Monday, July 6, 2020

Monday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Hosea 2:16.17c-18.21-22; Matthew 9:18-26)

Jesus successfully begins his ministry in Galilee.  After the Sermon on the Mount, the people believe in him.  Their faith facilitates a host of miracles, two of which are recorded in today’s gospel.  But Jesus’ success will not last very long.  The Pharisees will sow doubt among the people, and his cures will be limited.

The Jewish official’s faith is so great that he asks Jesus’ help even after his daughter has died.  Jesus does not dawdle in response to the request.  But on the way a severely sick woman causes him to tarry.  She too believes in him, but her faith is somewhat magical.  She thinks that by touching Jesus’ cloak, she will be healed.  In truth, she must encounter the Lord before she is relieved of her illness.  Touching Jesus does not bring about a cure, but his touching another will.  When Jesus arrives at the official’s house, he takes the dead girl’s hand.  His touch, like a spark setting fire to dry grass, puts new life in the girl.

These healing stories should impress on us the need of faith in Jesus.  He will help us if we believe in him.  This means that we have to ask his assistance and faithfully follow his teaching.  His love for us will not fail.

Friday, July 3, 2020

Feast of Saint Thomas, apostle

(Ephesians 2:19-22; John 20:24-29)

A debate in the philosophy of science centers on the question of the existence of spiritual being.  Some philosophers hold that matter is all that there is.  They try to reduce the mind to the material functions of the brain.  More classical thinkers respond saying that the elements of matter cannot account for the intricate capacity of thought.  They understand the mind as a spiritual substance dependent upon matter for its formation but having a reality apart from it.  In today’ gospel St. Thomas seems to be a materialist until he meets the risen Lord.

When Thomas is told that the other disciples have seen Christ after he was crucified, he demands to touch Jesus’ body before accepting the fact of his resurrection.  Jesus gives him the opportunity to do it. Does Thomas actually go ahead with the experiment?  The Scripture does not say so.  In fact, it indicates that he does not. Jesus says that Thomas believes only with seeing as the other disciples.

The passage ends with Jesus giving later Christians a blessing for believing in the resurrection without ever seeing the resurrected one.  Because our times challenge such belief, we have to support one another in the faith of the resurrection.  Orthodox Christians do this by a ritual statement and response.  “Christ is risen,” says the priest.  “He is risen indeed,” answer the people.

Thursday, July 2, 2020

Thursday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Amos 7:10-17; Matthew 9:1-8)

It is said that St. Pio of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio) could tell when a person needed confession.  His eyes seemed to look into one’s soul.  A similar capacity was shown in the movie last year about Mr. Rogers.  Seeing a young man with an injured nose, he knew that it was due to more than the excuse he was given.  In today’ gospel Jesus exhibits this ability of looking into the heart of people.

A paralytic is brought to Jesus.  Ostensibly he comes to have his body healed.  But Jesus recognizes that the corporal defect is not what is most ailing the man.  Jesus forgives the paralytic’s sin causing the most distress.  The religious workers comment that Jesus’ action violates God’s sovereignty over sin.  Jesus then shows that he has received authority to forgive sins by curing the paralytic’s physical ailment.  The passage ends with the people glorifying God for giving men the power to forgive.

We should hear the word “men” as referring to priests today.  God has given to the priests of the Church authority to forgive sins.  We are not helpless if we find ourselves guilty of an unjust deed.  We do not have to journey to a faraway place to make a sin offering.  We only have to repent of our wrong-doing, confess our sin to a priest, and sincerely promise to avoid the sin in the future.  We can put aside the worry of having done something that will upend us forever.

Wednesday, July 1, 2020

(Optional) Memorial of Saint Junipero Serra, priest

(Amos 5:14-15.21-24; Matthew 8:28-34)

St. Junipero Serra continually pops up in the news.  Every so often images of him are vandalized by protestors who think of him as an ogre.  During a demonstration following the killing of George Floyd, a statue of him in Spain was torn down.  In today’s first reading the prophet Amos calls for “justice (to) surge like water, and goodness like an unfailing stream.”  Despite protestors’ misgivings, history shows Junipero Serra having fulfilled Amos’ petitions.

Serra left comfort and status behind to evangelize in Mexico.  Eventually, he moved up the western coast to found the California missions.  His purpose was both religious and social.  He and his Franciscan brothers not only instructed the natives in faith; they also taught them farming skills.  There were incidents of natives leaving the communities, being returned and punished.  But Serra was more involved in defending natives from the Spanish lords than in persecuting them.

Justice in Scripture is primarily a personal virtue.  People become just by heeding God’s word.  In doing so, they give others their due and take special care for the vulnerable.  Junipero Serra was eminently just in all this.  He was considered a holy man and a humanitarian long after his death.  Those who malign him today do not make the effort to learn Serra’s story.

Tuesday, June 30, 2020

Tuesday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Amos 3:1-8.4:11-12; Matthew 8:23-27)

Suffering is a mystery.  It hurts, but it can be good for us.  If this were not true, then our all-loving God would not send it our way.  The better we understand suffering, the less trouble it causes us.  In today’s first reading, the prophet Amos prepares the nation of Israel for suffering. 

The people have offended the Lord by worshipping other gods and neglecting the poor.  Now they will be chastened for their sins.  The prophet uses interesting images to show that God is behind all the ordeals they will undergo.  He says that just as two men agree to walk together, God has consented that evil befall Israel.  Again, just as a lion roars when it has found its prey, God is telling Israel through Amos himself that Israel is about to be devoured.

We have to accept suffering in a similar vein when it comes our way.   Ours sins may not be as grievous as Israel’s, but they do exist.  When we accept suffering as a corrective of our errant behavior, we are not being naïve or Pollyannaish.  We are accepting the Lord at His word.  He loves us and wants us to be rendered holy as He is holy.