Wednesday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 373

Standing by the column, the king made a covenant before the LORD
that they would follow him
and observe his ordinances, statutes and decrees
with their whole hearts and souls,
thus reviving the terms of the covenant
which were written in this book.
And all the people stood as participants in the covenant.

Historian differ about the meaning of today's text from 2 Kings. Jerusalem was a city like any other, with many non-natives who had come as merchants, traders, entrepreneurs, and migrants. Many worshiped the God of Israel but not all, and they generally agreed to respect their religious diversity. The reforming King Josiah won the approval of those prophets who were faithful to the Lord (YHWH) and opposed to the priests and prophets of Baal. 

His reforms were based on a recently rediscovered text which may have been the Book of Deuteronomy. Or perhaps, the text had been recently amassed from earlier writings and edited, and was then promoted as the long-lost Law of Moses. In either case, the time was ripe for a return to the true faith of God's Holy City. No religion can avoid misunderstandings of its traditions and misinterpretations of its sacred rituals; any religion worth its salt needs an occasional return to its roots.

I have seen more than a few reforms sweep through the Catholic and Protestant religions in my own lifetime. The first set followed the Second Vatican Council, an event which will probably be regarded by future historians as one of two or three greatest reforms in Church history. It has been followed by lesser movements like the Charismatic renewal, Cursillistas, Marriage Encounter, Teens Encounter Christ, and so forth. There are the efforts of Pope Francis's synodality and the renewed devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. The Protestant world is in continual upheaval; some are calling our time another "Great Awakening." Beyond the Catholic Church are movements like Alcoholics Anonymous and its innumerable Twelve Step imitators; and the alarm caused by extinctions and the deterioration of the Earth's habitable climate. 

We must always repent because our sins and sinful tendencies are persistent if not genetic. And God's mercy is also persistent. His Spirit shows itself both in the reforms and the reactions they meet. The Holy Spirit is rightly compared to breath, and when we stop breathing we die. Nor will any reform wait until someone dies; you and I must be challenged like everyone else, regardless of our grey hairs. 

Tuesday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 372

“Enter through the narrow gate;
for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction,
and those who enter through it are many.
How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life.
And those who find it are few.”

The story was told among seminarians of the old, retired priest who prayed daily for "perseverance in my vocation." The younger men wondered what the old fellow was worried about. Didn't he have it made in the shade by now? 

Having attained the status of semi-retired -- which is to say, as busy as my energy will allow and opportunities present -- I find the challenges of faith and communal life still daunting. And opportunities to slack off remain. By this time, I can't reasonably expect much in the way of self-improvement; it's mostly maintenance against the inevitable, with frequent slippages and less-than-complete recoveries. 

I remember conversations with patients in the hospital who had, through frequent alcohol abuse, brought dementia upon themselves. They often suffered severe loneliness and daunting questions about the meaning and purpose of their life. But, despite their intense feelings and intelligent questions, they could no longer receive reassurance or encouragement, much less participate in meaningful spiritual conversation. And most had access to guns. 

And I've known friars who rarely used alcohol or nicotine, but they also slipped into dementia. Their interests were few; and their conversations, circular. They didn't complain but they appeared helpless, intellectually and spiritually. Perhaps they were passing through the narrow gate all unawares, as the rest of us watched helplessly. 

This growing old in America is tiresome business. The elderly hope to burden no one but are not so able or eager to carry the burdens of others. Prayer may be satisfying, but that was never the purpose of prayer. Isn't there something more? If, as C.S.Lewis said, "God is easily pleased but difficult to satisfy," we wonder what more we should do. 

The Lord urges us to pass through the narrow gate; but, despite Woody Guthrie's song, you don't have to walk through it by yourself. We walk hand in hand with the Lord, with our dear Mother Mary, the saints and martyrs, and many lovely people in our church. If we feel lonely, we are in good company with many lonely individuals, and always with the Lord. 

Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist

Lectionary: 587

Hear me, O coastlands, listen, O distant peoples. The LORD called me from birth, from my mother’s womb he gave me my name.
He made of me a sharp-edged sword and concealed me in the shadow of his arm.

So many prophets in the Bible speak of their being given a name and a mission from birth that we might suppose that is the way God calls everyone. I think of Jeremiah, John the Baptist, and Jesus. There is also Samson and Samuel.

The naming of a child, like the naming of John the Baptist, is still one of the most important ceremonies for religious and secular parents. Today's reveal parties usually include the naming of the approaching infant. As soon as they know the baby's gender they can choose an appropriate name. 

In our Catholic tradition, our baptismal names indicate our belonging to God. The tradition recalls the renaming of Abram and Sarai when the LORD elected them as Abraham and Sarah to be the progenitors of his Holy People. (An Adventist website recalls several biblical persons who were renamed for differing reasons.) 

I understand that porpoises whistle continually to each other as they swim in a herd. Scientists believe each is identifying themself with that signature sound, though they do not respond by calling each other by their apparent names. A mother porpoise calls repeatedly so that her calves recognize her name and cling to her. 

Our names place us in society. "In the desert, you can't remember your name" because an isolated person needs no name and may lose their sense of purpose and worth. Because the name is identity, we take it very seriously. If, unlike the porpoises, we speak to, and of, each other with names, it's because humans must continually recognize the existential standing of every person. Your mother knows your name, and that there's no one in the universe like you. 

Citizens of a nation deeply committed to individualism struggle with the concept of identity. Some young people are told they can find their identity in isolation and apartness. They leave home, occupations, and opportunities in search of themselves. Some attempt to leave their past behind with the names they were given at birth, but they will suffer the loss until they go back and reclaim it. 

We find our identity within the Lord and his Church; it's tucked in among the names our loved one call us, and the responsibilities we have as parents, catechists, lectors, ushers, Eucharistic ministers, acolytes, deacons, monks, friars, priests, bishops, and so forth. We are disciples called to sanctity. And when the day comes, the Lord will call each of us by name as he called, "Lazarus, Come out of that tomb!" 

The naming of John the Baptist signalled a new age in human history. His family knew it; his parents were pleased but his kinfolk were upset. A long awaited messianic age had begun; it was accompanied by restored hope and spectacular opportunities to know the Lord of Heaven and Earth in the person, and by the name, of Jesus. 

Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 95

They woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” He woke up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Quiet!  Be still!”

As Saint Mark describes the Lord's disciples, they understood neither him, nor his teaching, nor his mission. They were drawn to him by his call; but had anyone asked, "Why are you following him?" they would have been stumped for an answer. "Because he called me" must pass for an explanation. 

Ordinarily, his disciples were overawed or wonder-struck by his presence; when he ask them if they understood his sign, teaching or parable, they were clueless. In chapter 10, the Saint Mark describes a typical moment, 

"They were on the way, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus went ahead of them. They were amazed, and those who followed were afraid."

What did they expect would happen in Jerusalem? It might be a historic triumph like the ousting of Rome with its army and its nuisance governors. It might be an apocalyptic coming of the Son of Man as Lord of the Universe. He would establish Jerusalem as the Capital of an empire spanning the entire World!  

Or it might be a debacle, a foiled revolution and slaughter of everyone who dared to think that the Roman Empire should go away. His disciples can only follow in mute obedience, hoping against hope that something good might come of it.   

When they do make something of him, they get it totally wrong. On one occasion, two of them mustered the courage to speak to him. 

"James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.”

If this were a stage play, he would turn aside to the audience and say, "Don't you love these guys?"

In today's gospel however, the disciples forget their Holy Fear as they rouse him from sleep. "Don't you care that we are perishing?" they scream at him over the roar of the storm. But, predictably, he has the last laugh as he commands the sea and storm to "Knock it off!" 

And then, "Why are you terrified?" he says to his boys, “Do you not yet have faith?”

But their distress and alarm had, in a sense, driven them to a moment of faith. They believed enough to wake him up and beg for his help. What they expected him to do was beyond anyone's comprehension. They could not suppose that he had everything under control. It was not like lighting a candle when a tornado has been spotted; it was not a quiet Hail Mary before the final exam. It was a last hope, and a terrified plea, "Do something!" 

When he woke up and finally addressed the sea and storm and waves, his command sounds very familiar, "Be still!" He said the same thing when a demoniac accosted him. "Quiet! Come out of him!" and the demon had no choice but to desert the wretched man. 

It may be God's most familiar quote. It's his battle cry when he fights for his people. We hear it in Psalm 46: 

Come and see the works of the LORD, / who has done fearsome deeds on earth;
Who stops wars to the ends of the earth, / breaks the bow, splinters the spear,
and burns the shields with fire; / “Be still and know that I am God!
I am exalted among the nations, / exalted on the earth.”
The LORD of hosts is with us; /our stronghold is the God of Jacob. Psalm 46:10-12

Every disciple submits to the Lord's command; at first, occasionally; and then habitually; and finally completely and continually. But, unlike the demons, the storm, and the sea we come to God with joy, gratitude, and relief. 

Here is one whom we can trust, who has proven his worth and is trustworthy. Everyone has known betrayal. As children we expected and needed much from those around us; first of our parents and family, then, of other adults, and friends, and fellow citizens. But we have been disappointed. Perhaps we have even complained about God's apparent abandonment, as if he too has betrayed us. 

Sinful people that we are, we undertake projects and never ask if this is what God wants for us. With our feverish and fertile imagination, we create expectations, and then desires, and then needs, and finally rights to have our fantastic expectations fulfilled -- in abundance and superabundance. If only...! If only the world would serve us! If only everyone would serve me we could all be so happy! If only my dreams would come true. “Fairy tales can come true; they can happen to you….” 

The Lord in his mercy sometimes threatens us with the consequences of what we have done without him. Our unsinkable Titanic capsizes under his irresistible natural force. And then, in our desperation, we turn to him crying,  “Teacher, don’t you care that we are perishing?”

God cannot resist the prayer of the helpless. He hears our prayers when we admit utter and total defeat. When we confess our foolishness, He comes to save us. And we hear, for once in our lives, a Voice that speaks not only to the wind and sea and storm, but to every man, woman, and child. “Be still and know that I am God. Supreme among the nations, supreme on the earth.”

Optional Memorial of martyred Saints John Fisher and Thomas More

English Martyrs in defense of Marriage

Lectionary: 370

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life,
what you will eat or drink,
or about your body, what you will wear.
Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?
Look at the birds in the sky...

King Joash listened to the princes and with them forsook the temple of the LORD. 

We heard yesterday of Joash's being hidden in the temple for several years before Queen Jehoida was ousted and slain. But the young prince had not learned in his hiding to trust in the Lord. He was easily guided by the corrupt princes who supported him. 

Joash led like many of today's elected office holders who study the polls intensely. Appointed as leaders, they do not lead; they are driven by fear and ambition, and deaf to God's law and the Church's teachings about human dignity. They give consumers and their wealthy patrons what they want regardless of long-term consequences. Those who hesitate to follow the polls are immediately reminded that they can be replaced by more compliant "leaders." 

Their  corruption begins, of course, with the electorate who cynically believe that "all politicians are corrupt." A democracy can represent only its people; they get the leadership they deserve. Their so-called leaders reflect the avarice, greed, and infidelity of their supporters.

Today' Gospel speaks to that group, to those who may not see themselves as powerful, and have no apparent ambitions for political office. Their anxiety makes a difference; their lack of faith in God shapes their world. 

The Lord urges them, "...store up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be." 

Today's "treasure" is credit. It's freely given to the vulnerable young whose background and education forecast a future of substantial income and market-driven spending. They will want more than they can afford, and dream of things they do not need. They will put off having children, or have no children; for children only sap the resources of young adults and offer little promise of future return on investment. As they use and amass ample credit, they will be forever in debt. 

Perhaps the Lord rewords his advice for today's democratic consumer: "Store up credit in heaven which is built on God's providence. In that place, neither corrupt politicians nor greedy capitalists can drain your energy, generosity, and trust." 

"Look at the birds in the sky!"

There's not as many as there were before the onset of industrial waste and pollution, and many species have disappeared, but they still trust in God's providence. 

...they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are not you more important than they?"

"While we have time, let us do good!" Saint Francis urged his friars. There are still birds in the air, and grasses still grow abundantly in the empty lots of our cities and the cracks in our sidewalks. We still have time to learn from Earth's vitality to follow God's moral leadership and invest with dignity in generosity, compassion, and courage.

Memorial of Saint Aloysius Gonzaga, Religious

Lectionary: 369

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth,
where moth and decay destroy, and thieves break in and steal.
But store up treasures in heaven,
where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal.
For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.

Athaliah's is not a happy story, but it might serve to illustrate today's Gospel. The pagan daughter of King Ahab, a worshipper of Baal,  seized power as queen of Judah in Jerusalem; and in the same daring move ordered her henchmen to murder several legitimate descendants of King David, each with some claim to his throne. However, one child, Joash, was hidden among the mazes of the temple -- a building more complicated than the Phantom's Opera House. 

When the time was right, probably because the populace was tired of eight years of corrupt rule and royal idolatry, the teen was revealed and acclaimed by loyal soldiers. The unhappy Athaliah was immediately despatched by the sword. 

Devout worshippers of God -- Jews, Christians, and Muslims -- are urged to commit their lives and energies to more stable, less volatile enterprises. Whether we're speaking of positions of power like Athaliah's, property, or money, they all depend on the worth others put in them. The value of a dollar shifts by the hour; property can be destroyed by violent weather, fire, earthquake, or a dozen other natural disasters; and positions of power mean no more than what others think they mean. Humans enact laws and make contracts to shore up the worth of all their stuff, but no contract lasts forever, and many don't last at all. Any two-bit lawyer can challenge them in court and render them worthless. 

Ordinary reflection suggests that we invest our energies in that which lasts into eternity. We have seen believers in Baal and other idols; along with their comrades who idolized the State (fascists, Nazis, communists, nationalists); and ideologues who swear by their opinions (on which they can never agree); and those Christians who pick and choose, mix and match their doctrines: all those who invest in human values go down into the dust. 

We believe in the eternal invitation offered by the God who abides with us eternally, who remains with us in the person of Jesus. Under his governance we know how to own and disown the world's stuff. 

Thursday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time

 Lectionary: 368

Like a fire there appeared the prophet Elijah
whose words were as a flaming furnace.....
Then Elisha, filled with the twofold portion of his spirit,
wrought many marvels by his mere word. During his lifetime he feared no one,nor was any man able to intimidate his will.
Nothing was beyond his power....

Jesus and his Evangelists compare the Prophets Elijah and Elisha to Saint John the Baptist. Like the ancient prophets, the ascetic in the Jordan Valley scolded the Pharisees and Sadducees when they dared to approach him for baptism. They presumed to say, "We have God as our father" but he declared, "God can raise up children to Abraham from these stones. [Implying, he has no need for you, and no use!] Even now the ax lies at the root of the trees."

However, with all due to respect to the Baptist, we can easily recognized Elijah and Elisha as Old Testament types of Jesus; and when we study their lives and hear Sirach's praise of them, we recognize the glory that will be discovered with all the more intensity in the Son of God. 

On three occasions Jesus brought the dead back to life from the nether world, by the will of the LORD. They included a little girl, a widow's son, and his friend Lazarus; not to mention himself! He anointed Peter as his vicar and not his successor, for he remains as ruler and king.  

Elijah was taken aloft with a whirlwind of fire in a chariot with fiery horses. Jesus soared into heaven entirely on his own, and took his seat at God's right hand. 

When these two prophets demonstrated enormous authority over kings and tyrants, Jesus declares, "All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me." 

As Elijah was expected to return, the Lord is "destined... in time to come to put an end to wrath before the day of the LORD, to turn back the hearts of fathers toward their sons, and to establish" the Kingdom of God.

As Elisha's grave was disturbed by Moabites but his healing power remained in his bones, so the Lord's tomb was disturbed by his vacating it -- with healing power and even more wonder. 

Finally, Sirach declared of Elijah and Elisha, 

Blessed is he who shall have seen you 
And who falls asleep in your friendship.
For we live only in our life,
but after death our name will not be such.

Of Jesus we can say, "Blessed are they who shall see him, and all those who fall asleep in his friendship." For we live only in our life for a while, but long after our death -- when the Earth itself will have forgotten that we ever disturbed its dust -- he will call us by name from the dirt to meet him in heaven with Mary, the angels, and all the saints. 

Wednesday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time

photo from Whispering Springs Nat'l Park

north of Las Cruces, looking south to Mexico

 Lectionary: 367

Elisha answered, “May I receive a double portion of your spirit.”
“You have asked something that is not easy,” Elijah replied.
“Still, if you see me taken up from you,
your wish will be granted; otherwise not.”

A young man and an older man walk together. The younger is eager; the elder is tired and broken. They share a mission but the elder must retire and the younger must take up the mission. It cannot fail. 

He asks and receives a double measure of the elder's spirit. Spirit can be a hard thing to manage, and harder to generate. A coach, seeing that his team is losing because they're playing listlessly, must immediately intuit the problem, address it effectively, and change their attitudes. 

He has to use his position of authority to overcome the losing spirit that has overcome them. He might be aggressive, imposing, or threatening; he must get through their resistance and occupy a sacred space within their hearts, or minds, or whatever you call it, so that each one will let go of their attitude and accept his. 

But if some lack the willingness to obey; if they have neither fear of nor respect for the coach; if they will not set aside their feelings and opinions: they lose. 

I watched a basketball team lose because they believed they had suffered a single bad call from the referee. I had accompanied them only as a pastor; they had no coach and their captain was as angry about the call as the rest of his buddies. During the half I could not persuade them to forget about the one call, and get back into the game. They lost not because of one bad call in the first half of the game, but because they believed they'd been treated unjustly. If they were right -- and who can judge that when there is only one referee and no recorded video? -- they were "dead right." But mostly they were dead.

On the other hand, a scoreboard loss can be a win. I remember a Startrek episode in which our stellar boys and girls were pitted in a baseball game against a team of androids. As expected, they lost 1000-0, but they did manage to get one player on base! They were overjoyed, while the androids hung their metal heads in shame. Our crew might not have won the game but they savored their victory nonetheless. 

Elijah readily ceded his authority and his spirit to Elisha; he gave them with the mantle that fell to the ground. When the old prophet disappeared, Elisha readily wrapped it around his own shoulders, and was immediately recognized by his fellow prophets. 

The Church, like Elijah, suffers innumerable setbacks and many discouraging disappointments. She always has her back to the wall, but she is never defeated. The Spirit of God can raise disciples to the Lord from these very stones. I have met so many zealous, well-informed converts to Catholicism I sometimes wonder if they may be the majority of practicing Catholics. They seem to appear in every gathering although we never ask for a show of hands. 

Yesterday I read an article in a self-described Catholic magazine which seems to have gone to the dark side of several controversies. They have bought into Marxist ideology which views humanity through a lens of oppressed and oppressors; and their oppressors are -- you guessed it! -- the leaders of the Catholic Church. A title declares, in effect, "As the Church has always said...." when it never said anything of the sort. They bandy neologisms as if everyone knows, or should know what they're talking about; and dare anyone to challenge their righteousness. They certainly have spirit, but it's not the Spirit of God. It's very distressing. 

I read it yesterday but I woke up this morning ready to worship the Lord of Elijah, Elisha, John the Baptist, and Jesus. The Lord does not forsake his people despite the huzzahing of his foes. 

Tuesday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time

 Lectionary: 366

Then the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite,
"Have you seen that Ahab has humbled himself before me?
Since he has humbled himself before me,
I will not bring the evil in his time.
I will bring the evil upon his house during the reign of his son."

Ahab is remembered as one of the more despicable royal heirs of David's throne. And though he humbled himself before God and Elijah, he was not fondly remembered. Melville resurrected the name to describe a monomaniacal, self-righteous sea captain whose messianic pursuit of evil drove him and his whalers to a fatal encounter with it. King Ahab's infamous, but colorful wife lives on with appearances in Revelation, biblical paintings, movies, and popular music. 

Elijah's ominous prophecy -- that the consequences of his evil deeds would survive him -- deserves some reflection. Some time later, Isaiah made a similar promise of doom to Hezekiah. The king invited an embassy from Babylon to inspect his treasury. They might have been impressed, but they certainly remembered that Jerusalem would be worth pillaging when the time came. (Which they did 150 years later.) 

Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, 

“Hear the word of the LORD of hosts: the time is coming when all that is in your house, everything that your ancestors have stored up until this day, shall be carried off to Babylon; nothing shall be left, says the LORD. Some of your own descendants, your progeny, shall be taken and made attendants in the palace of the king of Babylon.” 

Hezekiah replied to Isaiah, “The word of the LORD which you have spoken is good.”  For he thought, “There will be peace and stability in my lifetime.”

Isaiah had an eye to the distant future and worried about the king's foolishness. But the politician Hezekiah worried only about the moment. He might have replied in his best King James fashion, "Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." 

We're told that those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it. But I think, those who ignore the moral code, who violate human dignity, whether legal or not, invite doom upon themselves and their descendants. The study of history can be very selective. Defense minded persons recall military defeats and conquests. Idealogues rewrite history summoning obscure, irrelevant, and uncertain events to support their outlandish visions. Righteous people honor their ancestors' honest hard work,  and thank God as they squander their present entitlements. 

But those who fear the Lord observe his moral code in season and out of season. They remember hardships and blessings, and that the Lord remains with his people always. They know that hard times are not necessarily punishment; nor are good times a reward for good behavior. The end is always near and always remote. It is not so soon that we should eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die. Nor it is so distant that we can ignore it altogether. 

They know the Lord is always near, and they delight in his presence. 

Monday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time

 Lectionary: 365

"You have heard that it was said,
An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil.

The law of talion is associated with honor and the principle of vendetta; and it's binding, meaning an injured party must seek revenge. An orphaned son or grieving brother must pursue the killer of one's father or brother and kill him. 

Despite Jesus's greater authority talion is still with us. We see it among criminal gangs and appearing in America's partisan politics. We see it in children on the playground when they immediately hit back another child for an injury they've suffered, even if it was accidental. Sometimes, comically, the angry child will strike the table on which he's just bumped his head. Apparently, he has to do it! It's the law. 

Shakespeare's Hamlet was commanded by King Hamlet's ghost to avenge his father, even if it meant killing the uncle who is also his mother's new husband. Orpheus, son of Agamemnon, was compelled to kill his father's slayer, but unfortunately Clytemnestra was his mother. We hear of that principle also in gang warfare on American streets and prisons. 

Our civilizing Greek ancestors, who first experimented with democracy, posed the system of courts and judges as an alternative to the law of talion. Aeschylus's Oresteian Trilogy pondered the insane compulsion of talion and its resolution when the city of Athens took upon itself the decision to avenge injustice or choose clemency. The Furies, confident of Orestes' right to kill, demanded revenge but agreed to the trial. When they were disappointed by the jury's decision, they pursued the young man for the rest of his life. (Even while I was reading the book several years ago, a man met his daughter's killer at the airport when the FBI returned him to Minnesota, and murdered him.)

The law of talion has bound humanity since its conception. And Jesus has set us free. One person's evil act does not mean that the wronged party must do anything. 

When someone strikes you on your right cheek,
turn the other one to him as well.

We have seen this most clearly demonstrated in the Resurrection of Jesus. Talion said he. like Hamlet's father, came back from the dead to avenge his killers. And the Lord's list was long; it included Pontius Pilate, Caiphus, Annas, and the Sanhedrin. But there was also Judas, Peter, and the cowardly disciples. And the Roman empire and the Jewish religion. And, for that matter, all humanity. Which of us has not contributed their share of violence to an innocent man's death? 

But the Lord has set us free. We do not avenge the death of Jesus. We need not strike back at anyone for doing us harm. And if we choose to do so, we cannot justify it in the name of Jesus. He does not stand behind us in our anger. In fact, his "but I say to you..." stands between us and our enemies. 

For freedom Christ set us free; so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery. (Galatians 5:1)

 

Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 92

With many such parables
he spoke the word to them as they were able to understand it.
Without parables he did not speak to them,
but to his own disciples he explained everything in private.

Jesus uses his parables as a litmus test for his followers. Those who understand belong to him; those who do not are only confused. His bewildered but eager disciples frequently ask the meaning of his parables. If they don't understand him or his mission, they are fascinated by his teaching and by his personal presence and they want to know more. 

The Lord's disciples do not go away when he gives them hard, challenging teachings. They see people who pick and choose what they want to believe leaving in droves. But the faithful remain with the Church and the Lord. 

Saint Peter spoke for us when Jesus asked, "Will you also leave?" The first pope replied,

"Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.”

Our understanding of the Lord's teachings begins with our trust in him. Many of us have known him all our lives, and are convinced that nations rise and fall, technologies appear and disappear, new ideologies develop and atrophy, but the Word of the Lord endures forever. 

Some of us were raised in a Christian household but disowned the faith for a while; we experimented with strange teachings and weird ideas. Or we thought we needed only our friends and our work; the rest of the world would take care of itself. They call it utopian individualism: “If you do your thing and I do my thing and everybody does their things, it will all mesh together like a well oiled machine and everyone will be happy!” That’s a bizarre creed, a fantasy from Never-Never Land by any standard. 

And some people just don’t care; they want to have fun and do what they want. "Eat, drink, and be merry; for tomorrow we die." 

When those experiments fail some of us have played with alcohol or drugs, or gambling, or sexual promiscuity. But nothing satisfies. Things that seem to work for others don’t work for us. We find no place in the very world where we’re born. Despairing of those pursuits, we think we must live only to survive another day; and then some of us consider suicide. Millions die because they cannot answer the question, "Why should I not kill myself?"

But you and I remain through all the difficult years, or we have returned to our faith in Jesus. And we are ready to be instructed; and we are ready to understand. Jesus is the Word of God made flesh. And so we ask him to explain his parables. 

Catholics do not pick and choose what we want to believe. Our religion may be a museum of endless, wonderful stories, devotions, and mysteries to be explored; but it's not a cafeteria of curious facts or fascinating ideas. When we hear a truth that we do not understand, that may be controversial or troubling, that doesn't fit popular notions of what God should say or how Christians should act, we ask for, and listen to, an explanation.

The world tells us that abortion is necessary; that we must kill some people; that there will always be warfare between races, religions, cultures, and economies. They tell us we can choose our sexual preference and gender. You can be anything you want to be! And you should be all that you can be! 

They tell us that we cannot control ourselves and must control our childbearing with surgery and chemicals. That self-discipline is repression, and “God save us from repression!” They tell us that everyone should decide how and when they will die; and there are doctors ready to put them down like injured horses. 

But we're fascinated by Jesus and by his parables; and when he leads us to a deserted place away from the nonsense, a place where he will teach us his way, we follow him. 

When the angel told Mary she would be the Mother of the Messiah, she asked, "How can this be since I do not know man?" We also might ask, ”How can this be?” when we hear the gospel’s challenge. And the answer might be the same: 

"The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you." 

The Lord’s parables and our Catholic teaching invite thoughtful conversation, deep reflection, contemplation, and maturity. We teach our children how to be Catholic adults, and not how to think like children all their life. 

Wisdom grows in us like the Lord's mustard seed and Ezekiel's tree in today's first reading. Wisdom pushes nonsense out of our heads: 

For the Lord has planted his Church as a tree... 

...on a high and lofty mountain.

We put forth branches and bear fruit,

and become a majestic cedar.

Birds of every kind dwell within us,

every winged thing in the shade of our boughs.

And all the trees of the field shall know

that the LORD

brings low the high tree,

lifts high the lowly tree,

withers the green tree,

and makes the withered tree bloom.

For the mouth of the LORD has spoken, and so he will do.

 

Saturday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time

Collect of Mary, Cause of Our Joy

 Lectionary: 364

Let your 'Yes' mean 'Yes;' and your 'No' mean 'No.'
Anything more is from the Evil One."

Look at the Humility of God," Saint Francis wrote in his "Letter to all the Friars." Like Jesus in today's passage from his Sermon on the Mount, Il Poverello di Assisi was reflecting on the manner of our life, which should include a dignified bearing: 

"Consider your dignity, brothers, priests, and be holy because He Himself is holy." 

As I have read the scriptures, especially Deuteronomy, I have been reminded of the command given to God's elect, "Be holy as I am holy." 

The Church has reminded us often since the Vatican Council that the world is more impressed by what we do than by what we say. We must demonstrate the Love of God by our works of charity. They're not impressed by arguments; few want to hear the Church's history of doctrinal development with its unsavory stories of heresy and anathemas. But "seeing your good works they will give glory to God." (Mt 5:16) 

Many Christian churches, Catholic and Protestant, have active outreach to the homeless, unemployed, imprisoned, and impoverished elderly and children. 

These charities must be accompanied by convincing signs of respect for everyone who comes to us. Like Jesus when he saw a poor woman give her last two copper coins to the insatiable temple coffers, we should admire and be amazed at the courage, generosity, and dignity of those we serve. And we do that by meeting them with equal courage, generosity, and dignity. 

Dignity has no need for exaggerated language. We might use hyperbole when we're telling an amusing story, but it should never be used to describe an opposing party, different religion, or current fashion. Those who advocate abortion as a form of birth control are not murderers, Nazis, or Satanists. Such talk lacks dignity and only contaminates conversation. It impresses no one and changes neither minds nor hearts. 

Likewise, dignity has no need to disparage others with gossip. We speak well of one another, and admire one another. 

Considering the Lord's admonition that we should "Let your yes mean yes and your no mean no" has led me to consider simple language, dignified demeanor, admiration for others despite whatever challenges they face, and back to the command, "Be holy as I am holy." 

There are many secular organizations doing many philanthropic works; they have their philosophical reasons for doing so. The Church is driven by the Spirit of God and brings its holiness. That should be evident in our dignity and our pleasant good humor. We can be generous because there's plenty more where that came from . Our providential God provides! 

We're also aware of God's benevolent oversight; he sees and knows and appreciates our work. We often speak well of God as we would of any friend who is right there in the same room. 

Finally, as we prepare for the Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, we hear Saint Francis's exhortation to his friars about the Most Blessed Sacrament: 

Consider your dignity, brothers, priests, and be holy because He Himself is holy.

And as the Lord God has honored you above all through this mystery, even so do you also love and reverence and honor Him above all. It is a great misery and a deplorable weakness when you have Him thus present to care for anything else in the whole world. Let the entire man be seized with fear; let the whole world tremble; let heaven exult when Christ, the Son of the Living God, is on the altar in the hands of the priest. O admirable height and stupendous condescension! O humble sublimity! O sublime humility! that the Lord of the universe, God and the Son of God, so humbles Himself that for our salvation He hides Himself under a morsel of bread. Consider, brothers, the humility of God and “pour out your hearts before Him,” and be ye humbled that ye may be exalted by Him. 

Do not therefore keep back anything for yourselves that He may receive you entirely who gives Himself up entirely to you.  

Friday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time

 Lectionary: 363

A voice said to him, "Elijah, why are you here?"
He replied, "I have been most zealous for the LORD,
the God of hosts.
But the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant,
torn down your altars,
and put your prophets to the sword.
I alone am left, and they seek to take my life."

I don't believe I can respond well to Elijah's loneliness. He is more like today's legendary superheroes than a man to sit down and have a personal conversation. No one would want to have a beer with him, or expect to play golf. His loneliness is epic, like everything else in his story. 

But it's also familiar. Who hasn't known loneliness? 

I've spent many hours of my life alone, and some of them were lonely. An introvert, I prefer solitude to groups of people; I delight in quiet conversation and avoid parties like the plague. But loneliness is neither solitude nor companionship. It's a different place, perhaps like Mount Horeb.

I'm told people die of loneliness. Certainly, America's sweeping epidemics of chemical abuse, violence, and suicide germinate in the profound distress of loneliness. I've read of men who go to the tavern, pick a fight with larger men, and are beaten half to death, just to escape the feeling. I've been lonely, but never that lonely. 

As Elijah took shelter in a cave, he heard the terrific wind, fire, and earthquake. He was as ferocious as anything the elements could throw at him. He could not be bothered with them. He'd seen enough excitement; that thirst was slaked when he personally cut the throats of several hundred priests of Baal. 

I have noticed that depression follows excitement; when I decided to pass up exciting opportunities, I grew familiar with boredom and the opportunities it offers; like reading, music, hobbies, and conversation. I often write with only the vague hope that someone might read what I write. These pursuits are not as exhausting as excitement, and leave a residue of satisfaction. 

If God is everywhere, he is especially there in our loneliness. But it takes a while to realize that, for he is very quiet. His presence bears a strong resemblance to absence and the lonely feel his absence. 

I have found that loneliness cannot be shared. I find no companionship in reading poems written in loneliness. I don't know what the poet is talking about, even when they tell me its loneliness. 

There's no remedy for it because it's not a disease. But I have found, in befriending loneliness, in letting it sit on my head, it leaves a memory of God's having been there after all. 

Memorial of Saint Anthony of Padua, Priest and Doctor of the Church

Lectionary: 362

You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment. 
But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment,and whoever says to his brother, Raqa, will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, 'You fool,' will be liable to fiery Gehenna.

When Jesus pronounces severe punishment on those who use abusive language, someone might wonder if the punishment is proportionate to the crime. Fiery Gehenna for calling someone a fool to his face? Isn't that pretty severe? 

But here in the United States we have seen a coarsening of the culture; and certain formerly taboo words -- which I dare not cite in this post -- are routinely heard in videos and movies.  

No one should pretend surprise at what we're seeing. A culture of death welcomes abortion as a form of birth control, the proliferation of guns, inadequate care of incarcerated men and women, capital punishment, the acceptance and normalization of suicide, and coarse language. We should assume there is far more unseen violence in the homes of vulnerable adults and children.

Jesus condemns violent language with extremely severe language because that's where it starts. Verbal abuse accompanies emotional, physical, and sexual abuse. 

And reverence for life begins with reverence for words and their meaning. Christians, Muslims, and Jews honor the names of God. Jews do not enunciate the Tetragrammaton, and Pope Benedict XVI urged Catholics to refrain from speaking and singing that sacred name. Christians revere the name of Jesus. When Muslims pronounce God's name they recite a litany of blessings with it. Where Jews were forbidden to take the name of the Lord in vain, Christians are commanded not to swear at all. When you mean yes, say yes; and when you mean no, say no. Anything more is from the evil one. (Matt 5:37)

As a teenager working in my uncle's shop, I was already familiar with most swear words. But I was surprised to notice the men I worked with rarely used them. I heard it only among the adults who were acting like children, and the children who were acting like adults. Both groups announced their immaturity. 

I learned that such language is below the dignity of those created in God's image, and those who are called to be like God. 

Wednesday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 361

"Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.
I have come not to abolish but to fulfill."

Saint Paul confidently quoted Isaiah as he announced the Gospel to his Corinthian congregation, 

"What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and what has not entered the human heart, what God has prepared for those who love him.

We often say at funerals that the beloved has "gone to a better place." But we admit our vision of what exactly God has promised to those who love him is rather hazy. Is it a city with streets of gold, or a green pasture in a lush valley; a family reunion or a sumptuous banquet? Will there be work to do? Responsibilities? Will we study new languages or just know them intuitively? Or perhaps we'll speak telepathically, without words? (Which might be awkward if people can read our uncensored minds.) And how long is eternity anyway? In any case, it's pretty far away. 

Having run up against that uncertainty we might admit that heaven is not exactly a place, even if it is better. I was reminded of this dilemma while reading a recent statement out of the Vatican. "Dignitas Infinita” (On Human Dignity) 

The dicastery teaches that there is "a fourfold distinction of the concept of dignity." and the most fundamental dignity is that which belongs to every human being regardless of their state of development, ability, virtue, or standing among other human beings. The dignity of each one is inviolable because they are made in God's image and likeness. 

Some patristic teachers played with the word likeness, and suggested that image concerns our origins. Where we came from. And likeness, our destiny. Where we're going.

Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
Everyone who has this hope based on him makes himself pure, as he is pure. 

This promise made to every human being also gives us a dignity which we must recognize and honor. In human affairs a prince may become a king; and a princess, a queen. And these youngsters are honored for that future status. All the more, as Christians, should we honor the likeness of God that is even now appearing in each of us. 

Again, in human affairs, we can sometimes imagine how much better we might be. A child hopes to become a professional athlete, a teacher, scholar, or president of the United States. Some children set out with remarkable determination and prescience to attain their goal. Who can't improve his present abilities? 

Entering the Church we become acquainted with men and women who are clearly more patient, more generous, and more compassionate than ourselves. We want to emulate them, and sometimes discover that we are indeed making progress. 

Can anyone imagine the fulfillment of their potential?  A culture of death eagerly cuts off our potential for growth in virtue. They do not recognize the destiny promised to every human being, regardless of health, wealth, or virtue -- or lack thereof. Acute and chronic illnesses are avenues to reliance on, and fellowship with, others. They teach us patience and compassion. As do failure, bankruptcy, and grief. The worst catastrophes bring out the best in people. 

As Mary remained with her Son on Calvary, could she imagine the glory of his resurrection and the revelation of his divinity? Can such things be imagined? Perhaps not; but they can be anticipated. We owe ourselves that much.

What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard,
and what has not entered the human heart,
what God has prepared for those who love him,”
this God has revealed to us through the Spirit.
For the Spirit scrutinizes everything, even the depths of God.

Memorial of Saint Barnabas, Apostle

Lectionary: 580/360

In those days a great number who believed turned to the Lord.
The news about them reached the ears of the Church in Jerusalem,
and they sent Barnabas to go to Antioch.

The apostolic leadership of the Church in Jerusalem was not entirely pleased with news from Antioch. The martyrdom of Stephen and subsequent terror had sent many of the Lord's disciples fleeing to distant places. Many Jews in Antioch, learning about the Lord, were converted and baptized. The Jewish enemies of Christ might have said his movement metastasized. However, some gentiles were also baptized and the Church in Jerusalem was not prepared for that. 

And so they sent one of their best men to check it out. Even today, the Vatican occasionally sends officials to investigate what is happening in various dioceses of the world. They may approve or disapprove, but in either case Rome will be informed with first hand testimony.  

Saint Barnabas was just the man. Well educated, familiar with gentile philosophy and literature, devoutly Jewish and intensely dedicated to the Resurrected Messiah, he brought a sceptical eye to Antioch. But he was not cynical and, remembering his own conversion, he could recognize the work of the Holy Spirit among strangers. If they knew little of Abraham, Moses, and David, they had a substantial knowledge of Jesus and they were on fire with his Spirit. Like it or not, they belonged. 

Barnabas decided not to squelch this unexpected development, but he also saw that it needed careful guidance. And so he sent for another man who was equally well versed in Jewish tradition, gentile philosophy, and the Way -- Paul of Tarsus. Their catechesis was hugely successful, many more gentiles entered the Church and the Way acquired a new name, Christian.  

Neither Jewish nor Greek, Christianity was a religion of converts, without nationality or language. They were Christian not by way of their human birth but by their birth in the Spirit. As Saint John said, they were "born not by natural generation nor by human choice nor by a man’s decision but of God." (John 1:13)

They would develop their own forms of worship, roughly like Jewish rituals but without the rigidity of more ancient religions; and their self-governance would resemble the synagogue. In time, the Church of Antioch trained and sent missionaries throughout the Roman empire.

As it happened, and certainly by God's plan, a prophet accurately predicted a coming famine in Jerusalem. Jews of the diaspora had always supported their Holy City with charitable donations; the famine gave the new Antiochene church the opportunity to show that they too belonged to this new religion by their sacrificial support of disciples in Jerusalem.

Perhaps, Barnabas and Paul -- remembering the words of Jesus, "Why do you persecute me? -- saw that the church in Antioch must support the church in Jerusalem because the Body of believers is One! Do not two hands work together, and don't legs need each other to walk? Doesn't blood flow from well-supplied tissue to needier parts of the human body? In the same way, money must flow to Jerusalem to help the Church survive the famine. 

Like the Tuskegee airmen and the Japanese American soldiers of World War II, Antiochene Christians proved they belonged by their sacrificial support.  

These lessons of Acts of the Apostles have never been lost on the Church. We must support our fellow Catholics within the United States and abroad. Our Spirit will not let us enjoy our excess without demanding at least a tithe. Nor will it allow us to go hungry without the support of the whole Church. 

There is a story of a priest in 1952 who was sent to build a Catholic Church in North Carolina. The small town had no Church and only a few Catholics. So he obtained phone books from New York City and Chicago, and wrote appeal letters to every Murphy in both cities. He asked these Irish people, "Do you realize there is a Murphy North Carolina with no Catholic Church?" He soon built a Church, and a congregation formed rapidly. (The legend without the colorful details is verified by that church's website.) 

On the feast of the Apostle Barnabas we celebrate the courage, fidelity, and ingenuity of our One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. 

Monday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 359

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain,
and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him.
He began to teach them, saying:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they who mourn,
for they will be comforted....

The Gospel selections for the weekdays of Ordinary Time begin with the Book of Mark (the oldest) and proceed to Matthew and Luke. The four Evangelists present a remarkably similar profile of Jesus throughout their writings even as each brings a different perspective. Mark describes a solitary prophet who pays the price of our salvation to the last penny. Matthew announces the new Moses, a lawgiver who calls everyone to live by the standards of God's Kingdom. Luke offers the Holy Spirit who guides Jesus throughout his brief life and then directs his Church. 

And so, today, with the infancy narratives behind us, we begin a series of readings from Saint Matthew's gospel. The longest of the four gospels teaches us how to live in the Kingdom of God. It is dawning upon us as surely as the rising sun, and those who do not hear must remain in cold, bleak darkness. The Beatitudes recall Moses' Ten Commandments not with limits and confining rules but with a series of marvelous promises. Those who hear and welcome them are blessed.

Matthew's Jesus speaks to us with greater authority than Moses; he announces the way things are in the Kingdom of Heaven (a phrase he uses 33x). Reluctant to speak God's name, or even to speak directly of God, he does not name the One who blesses the poor, the grieving, the meek, and those who hunger for righteousness. His listeners, of course, know that One is the same LORD who directed Moses to lead the Hebrews out of Egypt and into Palestine, they also recognize Jesus as the prophetic lawgiver who speaks both with the authority God has given him, and on his own authority. He and the Father are one. 

Jesus describes the way things are; he is not imagining a new set of ideals by which we should live. Ideals are, by definition, unattainable. They are fanciful visions of what could be if only certain things would happen; if only people would think, feel, and act differently; if only we could remake the world the way it should have been made in the first place. 

Jesus cannot be bothered with ideals born of Earth's sinful cultures. They reflect only the limited imagination of those who are trapped and impaired by the world they have created. 

Rather, Jesus announces blessings to those who accept the way things are in the Kingdom of Heaven. His beatitudes describe eight different groups, a fulsome number with room for everyone. Each group is blessed; they have only to recognize their blessedness. 

The blessed know and believe in God. They see with the eyes of faith what many can neither see nor imagine. We're familiar with that phenomenon. Every spring we're reminded, "Start seeing motorcycles!" because many drivers cannot imagine a motorcycle on the highway, much less a bicycle or pedestrian. And their blindness kills people. 

The faithful see poverty, grief, meekness, and hunger; and they see the blessings God gives to the poor, the grief-stricken, the meek, and those who hunger for righteousness. The blessed celebrate God's goodness while the world looks on in bewildered dismay. Theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.