Ordinary Time

12th Week of Ordinary Time, Wednesday, Year II

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Today’s First Reading reminds us that despite all the good intentions in the world we need help to be objective in seeking and doing good. Josiah, the unnamed king in today’s First Reading, was trying to reform and restore worship in Israel, and in renovating the Temple the “book of the law” was rediscovered (books from the Old Testament, probably the first at least), and Josiah realized how fare Israel had drifted from what their Lord had expected of them.

Imagine a world where the Bible itself was lost and re-discovered. Many of the good cultural inroads that Christianity has made, to the benefit of not just believers, but all of society, have been lost or have been forgotten. As in the case of the First Reading, it is not any one person’s fault: an entire people had forgotten their identity and their heritage and just drifted into whatever the prevailing public fashion dictated. Our Lord in today’s Gospel warns us against false prophets and bad trees; it takes scratching beneath the surface to see them for what they truly are. As believers we must shape our opinions and our lives based on the Christian faith and the teachings of the Church, not on the whims of a society often fickle and superficial.

I invite you to take the “Josiah” challenge: Sacred Scripture and the Catechism of the Catholic Church are readily available online. Crack or click them open and examine your life to see whether your covenant with the Lord needs renewing. You may be surprised.

Readings: 2 Kings 22:8–13, 23:1–3; Psalm 119:33–37, 40; Matthew 7:15–20. See also 23rd Week in Ordinary Time, Saturday.

12th Week of Ordinary Time, Tuesday, Year II

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In today’s First Reading the king of Assyria, Sennacherib, emboldened by his victories, makes the mistake of not just taunting and calling out King Hezekiah of Judah, but the Lord himself. As we saw yesterday, the Assyrians had completely conquered the Northern Kingdom of Israel and now they had invaded the Southern Kingdom of Judah.

Any general will tell you that expanding your war is foolish. Sennacherib declared war on the Lord, obviously to demoralize Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem. Unlike the Northern Kingdom, King Hezekiah took it to the Lord and entrusted his kingdom to the one who could save it and would save it, because it was the Lord’s Kingdom, and Hezekiah was simply its steward. Just as the prophet Isaiah brought a word of encouragement to Hezekiah, the Lord sent a message to Sennacherib by striking down a huge portion of his army and forcing his retreat.

The moral of this story is that if you wage war on the Lord, you will lose. If you ally yourself with him, no matter how dire the odds, he will defend you. Entrust yourself to him. He gave you life itself, and he will defend and bless it if you let him.

Readings: 2 Kings 19:9b–11, 14–21, 31–35a, 36; Psalm 48:2–4, 10–11; Matthew 7:6, 12–14. See also 12th Week in Ordinary Time, Tuesday.

12th Week of Ordinary Time, Monday, Year II

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In today’s First Reading the Israelites have split into two kingdoms due to tax disputes: the Northern Kingdom of Israel, with its capital in Samaria, and the Southern Kingdom of Judah, with its capital in Jerusalem. Today’s Gospel warns us against being fixated on the faults of others when we have big problems of our own: the Northern Kingdom had been so fixated on the Southern Kingdom that it underestimated the threat of Assyria, and, as a result, it was conquered and absorbed into the Assyrian empire.

Even while trying to assert its Israelite identity the Northern Kingdom was abandoning the customs of its forefathers, probably to stand out in contrast against Judah, and the very identity it tried to preserve was lost. The Kingdom of Judah was not flawless, but the Northern Kingdom turned a blind eye to its own faults because it was too busy judging Judah’s. It’s a reminder to all of us to avoid judging another altogether, as Our Lord teaches us in today’s Gospel, but to especially focus on any cause for condemnation we may find in ourselves before sizing up and condemning others.

Let’s ask Our Lord today to enlighten us regarding our own faults so that we may better help others to over come theirs.

Readings: 2 Kings 17:5–8, 13–15a, 18; Psalm 60:3–5, 12–13; Matthew 7:1–5. See also 23rd Week in Ordinary Time, Friday and 12th Week in Ordinary Time, Monday.

12th Week of Ordinary Time, Sunday, Cycle C

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The Church Fathers, contemplating the passage of John when the soldier pierced Our Lord’s side on the cross, see the blood and water flowing form his side as symbolizing the birth of the Church, the sacrament of the Eucharist, and the sacrament of Baptism. The Church is born through the sacraments of initiation. In today’s First Reading the prophet Zechariah speaks of the pierced one, and a fountain being opened to purify from sin and uncleanness. The pierced one is Christ, and the fountain of baptism flows from his Cross.

Paul in today’s Second Reading describes those who have believed in Christ and been baptized as clothed in Christ. Their ethnicity, social status, and sex are now clothed with something that puts an end to any enmity between them: they now share communion with God and with each other through Christ. The pierced one on the cross has become that fountain from which every reconciliation is achievable when hearts are open to it.

Christ’s suffering and death powers the cleansing waters of baptism. He washes all our sins away with his blood, if we let him. If we follow him in times of peace, let’s also take to heart his teaching in today’s Gospel to take up our own crosses every day in order to follow him.

Readings: Zechariah 12:10–11, 13:1; Psalm 63:2–6, 8–9; Galatians 3:26–29; Luke 9:18–24. See also Feast of the Chair of St. Peter, Thursday after Ash Wednesday, 25th Week in Ordinary Time, Friday, and 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B.

11th Week of Ordinary Time, Saturday, Year II

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In yesterday‘s First Reading we saw Joash whisked away from certain death and hidden in the Temple under the priest Jehoiada’s care until he could claim his rightful throne. Today, upon Jehoida’s death, Joash takes council from princes as bad as those who’d denied him his throne, and abandons worship of the very God who’d protected him and saved him. Joash did not learn the lesson of today’s Gospel: God in his Providence takes care of everything, all we need to do is seek his Kingdom and his righteousness and he’ll work out the rest.

Joash was appointed as a steward over the People of God; Judah was God’s Kingdom, and Joash, by abandoning the Lord, tried to usurp that kingdom from the Lord, a foolish proposition by anyone’s estimation. The Lord didn’t give up on him; he sent Jehoiada’s son, the prophet Zechariah, to warn him of his folly. Joash ignored Zechariah and killed him. As a result Joash brought so much misfortune upon Judah that his servants felt obliged to take justice into their own hands and make him pay for murdering Zechariah. In death, he was not acknowledged as a king at all, a complete reverse of fortunes at his own hand.

If we seek the Lord’s Kingdom and righteousness we have nothing to fear. Ask Our Lord to help you see the daily signs of his Providence in order to pursue his interests as your own.

Readings: 2 Chronicles 24:17–25; Psalm 89:4–5, 29–34; Matthew 6:24–34. See also 11th Week in Ordinary Time, Saturday.