acumen.  His fault is that, like other rich people, he thinks that his money insulates him from loss.  Ezekiel predicts that he will come to a violent end because he does not recognize his vulnerability.  He is not a god but a man doomed to an ignoble death.

 

Centuries later Jesus shows what real godly behavior looks like.  He turns on end every social expectation of a god.  He lords over no one.  He does not even own anything.  Rather he serves all, choosing to be last so that his Father, if it is his will, can make him first.  

Monday, August 15, 2016

Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

(Revelation 19a.12:1-6a.10ab; I Corinthians 15:20-27; Luke 1:39-56)

In the Olympics the world’s most perfect bodies are celebrated.  The athletes have strained for years to render their bodies exquisitely fit for the sport being played.  Despite all this work in time these same bodies will grow weak whether from neglect or disease.  The days will come when they, like the bodies of all living things, will cease to function completely.  The remains of these bodies then will have to be disposed in some form or another

In the case of the Mother of God, however, the day of death was short-lived.  Her body was assumed into God’s glory because it was not corrupted by the guilt of sin.  She lived a life like that of the rest of us – full of moments of joy and hours of drudgery.  But, unlike us, she never despised another person as not worth her attention.  She never wanted more than she knew she deserved.  She never deceived anyone for either meanness or gain.  Not weighed down by guilt, Mary was granted the greatest prize.  Her body remained intact after death and entered the company of her glorious son.

That our bodies will also deteriorate and perish need not make us sad.  We know that we have joined ourselves to Christ who has conquered death.  Our bodies will rise again at the end of time with an appearance perhaps not unlike those of the Olympians today.  But that won’t be the cause for our joy so much as our nearness to him who saved us.

Friday, August 12, 2016

Friday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Ezekiel16:59-63; Matthew 19:3-12)

If we ask a Jew what is the first commandment, we are likely to receive a surprising answer.  She probably will not say, “I am the Lord, your God; you shall not have strange gods before me.” Nor will she say, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all you heart and soul.”  No, Jews regularly look to Genesis One for the answer to this question: “Be fruitful and multiply.”  For Jews God’s primary command is to marry and to have a family.  For this reason Jesus comments that his statement about celibacy in today’s gospel will be difficult to accept.

Jesus also goes back to Genesis in defending the indissolubility of marriage.  He extrapolates from Genesis Two which says that in marriage a man and a woman become one flesh.  His point is that this union is not to be fractured.  The Pharisees have inquired of Jesus exceptions to the rule about the indissolubility of marriage.  So far Jesus has indicated that there are none.  But now he makes an allowance.  One can be exempted from the obligation to marry and have children for the sake of the Kingdom of God.

Does this mean that people who do not marry or become a religious are somehow defying God’s will?  We ask this question from concern of those who have never met “Mr. or Ms. Right.”  Jesus would not condemn them.  He would only urge them to live for the Kingdom of God by praying and assisting the needy.