Sunday, August 20, 2023

TWENTIETH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

(Isaiah 56:6-7; Romans 11:11-15.29-32; Matthew 15:21-28)

The gospel today seems particularly appropriate for our time. It indicates the reason for many people abandoning faith in Jesus. The storyline is short but fascinating. It describes an encounter between a Canaanite (non-Jewish) woman and Jesus. It seems that Jesus insults her. But a careful reading reveals how she takes no offense and even draws closer to Jesus after his comment.

The great defender of the faith C.S. Lewis wrote a striking essay titled "God in the Dock." He says that in ancient times human beings always recognized themselves as guilty of sin. They, therefore, asked God for forgiveness. He goes on to say that in modern times the situation has been reversed. Humans accuse God of the tragedies and natural catastrophes that people suffer. As a result, the Church has to defend God from His accusers.  The first thing many see in today’s gospel is Jesus making a racist remark.

There is undoubtedly a new sensitivity in recent times. Today men and women take as offensive nicknames that a hundred years ago were considered terms of affection or respect.  A man must be careful to whom he calls a younger man, “Sonny.”  In Major League Baseball, the Cleveland team dropped its nickname "Indians" because some indigenous said that it was offensive. To many contemporaries Jesus using the term "little dogs" in reference to the situation of Canaanite's daughter seems like an outrage.

Jesus can be readily defended. He never calls the girl a "dog." He only compares his situation with the person who has food for the family, not for the pets. However, Jesus does not require defense. As the woman acknowledges, he is the “Lord” who would do nothing wrong. It's not that his deeds are good because he does them. Rather it is that he is God, the supreme good, in whom there is no evil.

The Canaanite does not denounce Jesus. She doesn't even see his words as offensive. Rather, she shows us the proper disposition toward God when she prostrates herself before Jesus in adoration. Recognizing him as “Lord,” she then reiterates the urgency that he help his daughter. With these acts she shows the world how to acknowledge Jesus with both gesture and word.

Last Sunday we heard Jesus in the gospel call Peter a man of "little faith." He now tells the Canaanite woman that she has "much faith." In this case we should imitate the woman and not Saint Peter. As the woman asks that Jesus cast out the demons that harass her daughter, we want to ask him to cast out the demons that pollute our time. That is, we want to ask you to remove not only the growing lack of faith but also the self-centeredness that allows people to do whatever they like.

There is a famous novel that begins with the words: "It was the best of times; it was the worst of times." This can be said of any time and certainly of today. There is always a lack of faith in Jesus making times bad. But Jesus is always close to us turning bad times into good.

Friday, August 18, 2023

Friday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Joshua 24:1-13; Matthew 19:3-12)

A man is experiencing severe memory loss.  He cannot do many things that most adults take for granted. Driving a car is out, and so is much reading.  But he is not depressed.  He cherishes the things that he can do.  Everyday he walks to look at the ducks in a large pond.  He sits on a bench where, he says, there is always a refreshing breeze.  At the end of the walk he thanks God for giving him these gifts of nature.

In today’s first reading Joshua expresses a similar gratitude to God.  In his discourse to all Israel he recalls the blessings God bestowed on their ancestors.  God made them abundant and rescued them from slavery in Egypt.  He cleared for them a land where they may prosper.  Joshua wants the people to thank God for his manifold kindness.

All of us have received many blessings from God.  But when things become difficult, we tend to forget His goodness and wonder whether He exists.  The wise, like my friend, will notice that God does not abandon them.  He bestows continued, simple blessings worthy of continued thanks.

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.