Ordinary Time

Dec 11 2024

Scripture Study for

The Bible frequently counsels the virtue of humility, especially for the powerful and the wealthy. This exhortation is notable particularly in the wisdom literature, which seeks to inculcate all of the virtues that make for a holy and successful life. Not only is humility appreciated by others, while arrogance puts people off, but more importantly, restraint and modesty are prized by God, especially when exercised by those who are in a position to act arrogantly and abuse others. Intellectual humility is also counseled. The point here is not to stifle curiosity, but to recognize the limits of human reason and to develop a habit of humble submission to revelation and the wisdom of the past.

The author of Hebrews concludes his exhortation to persevere in the struggle against sin so as to inherit God’s promises, by circling back to the theme of Christ’s eternal high priesthood. The first covenant was given at Sinai, in a scene in which God’s mountain was surrounded by smoke and fire and trumpet blast, such that the people were terrified and begged that God speak to them only through Moses (Exodus 19:16–19; 20:18–21). Fear, according to the author, was the primary response at that time. But unlike ancient Israel, Christians approach Mount Zion, which is not clothed in terrifying effects, but surrounded by angels and saints, as in a heavenly liturgy. There also is God, accompanied by Christ. Whereas Abel’s blood cried out for vengeance (Genesis 4:10), Christ’s blood “speaks eloquently” of God’s forgiveness and peace.

Jesus very often draws on biblical wisdom sayings and modes of thought to express his teachings about the divine kingdom (the Beatitudes are a good example). Here Jesus gives the same pragmatic advice we find in Proverbs 25:6–7. Those who jockey for positions of honor will often find themselves instead dishonored when they are asked to move in full view of everyone. Better to receive honor than to grasp after it. This pragmatic lesson about human life leads to a more profound lesson about the ways of God, who humbles the proud and exalts the humble (Luke 1:51–52; 13:30). Rather than seek public acclaim and honor, think of the things of God and share what you have with those who cannot repay you (12:16–21), just as God does, and your reward will be great in heaven (6:35).

Dec 11 2024

Do I Know You?

The tone in the room was light. They were laughing. I had asked them to think about a series of questions about what they valued. It was the first day of our unit on end-of-life issues in morality class. I needed to know my starting point with these sixteen-year-old girls. How did they see the world? What mattered to them? The particular question that we were working on was, “If you had thirty days to live, how would you spend them?” One said that she’d to go climbing in the Alps. One laughed that she’d throw a big party for all of her friends. Another said that she’d eat doughnuts and cake and ice cream, everything she ever wanted and not worry about getting fat. A giggle ran around the room. This was pretend. It was fun.

When I was a chaplain in the hospital, I worked with people who lived and breathed that question. Maybe they had more than thirty days left. Maybe not. As they prepared for death, their values became clearer: Make things right with my family. Forgive. Get my affairs in order. Record a message of love to my grandchildren. It was not pretend. It was serious.

In this part of Luke’s Gospel, Jesus has set his face toward Jerusalem. Does he know for sure that he is headed toward death? Maybe, maybe not. But he grows serious about forming his disciples. You can hear it in his tone when he is asked, “Who will be saved?” His response is urgent: enter through the narrow gate; no shallow discipleship; any old slapdash way of following me isn’t going to work. Be true. Focus. There will be charlatans among you. Some of you follow for egotistic reasons. Some of you are pretending. Go deeper. This is serious. Come, follow me.

Consider/Discuss

Life has its seasons. In the moment of life that you are currently in, take stock of your situation. How much do you value following Jesus? Are you pretending? Are you serious? Maybe a mixture of both? At the end of life, the possibility exists that Jesus might say to you and me, “I do not know you.” While we have the time still available to us, how can we purify our hearts and our interactions and our prayer so that Jesus is thoroughly familiar with us?
We are those who eat and drink in Jesus’ company: at Mass, we eat his Body, we drink his Blood. Yet even then, whole moments of liturgy can pass us by without our paying attention. Jesus is present. We don’t always notice. In what ways could we focus so that we worship more conscientiously? As this new school year begins, make one resolution to strengthen your liturgical practice in this upcoming season.

Living and Praying with the Word

Lord, you call all the nations to you, from far and from near, those who know you and those who don’t. Why should we come to you? You are our good. You are the One who has created us and has cared for us. In your love, you work to steer us straight. Your corrections can hurt. We do not see where our knees are weak and our hands droop. Show us our faults. You want us to bear the fruit of righteousness. When we come to the end of life, we want to hear you say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” We do not want to hear, “I do not know you.” This is serious stuff. Lord, have mercy on us and teach us your ways.

Dec 11 2024

Scripture Study for

The reading from Isaiah comes at the very end of the book and stems from the postexilic period. Small, poor, weak, and ruled now by Persia, the promise of a glorious future for Jerusalem and Judah seems impossible. God’s people themselves have been scattered all over the known world. In response, God assures them that soon God will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to worship (i.e., see God’s glory). Among them God will set a “sign,” prophetic messages or messengers, who will go out to other nations and bring them to worship God. As well, they will summon back all the dispersed of Israel. Just as one brings gifts for God to the temple, so the returned Israelites will be an “offering,” or gift, for God.

The author of Hebrews continues his exhortation to persevere in faith by resisting sin so as to receive the promises of God. The struggles, whether external or internal, of the Christian life may be thought of as divine discipline, allowed or sent by God to bring each person to spiritual maturity. Even if this discipline may at times be conceived as punishment, it should be understood in the same way parental discipline is, as an ultimate benefit for the child, as painful as it may be at the time. Just as children who have not been spoiled mature into well-adjusted adults (ideally), so Christians who are disciplined in their pursuit of holiness find, over time and struggle, that their weaknesses (lameness) are healed, rather than being the source of their downfall.

Dec 11 2024

Closeness in Love

God is love. If we forget that, Christianity is emptied of meaning. It was love that brought the Word-made-flesh into the womb of the Virgin Mary in the Incarnation. It was love that revealed to John the Baptist that the Redeemer had come in today’s story of the Visitation. Today, it is love that cares for the body of her who took care of the body of Jesus.

God is love. That is the source of it all. There is no other. When you love someone, you want them near, close. The Greek word used for death in the New Testament is the opposite of that. It means separation. To be dead means to be cut off, isolated, and alone—apart.

In the Resurrection, God altered that isolation. God brought the human body of Jesus back to life, to be close. Stuff may still look the same on the surface, but God has transformed death in the depths of the earth.

I went to the garden to wrestle with that thought. As “the depths of the earth” simmered in my mind, I picked cherry tomatoes from plants that were ten feet high. Why so big? Last fall, I layered maple leaves and horse manure and then planted a cover crop; in spring, I turned that decaying richness under. Now, here in August, on the surface, you cannot tell. But that unseen transformation in the depths of the earth has brought forth vibrant new life.

Vibrant new life will be ours as well. All that decays? That will be transformed. We will be brought close, not be separated or isolated or lost. That is our hope: God brought Mary home, and will do the same for us. Body and soul, we will join with Jesus in heaven.

For God is love. That is the goal of it all. There is no other.

Consider/Discuss

In the Creed, we say,” I believe in the resurrection of the body.” For two millennia, theologians have wrestled with what a resurrected body looks like. We can try, but we really cannot imagine it, for it is beyond our limited time-and-space-experience. (Analogies don’t always work perfectly either.) But today’s feast of Mary’s assumption encourages us to believe that those whom God loves will ultimately be drawn close; we will become most fully ourselves, a unity of body and soul in heaven. That’s a hard thought. Spend some time thinking about it. (Maybe have a few cherry tomatoes while you’re pondering it.) What does that mean to you and the direction and goal of your life?

Like the soil in a garden, the richness of a prayer life is hidden from view. On the surface it may look the same whether we pray or not, but the fruit is different. When we are washed by God’s love, that experience transforms the junk of our life. When we have been cared about and brought close, that affects how we care for others. Have you had seasons when your prayer life was rich? What does that do for how you interact with others?

Living and Praying with the Word

Great God of the Universe, it all begins and ends with you. Your love surrounds us like a comforter on a cold night. You want us to be close to you. You do not want us to be separated. Thank you for sending your Son to transform death. That is not something that we can fully grasp. But we believe. We cannot imagine what eternal life with you will be like, but we look forward to it with joy. Mary our Mother, on this feast day, we celebrate your assumption into heaven. You are with your Son. Show us the way home. Keep us close.

Dec 11 2024

Scripture Study for

The reading from Revelation proclaims God’s final victory over the forces of evil and chaos that have threatened God’s creation since the days of the Garden of Eden. The woman who appears to John as a “great sign in the sky” represents Israel, not only the ethnic and historic Israel (symbolized by the twelve stars), but all of God’s people united in Christ. The image of the woman in labor represents both the actual birth of the Messiah and the pain and toil of giving birth to the reign of God in the end-times (Matthew 24:8; Mark 13:8; Romans 8:22; 1 Thessalonians 5:3). The image is apt, as the victory is not without cost. The great dragon is Satan, the agent of chaos and evil who seeks to destroy the Messiah’s reign of God but will be defeated (12:7–9), while the people of God remain firmly under the protection of God.

A central theme in Paul’s letters is the resurrection not only of Christ but also, eventually, of all the dead. Yet it appears that some in Corinth did not believe in the resurrection of Christ or of the dead in general. After showing that such a belief makes the gospel nonsense (15:12–19), Paul asserts again that not only was Christ raised from the dead, but he is “the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” Death came to the human race through the sin of Adam; now life comes because of the obedience of Christ, whose sacrifice in our behalf has defeated death. As history moves toward its climax, those who belong to Christ and then others will be raised from the dead. In that final hour, Christ’s sovereign rule over all creation will be complete and evident, as even the greatest enemy of humans, death itself, is subjected to him.

Mary’s Magnificat exults in the work that God has done, still does, and will do for God’s creation. Not only has God looked upon Mary, “his lowly servant,” but by bringing forth the Messiah, God has looked with favor upon “all generations.” We note that Mary uses the “prophetic perfect” here: God “has” shown the strength of God’s arm, scattered the proud, filled the hungry, etc. One has only to look around to see that in many cases the proud and the rich do still reign, while the lowly and hungry still suffer. So how is it that God “has” accomplished this reversal? The prophetic perfect speaks from the perspective of God’s will, which is never thwarted and so will certainly come to pass. They are as certain to happen as if they already had. Mary’s song expresses this trust in God’s word, enlivened by the child in her womb, the clearest sign that God’s will is being done.