Month: August 2015

20th Sunday in Ordinary Time,Cycle B

by

In today’s First Reading we see Wisdom personified as a woman who invites the uninstructed to come to her banquet and receive nourishment in order to attain life and understanding. Wisdom is associated with life and knowledge. The Second Reading also encourages the Christians to live wisely, trying to understand the will of the Lord and not just seeking the immediate and irresponsible pleasures of a fleeting drunken banquet, but, rather a celebration that fills with the Spirit, a liturgical celebration of hymns to the Lord and thanksgiving to the Father through Christ.

The Second Reading aptly summarizes the discourse we’ve been considering over the last few Sundays regarding the Eucharist: instead of seeking the fleeting pleasure of wine and remaining in ignorance, Our Lord is inviting his listeners to be filled with the Spirit and to partake of the banquet of his Body and his Blood and to grow in knowledge through faith in him. If the First Reading personified Wisdom and its benefits in terms of a woman inviting to a fine meal, Our Lord today is not speaking metaphorically or symbolically, as the consternation of his listeners shows at the thought of eating his flesh. With Jesus they’re receiving an invitation from the Wisdom of God in person (see 1 Corinthians 1:24), and he is saying that he is the banquet they need for eternal life and communion with God. Through communion with him they will enjoy wisdom and will enjoy eternal life, but they must have faith in the knowledge he is trying to impart to them.

As we receive Our Lord in the Eucharist today, the Wisdom of God in person, let’s thank him for coming in person to nourish us and ask him to fill us with his Spirit so that we praise him “in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.”

Readings: Proverbs 9:1–6; Psalm 34:2–7; Ephesians 5:15–20; John 6:51–58.

Assumption, Cycle B

by

Today we celebrate a path that we’re all called to walk: from here to Heaven. We celebrate Mary’s assumption, body and soul, into Heaven after her time upon this world. Mary received the grace to be body and soul in Heaven along with her son. The other just souls that have preceded us are in Heaven, but they’re separated from their bodies until the Last Day when Our Lord raises everyone from the dead in the Last Judgment. Some Old Testament figures may have received this grace as well (such as Elijah and Enoch), but we know for certain that Mary and Jesus are in Heaven, body and soul. As the Second Reading reminds us, Jesus ascended, body and soul, to take his place at the right hand of the Father and intercede for us. Upon taking his place in Heaven he received the reward for accomplishing his mission on earth and made it possible for us to arrive there one day as well.

Why did Mary receive this grace as well? Sometimes we can think that she merited special treatment (the Immaculate Conception, the vocation to be the Mother of God, etc.) for no other reason than the goodness of God and the fact of being his mother. It’s important to remember that not everything was easy for Mary. God’s gifts are meant to help each one of us to fulfill our role in the work of redemption, either by strengthening us or by giving us an opportunity to bear spiritual fruit. Mary received special gifts that make us praise God for her, but hidden ones as well. After accepting the invitation to be the Mother of God she gave birth to Jesus in a cave, she had to flee to Egypt, she had to spend thirty years in Nazareth before his public ministry, all the way to seeing her son dead on the cross and buried in the tomb.

Contemplating the assumption of Mary into Heaven reminds us that suffering and trials are also gifts from God, and what awaits us if we accept suffering and trials with patience and faith, desiring to help Our Lord accomplish the work of redemption. Let’s pray today that Mary help us make the journey to Heaven and one day shine their alongside her and her Son.

Readings: Revelation 11:19a, 12:1–6a, 10ab; Psalm 45:10–12, 16; 1 Corinthians 15:20–27; Luke 1:39–56.

BVM

19th Week in Ordinary Time, Friday

by

In today’s Gospel Our Lord teaches us about marriage in response to some sticky questions posed by the Pharisees about divorce in order to trip him up.  Marriage was a complex issue back then, and in today’s society it has not grown any easier. This is one of the few Gospel passages where Our Lord sees the need to correct an interpretation that Mosaic law made; usually Our Lord exhorts a more profound observance of the Law, not a correction to it. He teaches in today’s Gospel that marriage is something established between a man and a woman, but it is also bond forged by God. As a bond forged by God the married man and woman also receive spiritual help in remaining faithful to each other. The Pharisees in Jesus’ time were debating whether divorce was allowed for either a serious reason or a less serious reasons, as two Rabbinical schools at the time were contending, trying to interpret Mosaic law’s concession of divorce in some cases.* Jesus responded that neither school was correct: divorce was not part of God’s plan “from the beginning.”

Jesus qualifies this by speaking of an exception for the marriage being “unlawful.” A lot of ink has been spilt regarding the meaning of this phrase, especially since the more literal translation of the expression is “fornication” or “sexual immorality,” so it gives the impression that divorce would be permitted in cases of adultery. Given what Our Lord had just said, it’s unlikely this is what he would have meant. “Unlawful” here could refer to a union in marriage that would be incestuous (relatives, such as cousins, marrying each other), and therefore they shouldn’t have been married due to consanguinity. Catholic teaching on this clause is that a faithful spouse can separate from an unfaithful one who has fallen into sexual immorality: it refers to separation, where the marriage bond continues but the spouses live apart, as opposed to dissolving the marriage bond through divorce.*

Let’s pray today for all marriages, for those spouses who are suffering from a separation, and that marriages experiencing difficulty may receive the grace, counseling, and insight they need in order to resolve their differences and be faithful to the bond God has forged between them until death do them part.

Readings: Joshua 24:1–13; Psalm 136:1–3, 16–18, 21–22, 24; Matthew 19:3–12.

* See Jones, A. (1953). “The Gospel of Jesus Christ according to St Matthew” in B. Orchard & E. F. Sutcliffe (Eds.), A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture. Toronto;New York;Edinburgh: Thomas Nelson, p. 885.

19th Week in Ordinary Time, Thursday

by

In today’s Gospel Our Lord reinforces a theme we pray about in the Lord’s Prayer: that we ask for forgiveness, but should forgive in turn. When someone doesn’t value mercy they not only don’t welcome it into their hearts, but are also unlikely to show much of it to others.

The servant forgiven an enormous debt by his master in today’s Gospel didn’t appreciate it. By turning on his fellow servant, who owed him a miniscule amount in comparison, he showed that he had not really accepted the gift of his master’s mercy. When we have wronged someone we want to be forgiven, but we should show our gratitude by forgiving those who trespass against us.

Let’s thank Our Lord today for all the mercy he has shown us–past, present, and future–by being merciful and forgiving toward others.

Readings: Joshua 3:7–10a, 11, 13–17; Psalm 114:1–6; Matthew 18:21–19:1.

19th Week in Ordinary Time, Wednesday

by

In today’s Gospel Our Lord reminds us that before entering into litigation with someone who has wronged us we should try simple fraternal correction. Our society today tends to try and resolve disputes through rules and regulations, lawyers and courts, fines and penalties. We often try from the beginning to get justice from someone through someone else, when we know that nobody reacts well to being pressured into doing something. We should always try to start by settling a dispute fraternally: one on one, in frank but charitable dialogue. We should not only seek our own good, but the good of the person who has afflicted us, and we won’t completely understand their motives if we don’t speak to them. There are many small disagreements that can be resolved this way, and to everyone’s satisfaction.

If an attempt at fraternal correction fails it is not a lack of charity to bring witnesses in and, if necessary the Church (authorities), in order to help both parties see the truth and adhere to it. Justice is sought after, but the good of both parties as well. If the guilty party does not listen to all the facts and to an authoritative judgment, then the guilty party has been shown to not be in communion with those he or she has afflicted and that has to be acknowledged, sometimes publicly.

Let’s pray today that everyone be open to simple fraternal correction for the sake of charity and communion, without the need for “escalation.”

Readings: Deuteronomy 34:1–12; Psalm 66:1–3a, 5, 8, 16–17; Matthew 18:15–20.