Thursday, August 17, 2023

 Thursday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Josua 3:7-10a.13-17; Matthew 18:29-19:1)

If love is at the heart of Jesus’ teaching, then forgiveness is at the core of love.  Over and over Jesus tells his disciples to forgive.  In today’s gospel he underscores the need to forgive with a parable.

Forgiveness is central to Christianity because Jesus gained the Father’s forgiveness of human sin.  As God has forgiven the sins of humans, they should in turn forgive the sins of one another.  Forgiveness, it must be added, is no slight matter as if it should be dispensed like paper napkins.  Both debtors in the parable acknowledge their debt and plea for mercy. 

If the sinner does not express contriteness and a willingness to reform, forgiveness is not required.  What should we do then, if the person who offends us remains uncontrite?  Love admonishes us to pray.  We pray that the offender duly repents and also that our assessment of the wrong is on target.

Wednesday, August 16, 2023

 Wednesday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

 (Deuteronomy 34:1-12; Matthew 18:15-20)

 Internet applications like Zoom give contemporary people the experience of talking to others face-to-face without actually being in their presence. However marvelous such conversations may be, they are hardly as intimate as being in one another’s presence.  In fact, a current issue in prison reform is assuring that prisoners have direct, not electronic, access to visitors. In the first reading today, Moses is exulted for having known the Lord “face to face.” But what do these words mean and how do they compare with Christian belief that Christ saw the Father?

 Various interpretations of the words are given.  Some say they do not indicate a direct encounter with the Lord because in the Book of Exodus God tells Moses that “’no one shall see me and live’” (33:20).  Of course, there is also the very real question of God, a purely spiritual being, having a material face.  It is best to conclude that Moses enjoyed a spiritual intimacy with God like no one else before the writing of the Book of Deuteronomy. 

 At one point in Deuteronomy Moses himself mentions another prophet who will come after him.  This prophet will have God’s own words in his mouth and bring a definitive revelation of God’s will.  The prophecy is fulfilled in Jesus Christ.  The Gospel of John quotes him as saying that he has seen the Father: “’Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father’” (6:46).  His seeing of the Father constitutes a knowing that goes beyond Moses’ spiritual intimacy.  It is a divine indwelling whereby “I (that is, he) and the Father are one’” (10:30).  Jesus promises at least an approximation of this indwelling with its accompanying knowledge of God.  He tells his disciples: “’Blessed are the clean of heart for they shall see God’” (Matthew 5:8).

Tuesday, August 15, 2023

 Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

 (Revelation 19a.12:1-6a.10ab; I Corinthians 15:20-27; Luke 1:39-56)

 Fr. Raymond E. Brown was a preeminent biblical scholar of the latter twentieth century.  Protestants scholars recognized his expertise by awarding him a professorship at one of their leading national seminaries.  Different popes named him to the Pontifical Biblical Commission.  One of Fr. Brown’s hallmarks was Christian unity.  He told Protestants that they should not worry about Marian claims made by Catholic popes.  He noted their Scriptural basis if not directly at least implicitly.

 Today’s feast gives evidence of such a basis.  There is no direct statement about Mary in Scripture after her being in the company of the apostles at the Pentecost event.  No report is given of her passing, much less of her assumption into heaven.  But there is indirect testimony.  The first reading refers to her being prepared a place by God.  The second reading speaks of the resurrection of all the dead of whom conceivably Mary takes precedence. The gospel reading indicates why.  Mary is the first to proclaim the Good News of God doing great, new things in the world. 

 Protestant friends may still be wary of claiming much about Mary.  We should be conscious of that but, nevertheless, ready to invite them to our Marian celebrations.  Mary is, after all, a model disciple as well as a preacher of the Gospel.  As his mother, she is also close to Jesus.  Finally, she has a distinctively woman’s sensitivity to others’ needs.  Much like people ask us to pray for their needs, we can solicit Mary’s intercession.  In this way, she may serve as a source of unity and never again of division.

Monday, August 14, 2023

Memorial of Saint Maximilian Kolbe, martyr

(Deuteronomy 10:12-22; Matthew 17:22-27)

St. Maximilian Kolbe was a Franciscan friar working in Poland until he was arrested by the Gestapo.  Committed to Auschwitz, Kolbe saw an opportunity to show his love for God when another prisoner was being sent to death for a crime that he did not commit.  Because the man had a family, Kolbe offered himself as a substitute.  Pope St. John Paul II considered this act a genuine witness to the faith and canonized Maximillian Kolbe as a martyr.  In today’s first reading Moses exhorts the people to likewise give witness to their love of God.  He does not ask them to die for God but to live for him.

The Israelites are about to enter the Promised Land.  They have every reason to hope that they and their children will have all the resources they will need to live in prosperity.  But Moses, conveying the will of God, wants more than that for them. Because he wants them to fulfill their destiny of modeling God’s justice, he exhorts them to remember God’s graciousness.  He is especially concerned that they treat other peoples fairly by reminding them, “…you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt.”

Because immigration has become a reality throughout the world, we should underscore these words of Moses.  Different customs, food, and language make sojourning in a foreign land difficult.  Immigrants need understanding and compassion.  Such treatment shows solidarity not just across social boundaries but across generational ones as well.

Sunday, August 13, 2023

NINETEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

(I Kings 19:9.11-13; Romans 9:1-5; Matthew 14:22-33)

Many parishes in cities of Europe and North America have experienced drastic change over the last sixty years. Their majestic churches that once held thousands of people every Sunday are now almost empty. They once had a number of priests who once spent multiple hours each week confessing and visiting the sick. Now the number of priests serving a parish has been reduced in many cases to one. And often he has all that he can do covering Masses in two or three parishes. It can be said that the contemporary church is in a precarious situation like the one anticipated in the gospel today.

To appreciate what this reading teaches, we should understand it as a representative of the Church in the second part of the first century. The boat of the disciples tossed by the waves symbolizes the Church threatened by various challenges in apostolic times. In Israel Christians experienced growing rejection particularly after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. They were ejected from the synagogues where before they had prayed with the Jews who did not believe in Christ.  It is true that the apostles had been successful elsewhere. But it is also true that the ancient Christian communities had to deal new problems.  False doctrines, impatience with the delay of Jesus' return, and persecution sometimes severe put the gospel in danger.

The reading shows Jesus coming to rescue the Church in distress. He mysteriously arrives to calm the disruptive elements of nature and to assure his followers of his support. We see something vaguely similar happening today at events like World Youth Day. In Lisbon the Spirit of Christ boosted the faith of millions, both those who participated in the events and those who followed them through the media. The presence of the pope, Jesus’ vicar, particularly lifted the spirits of the people. Although he is old, Pope Francis has a heart as hopeful as that of the twenty-year-old.

We must think of the story of Peter walking on the water as an image of the faithful following Jesus. All goes well for Peter when he keeps his eyes fixed on Jesus. But once he takes his eyes off him, he finds himself sinking into the deep waters. Today we must maintain hope in the promises Jesus made to us and trust in his support. With him can navigate today's biggest problems. We are not going to lose our way to salvation despite the harassment of governments, the disaffection of members, even the betrayals on the part of the clergy. But once we abandon Jesus as our goal and support, we are already defeated. To stay solidly on the route we must teach his doctrine, practice his charity, and pray to the Father in his name.

Changes characterize history. Now we live amidst technological changes that challenge our souls. Can artificial insemination change our understanding of procreation as a physical union between a man and a woman with God's help? Can artificial intelligence change our view of the human being as the image of God? These developments are not inevitable as long as we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus.​