Wednesday, August 4, 2021

 Memorial of Saint John Vianney, priest

(Numbers 13:1-2.25-14.1.26a-29a.34-35; Matthew 15:21-28)

With summer slowdown, we have time to “reconnoiter” our lives.  It is time to make adjustments and to establish goals for the future.  We are like the Israelites in today’s first reading sent to appraise the land of Canaan.  Some of us may find themselves, again like the Israelites, overwhelmed by the challenges ahead.  They may not want to give up some of the securities they have that make their lives meaningful.  They may not want to scale back work or social life to spend more time with family.  They may not be willing to give up television programming which they know is distorting their moral sensibilities. 

When we are challenged by what we must do to improve our lives before God, we can take cues from today’s gospel’s heroine.  The Canaanite woman goes to the Lord in her need.  She knows that without his help, her daughter’s cause is hopeless.  She persists in her entreaty even when Jesus seems to put up a roadblock.  In the end, she finds him ever gracious, ever merciful.

Today the Church remembers one of the most celebrated of modern saints.  John Vianney, the Cure of Ars, also relied heavily on the Lord.  He had trouble completing his studies for the priesthood. However, with his enormous piety, he has become the model for parish priests.

Tuesday, August 3, 2021

 Tuesday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Numbers 12:1-13; Matthew 14:22-36)

Those who know the Lord as a loving father will have difficulty appreciating today’s first reading.  In it God acts like a vindictive ogre.  He resents Aaron and Miriam’s questioning His authority.  Then he afflicts a hideous skin condition on the woman.  Can this vision of God be attributed to a primitive people’s retelling their traditions?

But the redaction of the Pentateuch was not an ancient happening.  Israel had become both a successful and a ruined nation by the time it was completed.  It may be that the portrayal of God as petulant shows how Aaron and Miriam (erroneously) perceive Him upon recognizing their own sin of envy.  It may be that the authors of the Old Testament want to indicate how one’s conception of God deteriorates because of sin.

Perhaps many of us as well have difficulty thinking of God as forgiving because of our own sins. We too think of ourselves as better than we have to be.  We hold on to grudges.  This logic transposes reality.  We should be ready to forgive others because God has forgiven us.  Our most hideous sins – betraying friendship, forsaking commitment, abusing the defenseless – are forgiven with our confession and repentance. 

Monday, August 2, 2021

 Monday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary time

(Numbers 11:4b-15; Matthew 14:13-21)

It has been noted how Eucharistic today’s gospel is.  Its description of Jesus “looking up to heaven” is part of the prayer of Consecration at Mass although Jesus does not make this gesture in the Last Supper accounts.  There are other connections to the Eucharist as well.

Jesus offers a blessing over the bread.  He is not blessing the bread but, as at Mass, blessing God, the provider of all that is good.  The bread Jesus gives for distribution satisfies the people physically.  Similarly, the bread at mass, transformed into the Body of Christ, meets the spiritual need of the people for grace to do God’s will.  The surplus of food in the gospel suggests the superabundance of Jesus’ ministry.  With the Eucharist as well, there is no limit to the range and the depth of the intentions that are fulfilled.

It is distressing to hear some Catholics speak of enjoying watching Mass on television in their pajamas during Covid.  The experience may have filled some spiritual need, but it could not have sufficed for full participation at Mass.  It probably indicates an eroded appreciation of the Mass in our time.  We must renew our faith in the Eucharist as the pinnacle of our encounter with the Lord.  It provides both context and means of achieving salvation.

Sunday, August 1, 2021

 Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

(Exodus 16:2-4.12-15; Ephesians 4: 7.20-24; John 6:24-35)

People always seek happiness. Many think that money will bring it to them. So they buy lottery tickets. However, according to the researchers, those who win the lottery do not stay happy for long.  Sure, they feel excited for a while, but before long their temperaments change. First, the average person who wins the lottery goes broke within a few years. Another thing is that the lucky winner soon discovers that money cannot satisfy the heart’s deepest desires. They are like the Jews in the gospel today thinking that receiving free bread will make them happy.

Jesus rebukes the people for having sought him out to get more food. It is not that he wants to deny them the necessities of life. Rather, he wants to instruct them that the fulfillment of life's purpose lies not in satisfying the appetites but in believing in him. For this reason, he proclaims at the end of the passage: “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never hunger ... "

By giving us himself as food, Jesus shows us the need to sacrifice ourselves for the good of others. God, our Father in heaven, gives us life as a gift. To thank him for this great benefit we have to give ourselves to others in genuine love. As soon as we realize this truth, we draw closer to the Father and we feel His great care for us. We have the examples of the saints to help us in this endeavor. Father Gratian Murray was a brother of La Salle who worked for many years in the Philippines. He there he founded an orphanage. When the bishop asked Brother Gratian to receive ordination for lack of priests in his diocese, he could not refuse. Then, Father Gratian became ill with cancer. Medicines came from the United States to cure it. However, Father Gratian refused to take them because they required him not to drink any alcohol for thirty days. He said it was more important for his boys to receive Holy Communion than for him to be cured.

In the first reading the Israelites ask of the soft powder: "'What is this?'" Moses replies, "'This is the bread that the Lord gives you for food.'" Scientists today try to explain the phenomenon of bread. They say that the desert bread is like the resin of the tamarisk tree that has the texture of wax and melts to the ground with the sun. It may be, but we Catholics explain it differently. The bread of the desert is a prototype of the bread that Jesus offered at the Last Supper with his disciples and that is offered to us in every mass. It is his flesh that, like the bread of the desert, gives life, not so much physical life but eternal life.

A few years ago, a book entitled White Bread was released. The author wrote that many scoff at white bread today as non-nutritious, but they are wrong. He added that white bread is fortified with vitamins and has no impurities. It is something like that with the Eucharistic bread. Some non-Catholics think it is of little value. However, we know that its value is infinite. It nourishes us not so much with physical life but with eternal life.

Friday, July 30, 2021

 Friday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Leviticus 23:1.4-11.15-16.27.34b-37; Matthew 13:54-58)

Establishing shared traditions and a fundamental law turns an assembly of people into a nation.  For this purpose, Americans celebrate the Pilgrims’ thanksgiving feast and toast the Constitution as basic to their nationhood.  Something similar is presented in today’s first reading.

God tells Moses to initiate the celebration of Passover.  This feast memorializes the Lord’s deliverance of Israel from slavery in Egypt.  Before this event and the subsequent covenant, the children of Israel were disparate groups without even a common understanding of God.  After fifty days of journeying in the desert, God presented Israel with His law.  This momentous event is celebrated with the harvest Feast of Weeks also described in the reading.

Whether for civic or religious purposes, we must remember that we are not just a composite of individuals.  As a church or a nation, our common traditions mold us together to form a people with a specific mission.  As Christians, our mission is to tell others about the saving grace of God.  This gift is bestowed on all humanity through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.