Thursday, July 21, 2022

 Thursday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Jeremiah 2:1-3.7-8.12-13; Matthew 13:10-17)

We think of parables as little stories that illustrate what Jesus is trying to teach.  They are like the vignettes a high school religion teacher used to tell to make a point.  Most of his students will remember the teacher’s anecdote about the bank robber Willie Loman.  Asked once why he robbed banks, Loman replied, “…because that’s where the money is.”  Then the teacher said to his students that they must decide what is most important in life and, like Willie Loman, go after it.

In today’s gospel passage, however, Jesus says that he uses parables to confuse his listeners: “’This is why I speak to them in parables, because they look but do not see and hear but do not listen or understand.’”  It is only right to ask, what gives?  The evangelist Matthew, writing perhaps fifty years after Jesus, knows that many people have already rejected the message of the gospel.  But even in Jesus’ time many follow him with scant intention of heeding his call to repentance.  They merely want to see him work a wonder. For the first group Jesus’ death and resurrection will seem like a fantasy.  For the second his stories will sound so.

But, hopefully, it is not this way for us.  We believe that Jesus has the words of eternal life and want to follow him. 

Wednesday, July 20, 2022

 Wednesday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Jeremiah 1:1.4-10; Matthew 13:1-9)

Jeremiah in the first reading today has reason to be fearful.  The Lord has told Jeremiah that he will put His righteous words on his lips.  They will console but also chastise.  Not just people who regularly do evil will resent Jeremiah for speaking God’s words.  Pope Francis, echoing conventional wisdom, has said that there is a bit of larceny in all of us.  The regularly virtuous may not always welcome them either.

Nevertheless, the word of God can bring about wonders.  In his parable Jesus tells how the word coming to worthy listeners will have abundant fruit.  Everyday thousands of volunteers around the country give themselves to feed the homeless and poor.  They do so because they have heard the word of God tell of the feeding of the Israelites in the desert and Jesus providing the multitude with bread.

We too may find others resenting the word of God on our lips.  We may have to remind those who engage in ridicule that homosexuals are God’s children worthy of our respect.  Or we may have to tell our children that cohabiting offends God.  Such statements will cause us pain, but we do so out of love both for God and for those whom we address. 

Tuesday, July 19, 2022

 

Tuesday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Micah 7: 14-15.18-20; Matthew 12:46-50)

People still try to make a distinction between the “God of the Old Testament” and the “God of the New…”  They see the God of Abraham and Moses as angry and vindictive, and the one of Jesus as loving and compassionate.  Today’s first reading belies such a wrong-minded interpretation of the Scriptures.

The prophet Micah (or possibly another whose works are included with his) utters a prayer.  He extols the Lord for His mercy and looks forward to the revelation of His justice.  According to the prophet, God “pardons sins” and “delights in clemency.” Jesus will manifest these divine attributes in his very being.  For this reason the gospel today pictures him saying that his disciples are only his mother, sisters, and brothers but not his father.  His father is God alone. 

God is merciful and loving as some say, “all the time.”  This affirmation does not mean we are exempt from obeying His will.  But it does mean that we can count on Him when we approach Him with repentant hearts.

Monday, July 18, 2022

 Monday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Micah 6:1-4.6-8; Matthew 12:38-42)

Jesus has invited us to intimacy with him and with His Father.  Should we consider that invitation as indication that we are equal to God?  Some people through the ages have dared to think so. Both readings today describe ways of humans posturing as God’s peers.

In the reading from Micah Israel tries to appease God as if He were a foreign power.  They consider giving him livestock and produce to win his favor.  The gospel tells of pharisees demanding a sign from Jesus as if he were a traveler needing a credential to enter their city.  Neither can the offering be accepted nor the demand be met because humans are not commensurate with God.  They must not try to determine the terms of their relationship with him.  Rather they are to seek and comply with his will.

This does not mean, however, that we go before the Lord with fear and trembling.  We can look to him for compassion and love.  He is ready to forgive our transgressions and to provide any help we need.

Monday, July 18, 2022

Monday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Micah 6:1-4.6-8; Matthew 12:38-42)

Jesus has invited us to intimacy with him and with His Father.  Should we consider that invitation as indication that we are equal to God?  Some people through the ages have dared to think so. Both readings today describe ways of humans posturing as God’s peers.

In the reading from Micah Israel tries to appease God as if He were a foreign power.  They consider giving him livestock and produce to win his favor.  The gospel tells of pharisees demanding a sign from Jesus as if he were a traveler needing a credential to enter their city.  Neither can the offering be accepted nor the demand be met because humans are not commensurate with God.  They must not try to determine the terms of their relationship with him.  Rather they are to seek and comply with his will.

This does not mean, however, that we go before the Lord with wariness or fear.  We can look to him for compassion and love.  He is ready to forgive any transgressions and to provide whatever help we need.