Friday, July 1, 2022

 (Optional) Memorial of Saint Junipero Serra, priest

(Amos 8:4-6.9-12; Matthew 9:9-13)

Today the Church salutes the Franciscan missionary St. Junipero Serra.  Founder of multiple Indian missions, St. Junipero was much admired for two and a half centuries.  California has considered him one of its founding fathers.  Recently, however, his memory has been reviled.  Except in the Church he has been “cancelled.”

Criticism of St. Junipero stems from the discipline that he imposed on the native Americans.  To assure the maintenance of the communities, the members were not free to come and go at will.  If they left stealthily, they were often corporally disciplined on return.  Corporal punishment is taboo today, partly because it has often been excessively administered.  But in prior times and fairly implemented, it was considered necessary.

The Church has undergone much criticism because of Catholic institution’s treatment of indigenous peoples.  In Canada today it is reeling from discoveries of mass graves of Native American school children.  The accusations must be investigated evenhandedly.  Certainly, any kind of sexual abuse must be condemned.  But the vast majority of its practices, it must be acknowledged, were not inherently evil.  The religious sisters and brothers usually did their best to educate the children.  They were facilitating their integration into a new society.  They too had a vision of descendants of native tribes and descendants of European stock could live in peace.

Thursday, June 30, 2022

 

Thursday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time

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

Martin Luther King is revered today by almost everyone.  In his lifetime, however, he was reviled by many white people.  They saw him as a troublemaker and opportunist.  Although King predicted his assassination, people thought he enjoyed dictating terms to presidents.  King suffered the fate of prophets in Israel as today’s first reading makes clear.

Amos lived in the southern kingdom of Judah.  He was not trained as a prophet but as a horticulturalist when God called him northwards. There he denounced neglect of the poor as well as idolatry.  His prophecies made him undesirable in the eyes of the northern establishment.

We have need for prophets today.  Although every person who criticizes social structures does not speak on behalf of God, some point out genuine deviation from God’s will.  A true prophetic concern has arisen where state has allowed for physician-assisted suicide.  It is reported that in some hospitals the elderly sick are being encouraged to sign on for the procedure.  Suicide, like murder, is a grave disorder.  Assisting in it should be decried and prohibited.

Wednesday, June 29, 2022

 Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, apostles

(Acts 12:1-11; II Timothy 4:6-8.17-18; Matthew 16:13-19)

As we have been told many times, martyrdom is derived from a Greek root meaning giving witness.  Martyrs give witness in a supreme way by dying for their testimony.  However, those who give witness to the Lordship of Jesus by their words and actions are also legitimately called “martyrs.”.  Today’s readings show Saints Peter and Paul, who died for their testimony, witnessing to Jesus with their words. 

In the gospel Peter calls Jesus, “the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  Christ, of course, is not Jesus’ last name but his functional role.  Jesus is God’s anointed who wins back God’s kingdom for His people.  In the second reading, Paul gives witness to Jesus’ help both.  In his mission to Gentiles and in his personal struggle with evil Paul received Jesus’ assistance.

Beneficiaries of the martyrdom of Peter and Paul, we likewise are to witness to Christ.  We should do this every day of our lives.  We are to be patient and kind to others.  We also are to stand up for the truth whether it be for the sanctity of human life from conception or an issue of lesser import.  In doing so, we too can hope with St. Paul that the Lord, “will rescue (us) from every evil and save (us) for his heavenly kingdom.”

Tuesday, June 28, 2022

 

Memorial of St. Irenaeus, bishop and martyr

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

Perhaps it is because we dread the struggles that face us.  In any case, we often feel that the challenges ahead of us are more like mountains than hills.  We call them “crises” as if we doubt our ability to overcome them.  In the past twenty years the Church has experienced, among other setbacks, the “crises” of clerical abuse and the waning of faith.  These challenges are real, but they are not going to bring down the Church.  The reason for hope appears in today’s gospel

The boat containing Jesus and his disciples can be taken as a metaphor for the Church.  A storm, symbolizing a great challenge, arises.  With Jesus asleep the disciples feel doomed.  But all they have to do is to call upon him.  He is always ready to help.

St. Irenaeus, who lived in the last part of the second century, faced many challenges.  One was the theological error of Docetism.  This errant teaching claimed that Christianity amounted to a formula to get through life.  An excellent biblical theologian, Irenaeus answered the challenge by reaffirming the doctrine of the incarnation.  God becoming human has provided not a formula or belief but a new way of living.  Imitating Christ, we will go beyond surmounting crises to achieving life’s goal of eternity.

Monday, June 27, 2022

 

Monday of the Thirteenth Week in ordinary Time

(Amos 2:6-10.13-16; Matthew 8:18-22)

Characteristic of Matthew’s gospel, a narrative about Jesus follows a section of his preaching.  In today’s passage, the narrative gives examples of what Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount. 

Two disciples approach Jesus telling of their desire to follow him.  In the Sermon he admonished them to enter by the narrow gate.  Now he warns the first disciple approaching him that following him will not be easy.  “The Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head,” he tells him.  Also, he advised in the Sermon to “…seek first the Kingdom of God.” Now he tells the second disciple that following him takes precedence over everything, even the obligations to one’s parents.

Jesus does not want us to neglect our parents nor our children.  But he insists that submitting to his ways supersedes all other considerations.  We are to always put his will above our own.  We do not have to worry that it will lead to our ruin or other’s detriment.  Quite the contrary, we can be confident that prioritizing his will shall lead to our glory.