Cycle A

23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

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Nobody likes to be corrected. It tweaks our ego, and it is often badly done, or consists of someone making snide comments or berating us because we’ve done something they don’t like. Fraternal correction can also sting, but it has the good of the corrected person in mind. Today’s readings remind us that correction, when done fraternally, it a great act of charity that we should appreciate and practice for the good of others.

In today’s First Reading the Lord reminds Ezekiel, and us, that it is our moral responsibility to warn a brother or sister that they are doing something evil. It’s our duty to inform people of the consequences of their evil actions. When the Lord first asked Cain about the murder of Abel, he phrased it in a way that tried to help Cain realize he was responsible for his brother: “Where is Abel your brother?” Cain responded, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” (Genesis 4:9). We are all our brother’s keeper. We live in a world that teaches us to mind our own business, but that doesn’t include someone who is drowning, at the mercy of criminals, or committing a crime themselves. Our society is full of initiatives to help others turn from evil: from programs for “at risk” youth to drug rehab to penitentiaries, but none of them has the same power as a brother or sister who genuinely cares and takes an interest in someone on the wrong path. The Lord today is telling Ezekiel today, and us, to inform consciences out of charity, not to force them onto the right path. If we love someone we cannot leave them in ignorance about the evil they’re doing.

In today’s Second Reading St. Paul reminds us that every just law is built on love, and if we focus on loving and teaching others to love everything else will fall into place. Society has many laws and measures today that are built on justice, but not always enforced with love. Deeper than the labels of “suspect,” “victim,” “criminal,” there is only one label that matters: “brother.” Paul simply repeats what Our Lord himself answered when the scribe asked him what was the greatest commandment regarding each other: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (see Mark 12:31). Fraternal correction is not returning evil for evil, no matter what our brother has done.

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, 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. When the Church formally declares someone to be excommunicated or under interdict it is taking this step for the good of the unrepentant party.

Today’s readings are about doing fraternal correction, but we need to learn to accept correction as well. If someone takes an interest enough in you to point out something that you might need to work on, you should be grateful. If the person is not exactly fraternal about it, and it is a valid point, you should be grateful. As an added bonus, it well help you to be more fraternal in correcting others.

Readings: Ezekiel 33:7–9; Psalm 95:1–2, 6–9; Romans 13:8–10 Matthew 18:15–20.

 

22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

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In today’s Gospel Peter balks at the thought that Christ must deny himself and take up his cross. Last week Our Lord was praising Peter’s faith; this week he is condemning his worldly outlook.

In today’s First Reading Jeremiah laments all the ridicule and suffering he endures for the Lord’s cause. Jeremiah was called to be the Lord’s prophet in a time when people preferred their own counsel and wished for an easy solution to their problems that didn’t involve faith or sacrifice. He is dejected because his mission is as hard as he imagined, but he let the Lord talk him into it anyway. When facing the hardship of decisions made, we often ask ourselves, “What was I thinking?” Jeremiah is having one of those moments. Despite difficulty and dejection he burns inside to carry on, because he knows he is heralding the truth, something no one can turn their back on. He knows his message will save his people.

In today’s Second Reading St. Paul reminds us that we are called to a spiritual worship that implies sacrifice, just as Christ sacrificed himself on the Cross as an act of perfect worship for our sins. The martyrs answered the call to sacrifice their very lives for the cause of Christ. The confessors suffered physically for the cause of his name. By shouldering our crosses we offer spiritual sacrifice to Our Lord and place our worship alongside Our Lord’s perfect sacramental worship each time we celebrate the Eucharist. We can never forget that now we offer in a non bloody manner at each Mass what he offered in a bloody manner on Calvary. The world tries to turn our minds away from the Cross, but the cross is the true path to life and fulfillment. When we accept and shoulder the crosses in our life it renews our attitude toward the fleeting things of this world and what is truly important.

In today’s Gospel Our Lord teaches us that the cross is a part of our life whether we want it or not, and what matters is how we face it and why we face it. He also encourages us to practice self-detachment and to remember that everything we have comes from God. No matter how often we try to accumulate things and ensure comfort, something prevents it from happening. Some people are wealthy, or healthy, or in charge of their lives, yet they feel something is missing. All things that God has created only serve us to the degree that they help us and others draw closer to God. Sometimes we lose sight of that: we want a life that does not involved self-denial and the Cross, a life where we own everything we could possibly want, not just everything we need. We seek financial security, comfort, and control, and we convince ourselves that we’ll be satisfied with having more money, more comfort, more control.

The things of this world are fleeting and we’ve all experienced that after one bill comes another, that we can’t always enjoy the health or comfort we crave, no matter how hard we try, and that there are many things that will always be beyond our control. When we get obsessed about achieving the impossible in this world–unlimited wealth (the latest and greatest and a big nest egg), complete comfort (no aches and pains, nothing unpleasant), and total control (everything arranged to our satisfaction)–those things that God created for our good become obstacles to drawing closer to him, and throw up obstacles for others as well.

Our Lord reminds us today that we can have the whole world, but not possess what is truly important: an enduring and fulfilled life. That enduring and fulfilled life doesn’t exist in this world, yet this world is the path to it. It depends on how we live in this world. Our Lord teaches us today that the only way to achieve what we truly desire is to take up our cross for the sake of a higher cause: his cause. Our Lord was ravaged on the cross, but not defeated, and from that Tree of Life an enduring and fulfilling life is made possible, if we take up his cause and imitate him. The alternative is a ravaged world: the more we seek fleeting things, the more we flee from our crosses, the more we’ll suffer lasting misery, because if we put our stock only in the things of this world, they will, sooner or later, pass away.

Let’s ask Our Lord today to help us see our crosses not as burdens, but as opportunities to help construct a better world in his name. Through our crosses, in his service, we can achieve a better life for ourselves and for others. Let’s take up our cross and take up the cause of Christ.

Readings: Jeremiah 20:7–9; Psalm 63:2–6, 8–9; Romans 12:1–2; Matthew 16:21–27.

21st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

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Even today there are lots of opinions on who Jesus is or who he was, but today’s readings remind us that the most important opinion is our own: who do I say that Christ is?

Today’s First Reading shows the contrast between the faithful steward entrusted with the keys to everything and the steward stripped of them due to his infidelity. The palace to which Isaiah refers today is the royal palace, an important responsibility. The master of the palace, a steward, represented the king’s interests in many ways and in the king’s name. When Isaiah refers to the house of Judah and the House of David he is referring to much more than a building: he is referring to the royal family and the kingdom. A good steward to the king serves him, his family, his servants, and his people. This level of responsibility brings an incredible pressure from all sides trying to curry the steward’s favor or bring about his downfall. It requires a solid acknowledgement on his part of who is truly in charge: the king. We don’t know what Shebna did to get fired, but Isaiah sees in Eliakim a man who will stand firm in his service to all. This reading is a Scriptural foundation for the Church’s faith on what it meant to have Christ, Our King, entrust the keys of the kingdom of Heaven, his keys, to Peter and his successors.

In today’s Second Reading St. Paul reminds us that an even greater treasure and responsibility has been entrusted to Peter and his successors. God came in Person in his son to reveal the treasures of Our Father: “the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God.” The Church has faithfully watched over this treasure through the centuries, but not just collectively. Our Lord entrusted Peter and his successors with what we call today the deposito fidei: the deposit of faith. Our treasure is the truth about God, about who Our Lord is and what he said and did, about the path to holiness and happiness. The greatest treasure the Church watches over and communicates is the truth about who Jesus is.

In today’s Gospel Our Lord starts quizzing his disciples about the rumor mill regarding him, but then hits them with a pop quiz. Who did people think Our Lord was? Simply a prophet, and, for most, not even a new prophet: one back from the dead. Little did the disciples realize as they rattled off the theories that they’d have to answer for themselves too. Peter taught us how we should respond to the question: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Peter’s profession of faith in today’s Gospel was bolstered by grace, not just his own sleuthing. The Father revealed something about his Son in Peter’s response, and Peter’s faith should be our faith. Peter’s faith in Christ was rewarded by Christ’s trust in him. Just as Eliakim was entrusted with the keys to all the House of David’s possessions, Peter was entrusted with the keys to the kingdom of Heaven. Our Lord promised him that the gates of the netherworld would not prevail against the Church that the Lord would found upon him as the Rock.

Who is Christ to you? If your response lacks any element of Peter’s response it is time to reexamine and deepen your faith.

Readings: Isaiah 22:19–23; Psalm 138:1–3, 6, 8; Romans 11:33–36; 16:13–20.

20th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

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In today’s readings we see an apparently harsh encounter turn into a lesson of humility and faith that points the way to the manner in which we, the People of God, are not just united in blood lineage, but by faith. The People of God were not called to embrace all nations overnight, but gradually.

In today’s First Reading Isaiah reminds us that the people of Israel, gathered into one nation and worshipping in the Temple on the “holy mountain” were just phase one of God’s desire to be the God of all nations. To Isaiah’s first listeners the foreigners had no chance of inheriting the blessings or the promises offered to the people of Israel by the Lord. Through the prophet the Lord reveals that through their fidelity and worship other peoples, “foreigners” would be drawn to the Lord and be considered worthy to come to him in worship together with the Israelites. Even in Our Lord’s earthly time non-Israelites had a place in the Temple if they feared the Lord, called the court of the Gentiles. They could observe, but not participate more closely in worship.

In today’s Second Reading Paul laments that, while the Gentiles (non-Israelites) had believed and accepted the Gospel, so many of his brother Israelites (Jews) had not, despite all the Lord had given them. Paul himself at first did his ministry among the Jews, and was frustrated by their rejection of the Gospel. Based upon those experiences and as he worked to spread the Gospel he realized that the Lord had called him to be the apostle sent to the Gentiles, a mission not carried out during Jesus’ earthly life. In Jesus’ time a smattering of Gentiles came to him, not the other way around. Paul tries to explain today that the Jews’ loss was the Gentiles’ gain. Israel had been called to first receive the Gospel, with mixed results, but the Gentiles did accept the Gospel, even though they’d not been prepared for it like the Jews had been.

In today’s Gospel on face value it seems Our Lord is being very harsh with the Canaanite woman, but he is actually showing what an expert reader of hearts he is. There was bad blood between the Israelites and the Canaanites: the first generation of Israelites were so scared of them that they didn’t enter the Promised Land and continued to journey in the desert for forty more years.

Jesus is not just being driven by the prejudices of his time: when the Centurion asked him for help, another pagan, he didn’t hesitate (see Matthew 8:5–13). Jesus during his earthly ministry concentrated on the Jewish people; later his Apostles and disciples would bring the Gospel beyond the confines of Judaism, as is narrated in the Acts of the Apostles. Therefore the conversation with the Canaanite woman is very similar to the Wedding Feast at Cana when Mary asked him to do something about the wine situation and he said, “my hour has not yet come” (see John 2:4).

The Canaanite woman in today’s Gospel shows a lot of courage in the quest to free her daughter from being afflicted by a demon. Our Lord was a Jew, but also a miracle worker, so she decided to try. In her first attempt to greet Our Lord she even used the Messianic title, “Son of David”: for the people of the time it was not clear that the Messiah would be a good thing for anyone who was not a Jew. Perhaps she was trying to butter him up a little. Our Lord responds as she probably expected: the cold shoulder. However, we know Our Lord can read hearts, so this was not a simple brush off; something more profound was going on.

When the disciples pressed him regarding the matter, he told them it was not yet time for his ministry to go beyond the children of Israel. Israel had a special role in the plan of salvation and Our Lord was sent to attend to them; the rest would be attended to later. In a sense, the Canaanite woman was trying to skip the line. When Our Lord rebuffs her again she is not shy about acknowledging that she is not entitled to what she is requesting.

Sometimes we forget that Our Lord doesn’t have to give us anything. Yet Our Lord rewards her faith and humility in the end. Our Lord is having this conversation in front of all his disciples so that they could see that even someone who’d not been prepared to believe could believe. Like his response to Mary in the Wedding Feast at Cana, here he was inviting the Canaanite woman to offer something more: greater faith and humility. The Canaanite woman rose to the occasion and Jesus congratulated her on her faith and healed her daughter, not only to her benefit but to that of the disciples as well.

Our Lord rebuffed the Canaanite woman twice. How many of us would have stomped off fuming after being treated that way? She is not shy about acknowledging that she is not entitled to what she is requesting, and she is rewarded in the end for her faith and humility. Sometimes we forget that Our Lord doesn’t have to give us anything. He has given us everything we need, but not always what we might have wanted. Didn’t our parent do the same many times, especially in those moments when we were immature and selfish about what we wanted? Let’s ask Our Lord for what we need, thankful that he’ll consider our petition and humble enough to recognize that we aren’t entitled to it.

Readings: Isaiah 56:1, 6–7; Psalm 67:2–3, 5–6, 8; Romans 11:13–15, 29–32; Matthew 15:21–28.

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

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When faced with difficulties and turmoil the believer seeks out the Lord, but many today only resort to faith and prayer as a last resort when all other avenues are exhausted. Today’s readings remind us that seeking God’s presence should be our instinct in all matters, big and small.

In today’s First Reading Elijah has made a long and tiring pilgrimage to Mount Horeb to consult God when his life is endangered by the evil Jezebel. Forty days and nights before reaching Horeb Elijah had worked a powerful sign showing the Lord was God, had overthrown a veritable army of false prophets, and witnessed a long punitive drought that was imposed on the unfaithful Israelites ended. Despite this, his life was in danger and it seemed the evil and infidelity in Israel was as strong and powerful as ever, spearheaded by Jezebel, who pledged to kill after he’d humiliated her prophets and pagan religion.

He considered himself a failure and just wanted to sit beneath a tree and die. Yet the Lord’s messenger urged him to make the long pilgrimage to mount Horeb, the “mountain of God.” Upon arrival the Lord invites Elijah to explore his motivations for coming and then orders him to leave the cave in which he’d taken refuge and stand in his presence. Elijah knows the Lord is not to be found in the earthquake, the fire, or any other pyrotechnics or “special effects.” He reacts at the quietist of noises, knowing the Lord is there. When we’re faced with turmoil we too need to ignore the pyrotechnics of the situation and seek a moment of quiet. That’s where we’ll find the Lord. It may take time and sacrifice, but the Lord will reveal himself.

In today’s Second Reading Paul laments that Israel had received so much from the Lord but failed to recognize the Messiah when he came to them. The Messiah, their Savior, was their own flesh and blood, yet they didn’t recognize him when he finally came. John in the prologue to his Gospel said, “He was in the world, and the world came to be through him, but the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, but his own people did not accept him. But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God” (John 1:10-12).

Many Israelites did not recognize him as Messiah or as God. This should be a cautionary tale for us. We have so much in the Church, and have inherited so much from the Jews, but we must always remember who is behind them: Our Lord. They are ways of connecting or reconnecting with him. We’re adopted as sons and daughters of God through Christ. We receive glory through him, worship him, and follow his teachings, and trust in his promises. Let’s not squander the gifts by forgetting their Giver.

In today’s Gospel the disciples were sent by Our Lord into what soon became stormy waters, and when he approached them, they thought they were doomed, because they didn’t recognize him. The disciples saw a ghost and thought it was a sign that they’d soon be ghosts too. After all the miracles Our Lord had already performed you’d think walking on water would not have been that shocking to them. Our Lord has to encourage them: “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.” Peter takes a risk and takes a step out of the boat and into the storm because he believed Our Lord was there and would help him. He takes one step…two steps…three steps…then the wind starts to howl and his feet start to sink in the water. Our Lord did not let him drown, and he will not let us drown either if we turn to him in faith.

As long as we’re on good terms with Our Lord (a life of grace), the Lord dwells inside us. Even when we’re not, he is near, always ready to reconnect. If you want to be able to seek out the Lord in stormy moments, foster the habit of seeking him out in calm ones as well. When things are going well, thank him. When life is not full of earth-shattering events, talk to him. Friends talk about everything no matter what the circumstances. Take a moment sometime this week to foster an awareness of Our Lord’s presence in your soul and speak with him. If you’re burdened by some sin that has distanced you from Our Lord, seek him in the sacrament of Reconciliation.

Readings: 1 Kings 19:9a, 11–13a; Psalm 85:9–14; Romans 9:1–5; Matthew 14:22–33.