Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Feast of Saint Bartholomew, apostle

(Revelation 21:9b-14; John 1:45-51)

How is it that on the Feast of St. Bartholomew, apostle, we hear a gospel story about Nathanael?  It is not an oversight.  On the lists of apostles in the gospels according to Matthew, Mark, and Luke, the name Bartholomew always appears paired with Philip.  In John’s gospel, which makes no mention of a Bartholomew, Nathanael appears as a friend of Philip.  The Church, therefore, has assumed that Nathanael and Bartholomew are the same person.  Also, Bartholomew may be a surname since bar in Hebrew means son of.  Perhaps then the celebration today is more properly the Feast of St. Nathanael Bartholomew!

As interesting as the apostle’s name may be, we commemorate him today for something more.  In today’s gospel he proclaims Jesus “the Son of God (and) King of Israel.”  At the end of John’s gospel Thomas calls Jesus “my Lord and my God.”  But he will have the advantage of seeing him after the resurrection.  Nathanael’s insight into Jesus’ identity comes from his being, as Jesus says, “a true child of Israel.” This means that he has faithfully waited for the Lord to send his servant for the redemption of His people.  Now the Messiah is here, as Nathanael says, the Son and King.

As St. Nathaniel Bartholomew and all true Israelites waited for the Messiah’s coming, we and all true Christians wait for his return.  We yearn for him to tell us secrets about ourselves as he does about Nathanael in the gospel today.  After two millennia we would feel frustrated if there were no evidence that he is close at hand.  But such testimony is available. Jesus is present to us in word and sacrament.  Attentive to these, we discover who we are and where we are destined. 

Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Memorial of Saint Rose of Lima, virgin

(II Thessalonians 2:1-3a.14-17; Matthew 23:23-26)

A priest ministering to the Missionaries of Charity, Mother Teresa’s congregation, rightly feels humbled.  The sisters sit at his feet attentive to every word that he utters. The priest knows that they, more faithfully than he, carry out the work of Jesus in their meticulous service to the poorest of the poor.  In her daily life St. Rose of Lima demonstrated as great self-effacement and dedication as the Missionaries of Charity.  Her care for the poor was overshadowed only by other acts of piety as she demonstrated love for God to the edification of an entire city.

Today’s first reading offers a blessing to the community of Christians at Thessalonica.  It expresses the desire that the people remain committed to the teachings of Christ.  Evidently, they were rankled by new ideas at odds with what St. Paul taught.  No, the letter implies, they are to keep the faith, assist, the poor, and support one another.

The practice of the saints should move us from self-concern to devotion to others.  Certainly there is no shortage of self-love in our times deafening us to the teachings of Christ.  Thankfully, we have saints today as much as in times past to show us that God commands us to purify our love for others. 

Monday, August 22, 2016

The Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary

(II Thessalonians 1:1-5.11-12; Matthew 23:13-21)

Sometimes people cross their fingers when telling a lie.  The gesture is supposed to ward off the guilt of the lie.  The crossed fingers supposedly represent the cross of Jesus which saved humanity from their sins.  But crossed fingers will no more protect people from the guilt of lying than the phrases used by the Pharisees in today’s gospel will excuse them from responsibility of what they say.

Jesus does not stomach hypocrisy.  He expects people’s actions to conform to their words.  He does not accept the Pharisees’ reasoning that the lesser authorities they invoke as witnesses somehow frees them from the oaths they take.  He wants all people to do what they say, to say what they think, and to think in righteous ways.  He would count anything less than this standard as malicious.

Jesus continually challenges us to be better than the standards set by ourselves and by society.  We should strive to meet his demands but also realize that he died on the cross to make up for our failures.  We should use the sign of the cross then not as an excuse to lie but as our way to implore Jesus’ mercy.

Friday, August 19, 2016

Friday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

(Ezekiel 37:1-14; Matthew 22:34-40)

Soon Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are going to be tested.  They will answer reporters’ questions meant to trip them up.  Both presidential candidates will try to appear unflappable.  If they fail to appear in control, they will lose the confidence of voters.  Jesus finds himself in a similar situation in today’s gospel.

The passage begins with the declaration that Jesus has successfully countered the challenges of the Sadducees or priestly tribe.  Now the Pharisees take a last shot at him.  A scholar among them asks Jesus to name the greatest commandment.  Will he give the first commandment directing humans not to worships idols?  Or might he dare to talk about love of enemy as being all important?  Jesus keeps his priorities in line.  First, humans are to love God.  Then their love of God is to overflow in love for neighbor as much as one loves oneself.  There is no more to be said.  Jesus has successfully fended off the attack of wits.

We should never deceive ourselves into thinking that one can love one’s neighbor without loving God.  Sooner or later such a love will disintegrate because it lacks the font of love which is God Himself.  It would be like trying to watering a garden without a connection to the water supply.

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