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Scripture today:
Ezechiel
18:21-28; Psalm 130:1-8; Matthew 5:20-26
Jesus said to his
disciples, “I tell you that unless your justice exceeds than that of
the scribes and Pharisees you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. You
have heard that it was said to those of old, You must not kill, and
whosoever does kill will be in danger of the judgment. But I say to
you, that whosoever is angry with his brother will be in danger of the
judgment. Whosoever says to his brother, Raca, will be in danger of the
council, and whosoever says, You fool, will be in danger of hell fire.
If therefore you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember
that your brother has any thing against you, leave there your offering
before the altar, and go first to be reconciled to your brother. Then
come to offer your gift. Arrive at an agreement with your adversary in
time while you are on the way with him. Otherwise your adversary may
deliver you to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer,
and you will be cast into prison. Amen I say to you, you will get out
from there till you repay the last farthing.(Matthew 5:20-26)
Religion
of the heart
It does not take much to see that there are different levels in the practice of
religion. There is the kind of religion that consists in performing religious
ceremonies for a variety of purposes. The ceremonies could be primarily a
pivotal mechanism for civil order and social cohesion, based on a common
religion.
Alternatively, religious ceremonies could be a means to placate and supplicate
the gods. At the age of 37 Julius Caesar bribed his way into the elected office
of Pontifex Maximus, senior state priest, and so performed public religious
ceremonies. Religion was important for the Romans. Again, there is a level of
religion which goes beyond ceremonies and involves everyday behaviour. The
religious person in his concrete activity in society tries to obey the powers
above. He understands that if he steals, or is dishonest, or injures others,
then he will be judged and punished by God or the gods. If he is just and good
to others then he will be rewarded. However, there is a level of religion that
is far deeper than this, far more all‑pervasive and radical. That is the
religion of the heart in which all that goes on in a person’s mind and heart is
subjected to the will of God and ordered to his glory. This is surely the
fundamental challenge facing every person who wishes to please God in life and
it is the basic arena of God’s concern. God is fundamentally concerned about
what is the state of our mind, heart and soul because from there come the words,
the actions and entire life of the individual and of all of society. The state
of mankind depends on what is happening in the minds and hearts of all men and
women. When our Lord was asked by one of the scribes which is the greatest
commandment of the Law, he was being referred to a Law which also embraced
numerous laws and prescriptions regulating religious and social behaviour.
Which is the greatest of them? Our Lord’s reply emphasised the religion of the
heart. He said that the first and greatest commandment was to love God with all
one’s mind and heart, and the second was to love one’s neighbour as oneself.
Everything depends on this love, he said.
In our Gospel today (Matthew 5:20‑26), our
Lord drives home his point that God expects an obedience of the heart, and not
merely of our concrete, observable behaviour. In this religion of the heart, we
must go well beyond that of the scribes and Pharisees. The Ten Commandments
forbad the unjust taking of life, but he, Jesus, required that the anger that
ultimately leads to this be banished from one’s heart. “You have heard that it
was said to those of old, You must not kill, and whosoever does kill will be in
danger of the judgment. But I say to you, that whosoever is angry with his
brother will be in danger of the judgment” (Matthew 5:20‑26). In respect to
religious ceremonies and the offering of sacrifice to God, it is not enough to
make the offering. One must be reconciled with one’s brother as well. “If
therefore you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your
brother has any thing against you, leave there your offering before the altar,
and go first to be reconciled to your brother. Then come to offer your gift.”
Christ our Lord came to take away the sin of the world and to confer on man —
willing man! — the gift of holiness, a holiness of the heart. Now this in turn
brings us to the great gift and fact of grace. Christ came to transform the
heart of man and not just to view man’s heart in a different light — in the
light, that is, of the merits of his own sacrifice on Calvary. He effects this
transformation through the gift of the Holy Spirit and his grace. This gift is
received with faith and conferred at baptism. When a person strives to live in
obedience to God, and when he repents and begins again, his heart is being
sanctified by this grace of Christ. He gradually becomes genuinely holy. God
does not merely repute him to be such. Grace makes of him, as St Paul writes, a
new creature. A transformation has begun and is under way, a transformation
into Christ. The Christian saint lives a life of holiness at the level of the
heart and he does this by the power of grace and his own free cooperation. His
heart, and not merely his actions, let alone merely his religious ceremonies,
gradually become holy. This is what Christ commands and which he has come to
effect in us.
In the nineteenth century John Henry Newman wrote stellar sermons during his
leadership of the Anglican Oxford Movement. In one of his sermons he pinpoints
one of the foundations of a truly religious life. It is living with a lively
sense of the presence of God. God sees all. He sees everything that is going
on in my mind and heart. I must serve him at that level. If my ambition is to
serve him — and that is what he commands — then I must serve him with all my
heart and not just in all my words and actions. I have the grace of God to do
it, and it is this which our Lord is asking of each of us in our Gospel today.
There is no excuse for those who could
be scholars and are not.
(The Way,
no.332) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Scripture today:
Deuteronomy 26:16-19; Psalm 119:1-2, 4-5, 7-8; Matthew 5:43-48
Jesus said to his
disciples, “You have heard that it has been said, Love your neighbour
and hate your enemy. But I say to you, Love your enemies. Do good to
those who hate you and pray for those who persecute and calumniate you,
so as to be children of your Father in heaven. He makes his sun to rise
on both the good and the bad, and sends rain to both the just and the
unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward will you have?
Do not even the publicans do this much? If you salute your brethren
only, what extra do you do? Do not also the heathens do this? Be you
therefore perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect.”(Matthew 5:43-48)
Christ
our life
Christ’s command to love one’s neighbour as oneself is a very difficult command
to fulfill. Consider family life with all its ups and downs, with its
misunderstandings and tensions between spouses and children over the years.
Consider relationships within the wider family of relatives, among friends,
acquaintances, at the workplace, wherever.
The whole arena of ordinary daily life is embraced by the word “neighbour,” and
pervading all neighbourly relationships must be the practice of Christian love.
But Christ taught that the “neighbour” we are commanded by God to love is more
than family, friends, work associates and fellow countrymen. The “neighbour” is
anyone who is in need. The paradigm example is the man who fell among robbers
on the way from Jerusalem to Jericho. It was the Samaritan — a foreigner and a
religious heretic — who fulfilled the command to love one’s neighbour. Now, so
renowned is the teaching of Christ on the practice of charity and justice
towards the needy that, in the eyes of many, being a Christian simply means
being charitable towards those in need. Many forget the person of Christ,
whereas at the heart of Christianity is the love and service of Christ — but of
course Christ identifies with the least person in need. It is in this sense
that to be a follower of Christ involves loving the one in need, because in that
needy person is present the person of Christ. But there is an even more
demanding aspect of Christian charity. Charity towards the needy is not the sum
total of Christ’s teaching on love of one’s neighbour. One must love not only
the person in need, but one’s very enemy. “You have heard that it has been
said, Love your neighbour and hate your enemy. But I say to you, Love your
enemies. Do good to those who hate you and pray for those who persecute and
calumniate you, so as to be children of your Father in heaven.”
(Matthew 5:43‑48)
I remember years ago attending an address by a Christian girl who
told the audience that she had come to understand that the following of Christ
meant loving one’s neighbour in all these senses. Together with this
understanding she also saw that of herself she did not have the spiritual
resources to live such a life. How could she possibly love those who had hurt
her, those who disliked her, those who in one way or another injured her?
In the face of such a difficulty, how could she avoid reducing the meaning and
demands of this command, or explaining it away? How could she serve her enemies
in need? It was beyond her altogether. So she resolved to receive the Eucharist
frequently. She believed that her Christian communion possessed the real and
valid Eucharist, which is to say the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist.
Of course, whether the Christian communion to which she belonged truly possessed
a valid Eucharist is another matter. Many ecclesial communions do not, nor do
they even claim to possess it. Indeed, many deny its possibility. That aside,
the girl looked to divine grace as providing her with the spiritual means to
live the Christian life in its fullness in her everyday circumstances. Only
Christ himself can empower us to live in imitation of him, and he assists us
with the gift of his grace through the Church’s ministry of the word and
sacrament, above all the Eucharist. The point I am making here is that we must
take Christ’s command seriously if we wish to count ourselves as Christians. We
must strive to love and serve the one in need, including our enemy. We are to
love our enemies and do good to the one who hates and injures us, and to pray
for that person. Taking this seriously, we must look to Christ and his grace
for the strength and capacity to live such a life. As Cardinal Newman once
wrote, if we are faithful to grace, more will be given. Sanctity in everyday
life is the work of a lifetime, and while it is impossible to man, our Lord said
that everything is possible to God.
How different would the world be if the teaching of Christ were to be applied in
everyday life! The good news of the Gospel is that the one who is in Christ is
no longer under the power of sin but has a principle of divine life embedded
deep within his soul. He can live in imitation of Christ provided he lives by
faith and by grace. Let us resolve to do this, making Christ our love.
Study. Obedience: non multa, sed multum — not many things, but
well.
(The Way, no.333)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Prayers
this week: My heart has prompted me
to seek your face; I seek it, Lord; do not hide from me.
(Psalm 26: 8-9) God
our Father,
help us to hear your Son. Enlighten us with your word, that we may find
the way to your glory. We
ask
this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son in the unity of the Holy
Spirit, one God for ever and ever.
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Six days later
Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them
up a high mountain alone where he was transfigured before them. His
face shone like the sun, and his
garments became white as snow. Behold there appeared to them Moses and
Elias talking with him. Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us
to be here. If you wish, let us make three tents here, one for you, one
for Moses and one for Elias. As he was still speaking, behold a bright
cloud overshadowed them and a voice spoke from the cloud, saying, “This
is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to him.” The
disciples hearing this, fell on their faces and were very much afraid.
Jesus came and touched them and said to them, “Arise, and do not fear.”
Lifting their eyes they saw no one but only Jesus. As they came down
from the mountain Jesus charged them saying, “Tell the vision to no one
till the Son of man has risen from the dead.”(Matthew 17:1-9)
The
Transfiguration
There is no doubt that in the minds of the three Apostles who witnessed it, this
event of the Transfiguration of Jesus on the mountain had great significance.
They saw his glory, the glory of the only Son of the Father, full of grace and
truth (John 1:14). Matthew
— from whose Gospel our passage today is taken — tells us (ch.3:17) that during
Christ’s baptism by John in the Jordan, the voice of the Father spoke from
heaven saying, “This is my Son, the beloved. My favour rests on him.” St
John in his Gospel tells us (ch.1:34) that John the Baptist bore witness that
Jesus, the promised One, the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the
world, he who would baptize with the Holy Spirit, was “the Son of God.” That is
to say that at the beginning, both the Father himself and the prophet John had
borne witness to his person. Then during his public ministry the burden of
Christ’s teaching centred precisely around his own person and his relationship
with his heavenly Father. God is his very own Father. He is the Son. The
“Jews” (in St John’s Gospel) picked up stones with which to stone him for this,
because in referring to God as his own Father he was making himself equal to
God. He was the long awaited Messiah, but what a Messiah! He was far more than
was predicted. God himself had come to dwell with his people and, as the divine
Messiah, he would save his people and all of God’s children from their sins.
Now, here on the mountain shortly before he would bear witness unto death to the
truth of his person, the Father himself again bears witness, just as he did at
the baptism. Christ’s glory was revealed. His face shone like the sun and his
clothes became a dazzling white. His glory completely outshone that of Moses
and Elijah who while they appear with him, are not, in this account, described
as having this same glory. This glory is Christ’s own, and it is the glory of
God. The brightness increased, for a “bright cloud” overshadowed them and from
it came the voice of the Father, revealing that this Jesus is his own Son. All
are to listen to him. (Matthew 17:1‑9)
The great and remarkable theologian St Thomas Aquinas understood this Gospel
scene as above all revealing the Blessed Trinity. The bright cloud was the
splendour of the Holy Spirit by whose power all this was happening. The Father
was speaking as he had at the Baptism. The Son was being revealed as the
glorious Image and Word of the Father. In his brightness the Holy Spirit was
lighting up and making known to the three Apostles both the Father and the Son.
All three are shown in the glory of the godhead. The Trinity is the distinctive
revelation of the New Testament, brought to man by Christ, just as Christ
himself is made known by the Father and the Spirit. “No one knows the Father
except the Son, just as no one knows the Son except the Father and those to whom
the Father chooses to reveal him.” On the Mountain the Father, by the power of
the Holy Spirit, reveals the Son to be his own, and to be his Word to whom all
are to heed. There is, of course, nothing like it in all of history. This Man
is the centre of all human history and is its glory and boast. The almighty
Father has pointed to him and the Holy Spirit has manifested his glory. The
Transfiguration of Christ reveals the mystery of the most holy Trinity, the one
only God being three divine persons, each of whom is equally the one God. It
also reveals the glory that is heaven and to which we are all called. We are
meant by God for glory and this for ever. But most importantly, in the event of
the Transfiguration we are shown not only our vocation to glory but the path to
it. Glory will be ours if we take our stand with Jesus and follow along his
way. His way is that of obedience to the will of God in the midst of suffering
— in other words, the Cross. If every day we take our stand with Jesus,
following along his path which is the will of God whatever be the cost, then we
shall share in the glory here manifested on the mountain. That glory will be
ours according to our measure. It will be glory upon glory and forever. But
the only way to it is in and through Jesus. He who is equal to the Father is
the only way to the Father.
Let us repeatedly contemplate Christ in glory on the Mountain. He is the object
of our love and our hopes. He is our Way. He is the Truth and the Life. The
Father almighty has said so. He has said that he, Jesus of Nazareth, is his
beloved Son, and that all are to listen to him. This is what each of us must
resolve to do daily and this is the message we must bear witness to in the world
around us.
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Scripture today:
Daniel 9:4b-10; Psalm 79:8, 9, 11 and 13; Luke 6:36-38
Jesus said to his
disciples, “Be therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.
Judge not, and you will not be judged. Condemn not, and you will not be
condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be
given to you, good measure and pressed down and shaken together and
running over will they pour into your lap. For the measure with which
you deal out will be the measure with which you will be dealt.” (Luke 6:36-38)
Christ
and conscience
There are some — perhaps many — who are of the view that Islam is at root
violent and inclines its adherents towards intolerance. It is obvious that
there are some Muslims — perhaps many — who think that Christianity inclines its
adherents towards a crusading attack against Islam. Whatever of these
assertions (and the truth of the matter ought be sought) what may help is not
only a study of, say, the Bible and the Koran, but a study of history.
If, for argument’s sake, it does seem to the Christian that many passages in the
Koran are very likely to incline a Muslim to intolerance and jihad, it may help
if he also considers certain instances in history of Muslim tolerance, justice
and mercy. For instance, ponder on the encounter between Saladin and Richard
the Lionheart at the end of the twelfth century. Specifically, compare
Saladin’s tolerance of Christians in Jerusalem when he conquered the city with
Richard’s famous slaughter of a large body of Muslim captives in a different
city. I tend to think that Richard’s failure to attack Jerusalem and to take it
(which may not have been difficult for one of such splendid valour) involved an
unseen factor. I wonder whether God withdrew his supporting hand from Richard
at that point because of the atrocity I have just referred to. The general
consensus of both Christians and Muslims would approve of Saladin’s action while
it would condemn Richard’s action as being a crime against humanity. Why have I
mentioned this? I mention it as an illustration of the fact that the conscience
of man dictates the natural law requiring mercy and justice, and it intimates
that if he is not merciful he may not have mercy shown to him. The conscience
of man vaguely suggests to him that mercy and justice is the will of God,
irrespective of the teaching of sacred texts. Even if a person is not
religious, he will sense that it cannot be in accord with true religion to be
unmerciful and unjust. He knows that if there be a God then in this particular
respect the conscience of man is a vague echo of God’s voice.
In our Gospel passage today, Christ our Lord confirms with utter clarity what
conscience suggests is the will of God in respect to our dealings with others.
There is a harmony between conscience, the natural law, and revealed religion.
But in revealing the Father, Christ gives us a new and much higher motive.
Jesus said to his disciples, “Be therefore merciful, as your Father also is
merciful. Judge not, and you will not be judged. Condemn not, and you will not
be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.”
(Luke 6:36‑38). God our Father is merciful, and therefore we too
should be merciful. Man is not left merely to the intimations of his conscience
alone. No, the disciple of Christ has before him the thought of his Father in
heaven as revealed by his Son, Jesus Christ. Our Lord who is the image of the
unseen God and who always did what pleases him, draws his disciple into his own
life of obedience to the will of his heavenly Father. “I always do what pleases
Him”, he once said to his critics. “Can any of you convict me of sin?” he
challenged his enemies on another occasion. In all our relationships with
others we have the assistance of our natural conscience, but as well as this and
far more significantly, we have the example and teaching and the love of Jesus
Christ. He is our teacher and the love of our life. In all our relationships
with others whoever they may be, Christ commands that we be merciful and just,
that we do not assume the place of their Judge, and that we forgive. This
lights up, completes and fulfils the conscience of man. Our Lord adds a warm
encouragement and a solemn warning. “Give, and it will be given to you, good
measure and pressed down and shaken together and running over will they pour
into your lap. For the measure with which you deal out will be the measure with
which you will be dealt.” The teaching of Christ takes the conscience of man to
new heights.
Let
us take our stand with Jesus and make that stand affect every aspect of our
daily life. In all our involvement in society and in our professional work, we
ought strive to order the temporal world according to the mind of Christ. To
him has been given all authority in heaven and on earth. As St Paul says, let
this mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, and this must be our program for
all aspects of life.
An hour of study, for a modern apostle, is an hour of prayer.
(The Way, no.335)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Scripture today: Isaiah 1:10, 16-20; Psalm 50:8-9, 16bc-17, 21 and
23; Matthew 23:1-12
Jesus spoke to the
multitudes and to his disciples saying, "The scribes and the Pharisees
occupy the chair of Moses. Therefore whatever they tell you, observe
and do. But do not act according to their deeds for they do
not practise what they say. They bind heavy and insupportable burdens
and lay them on men's shoulders; but will not stir as much as their
finger to move them. And all their works they do in order to be seen by
men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge their fringes. They
love the first places at feasts, the first chairs in the synagogues,
salutations in the market place, and to be called by men, Rabbi. But
you, do not be called Rabbi. One is your teacher and you are all
brethren. Call none your father upon earth; for one is your Father who
is in heaven. Do not be called masters either; for one is you Master,
Christ. The one who is the greatest among you will be your servant.
Whoever exalts himself will be humbled: and the one who humbles himself
will be exalted.(Matthew 23:1-12)
Humility
Most would agree that the study of the animal and insect world is a source of
unending fascination. Consider the constant popularity of nature documentaries
on television and other forms of the media. A recurring theme in such studies
is the drive for dominance that pervades the animal world and which obviously
springs from the need for life and the continuation of the species.
We refer to “the law of the jungle.” There is no mercy for any challenge to
dominance, nor is there mercy for the weak in the face of the needs of the
powerful. But how like the animals are humans, if we consider the course of
history! The quest for dominance drives so much of human activity and the little
and the weak count for nought in the face of the needs of the powerful. It is
constant evidence of the fallen character of man. In these respects he is not
like God in whose image he was made, but rather is like the animals. The
conscience of man knows this is wrong and the best religions of man give
expression to this higher sense of things. But paradoxically it appears time
and again in the practice of religion itself. So often those who stand for
religion and represent its practice are found to desire the dominant position
and to maintain it precisely by means of their religious office. Consider what
our Lord says of the scribes and the Pharisees in our Gospel passage today.
“The scribes and the Pharisees occupy the chair of Moses. Therefore whatever
they tell you, observe and do. But do not act according to their deeds for they
do not practise what they say. They bind heavy and insupportable burdens and
lay them on men’s shoulders; but will not stir as much as their finger to move
them. And all their works they do in order to be seen by men.” So they occupied
a legitimate position, the chair of Moses, but their motivation was awry. They
wanted the centre stage. They desired to dominate and to be esteemed by
others.
In these very remarks of our Lord we see his reverence for the figure of Moses,
whom Scripture says was the humblest of men. In his humility, Moses pointed to
Christ the Son of God made man, who invited all to draw near to him, for he was
meek and humble of heart. Our Lord in our Gospel passage today warns his
disciples against all pride and the desire to be first. “But you, do not be
called Rabbi. One is your teacher and you are all brethren. Call none your
father upon earth; for one is your Father and he is in heaven. Do not be called
masters either; for one is your Master, Christ. The one who is the greatest
among you will be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled: and the
one who humbles himself will be exalted” (Matthew
23:1‑12). St Paul speaks of the Incarnation of the Son of God in
terms of humility. Though he was in the form and glory of God, St Paul writes,
the Son did not cling to his position but divested himself of it all and became
as men are and humbler still, even to the point of death — and death on a cross!
So God raised him on high above every other name. That is the paradigm for the
human being and for every follower of Jesus Christ. Christ was born in a
stable. He grew up in an obscure backwater village. He lived in want. He was
denied the respect that was his due. He was rejected by the leaders of his
people. As St John writes in his Prologue, he came to his own, and his own did
not receive him. He died in humiliation, and yet he was the Lord of glory, God
himself become man, the second divine Person of the Blessed Trinity, the Saviour
of the world. He who was all‑glorious trod the path of humility and poverty of
spirit. He tells us that this is the path that leads to life and it is love for
him which gives to his disciple the strength and inspiration to follow in his
footsteps in daily life. In Jesus Christ we see that the one who humbles
himself will be exalted.
In his Spiritual Exercises St Ignatius Loyola, that great master of the
Christian life, describes the choice that is to be made by every serious
Christian. It is the choice between Christ and Satan. This includes the choice
between the way of Christ and the way of Satan. Christ’s way and weapon is that
of humility and poverty of spirit. Satan’s way and weapon is that of pride,
domination and the accumulation of possessions. Let us resolve for love of
Christ to follow his way. It leads to life, life in abundance.
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Scripture today: Jeremiah 18:18-20; Psalm 31:5-6, 14, 15-16; Matthew 20:17-28
As Jesus made his
way up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples apart and said to
them: “Behold we go up to Jerusalem and the Son of Man will be betrayed
to the chief priests and the scribes and they will condemn him to death.
They will deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and scourged
and crucified, and on the third day he will rise again.” Then there
came to him the mother of the sons of Zebedee with her sons, doing
homage and asking something of him. He said to her, “What do you want?”
She said to him, “Permit that these my two sons sit one on your right
hand and the other on your left in your kingdom.” Jesus answered, “You
know not what you ask. Can you drink the chalice that I shall drink?”
They said to him, “We can.” He said to them, “My chalice indeed you
will drink; but to sit on my right or left hand is not mine to give to
you. It is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.” The
ten on hearing all this were indignant with the two brothers. But Jesus
called them to him and said, “You know that the princes of the Gentiles
lord it over them and they who are the greater exercise power over
them. This must not be so among you. Whoever will be the greater among
you let him be your servant. He who will be first among you, is to be
your servant. The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and
to give his life as a ransom for many.”(Matthew 20:17-28)
Lord and Friend Let us
notice how our Lord refers to himself in our Gospel passage today and in many
other such passages. He refers to himself as “the Son of Man.” Of course, as
anyone familiar with the Old Testament is aware, this title which our Lord uses
of himself so often is from the Book of Daniel and is one of the various
pointers to the Messiah‑King who would establish God’s Kingdom, rule it and then
deliver it to God almighty. But let us observe how our Lord refers to himself
not only by using such a title, but also in the third person. Our Lord says,
“the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the scribes and they
will condemn him to death. It is not “I” who will be handed over, but “the Son
of Man.” It is just a detail that speaks yet further, I would suggest, of our
Lord’s awareness of his unique and absolute importance. He
was the awaited King, the Messiah. He was the appointed King, and his Kingdom
was God’s Kingdom and would be eternal. To him God his Father would give all
authority in heaven and on earth. He would come again on the clouds of heaven
at the right hand of the Power to judge the living and the dead. The point is
that this great Personage, the person of Jesus, is not just one item among the
countless items that make up visible creation. He is not just yet another man,
however great. In him subsists the fullness of the godhead bodily. No praise
is adequate to express the wonder of the person of Jesus. There is Something in
the visible universe that far exceeds the value and the power and the goodness
and the beauty of the entire universe itself. It is the person of Jesus.
Nothing and no one can compare with him. To possess him through humble and
obedient friendship is to possess the pearl of great price, for which one ought
be prepared to sell all in order to gain it. This is why time and again our
Lord expected utter devotion from his disciples, and why he said that if this
utter devotion is lacking, such a person is not worthy of him.
As I say, the transcendent importance of Christ is intimated in the way our Lord
refers to himself. He is the Lord God himself, the divine and only begotten Son
of the eternal Father, and he knew he was the priceless pearl of the universe,
the treasure of the world and of every man and woman. Now, when we think of
persons of high importance (let alone one of incomparable importance!) we
instinctively think of the glory he necessarily attracts and accepts. But in
the case of Jesus our Lord, he stands forth as humble, as one who serves to the
point of giving his life for the least. Consider his words to his disciples
when he caught them clashing over who among them was the more important. “You
know that the princes of the Gentiles lord it over them and they who are the
greater exercise power over them. This must not be so among you. Whoever will
be the greater among you let him be your servant. He who will be first among
you, is to be your servant. The Son of Man did not come to be served but to
serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:17‑28). So then,
despite who he was, the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to
give his life for the salvation of the many. The one to whom all glory is due,
and whom every person is called to love with total dedication, is himself loving
of others to the point of giving his life. No other person can possibly hold a
candle to him, to use a common expression. To discover him is the greatest
thing in life. To introduce others to him is surely the greatest of services to
one’s fellow man because, as St Paul writes, in the living risen Jesus is to be
found every heavenly blessing. Indeed, we were made to know, love and serve him
here on earth because he is God, and a principal spiritual project in life
should be to prevent anything in us from turning our heart away from him. As St
Ignatius Loyola insists in his Spiritual Exercises, we ought be totally
attached to Jesus, and attached to anything else only in him.
Jesus of Nazareth, risen and living now, is in every sense One worth following
with all the ardour of one’s heart. He is to be followed as one’s Lord , one’s
Master and one’s Friend. This will mean following in his footsteps along the
way to Calvary — whatever that may mean in concrete life. The mother of the
sons of Zebedee wanted from Christ first places for her two sons. Our Lord set
aside that request and asked if they could drink his chalice. That is the
important thing to ask for. Let us resolve to love him and to follow him along
his way, knowing that this is what will lead to life.
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Scripture today: Jeremiah 17:5-10; Psalm 1:1-4 and 6; Luke 16:19-31
Jesus said to his
disciples, “There was a certain rich man, who was clothed in purple and
fine linen and feasted sumptuously every day. There was a beggar, named
Lazarus who lay at his gate, full of sores and hoping to be filled with
the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table. No one gave him
anything and the dogs came and licked his sores. It happened that
the beggar died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The
rich man also died and was buried in Hades. Lifting up his eyes in
torment he saw Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom. He cried out,
‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip the
tip of his finger in water to cool my tongue, for I am tormented in
these flames.’ Abraham said to him, ‘Son, remember that you received
good things in life, and Lazarus evil things. Now he is comforted and
you are in torment. And besides, between us and you there is fixed a
great abyss so that those who would pass from here to you cannot do so,
nor from you to here.’ And he said: ‘Then, father, I beseech you, send
him to my father's house for I have five brothers that he might inform
them lest they also come to this place of torment.’ Abraham said to
him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them listen to them.’ But
he said: ‘No, father Abraham. But if one were to go to them from the
dead, they will repent.’ He said to him: ‘If they refuse to hear Moses
and the prophets neither will they believe if one were to rise from the
dead’.”(Luke 16:19-31)
Concern for the poor A great
saint of the eleventh century whom the Church finally declared to be a doctor of
the Church — I am referring to St Peter Damian — wrote several biographies among
his many writings. It is said that in his writings he preferred stories and
examples rather than theory. Why? Presumably because he knew that in striking
the imagination, his points would have greater and longer impact than mere
appeals to the reason. The story, whether fictional or factual, has a long
history in the life of mankind and it is represented in poetry, drama, and in
more recent centuries, the novel. Stories are important in all kinds of
civilizations from the most indigenous to the most advanced.
I suppose we could say that although sheer theory is found often enough in the
inspired Scriptures (say, in the book of Wisdom and in various of St Paul’s
Letters) the more common genre is the story, or narrative. The gospels
themselves constitute a true story. Now, one would gather from the gospels that
our Lord’s predilection was to instruct by means of story. He composed famous
short stories, although he used other forms as well such as direct maxims (like
the Beatitudes). Well then, let us consider his beautiful story in our Gospel
of today, of the rich man and the poor man Lazarus whom the rich man neglected
(Luke 16:19‑31). The plainest message that
stares out at the reader is that God will avenge the poor for their neglect by
the rich. There is no suggestion that the rich man obtained his wealth by
dishonest means, nor that he obtained it by oppressing the poor. Nor is there
the suggestion that it was wrong for him to enjoy various benefits from having
wealth. What was wrong was that he enjoyed good things in this life while
entirely neglecting the poor. “Abraham said to him, ‘Son, remember that you
received good things in life, and Lazarus evil things. Now he is comforted and
you are in torment.’” Lazarus, sick and utterly destitute, had longed to eat of
the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table, but although he was at the very
gate of the rich man, he received absolutely nothing.
The conscience of man and society calls for concern for the poor, but here in
our Lord’s story we are reminded that the judgment of God is also involved. At
times we hear accusations against God himself for allowing suffering and
poverty. As we think of the mystery of evil, let us remember that as St Paul
writes in his Letter to the Romans, sin entered the world through one man and
with sin came death, and death has spread through the entire human race. The
“death” St Paul mentions is all the suffering that relates to or leads to
death. Death and suffering entered the world because of man’s sin. That is the
principal factor accounting for the poverty and suffering of the world. But
there is another factor, and that is ongoing and daily human neglect. Those who
can help fail to do so, just as the rich man in our Lord’s parable failed to
help when he was able to do so. In response to the sinful fall of man leading
to the suffering and death that is so rampant in the world, God sent his Son to
save the world. In response to the neglect by man of his fellow men, Christ
warns of the judgment to come. It grieves the heart of God to see mankind
disfigured by poverty and suffering, and he hates to see his needy children
neglected by those who are blessed with greater abundance. Our Lord’s parable
of today warns us that if we do not assist those in need, we shall not get away
with it. We read that “it happened that the beggar died and was carried by the
angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried in Hades.”
Furthermore, included in our Lord’s teaching on neglect for our fellow man is
his teaching on God’s judgment and on the reality and eternity of hell. Abraham
tells the rich man in hell that a tremendous abyss separates the damned from the
saved. A crossing from one to the other is impossible. Hell is a place of
torment and it will last forever. It reminds us of how critical it is that we
live well here in this life, and of how central to living well is care for those
in need. At the end of life there is death, then God’s judgment, and then
either heaven or hell. These are the great facts of life.
The
conscience of man can be revived by the thought of the judgment of God to come.
If this thought of the divine judgment is put away or if it subsides through
neglect, then the dictates of conscience themselves can easily be explained away
or fail to be considered seriously. We can remain in our neglect of those in
need. This we do at our peril. It is very obvious from our Lord’s teaching
that if we wish to follow him we must concern ourselves with the poor. Let us
not neglect this.
Formerly, since human knowledge — science — was very limited, it seemed
quite feasible for a single learned individual to undertake the defence
and vindication of our holy Faith.
To-day, with the extension and the intensity of modern science, the
apologists have to divide the work among themselves, if they want to
defend the Church scientifically in all fields.
You... cannot shirk this responsibility.
(The Way, no.338)
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Jesus said,
Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put
a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower.
Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a journey. When
the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his
fruit. The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and
stoned a third. Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time,
and the tenants treated them in the same way. Last of all, he sent his son to
them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said. But when the tenants saw the son,
they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his
inheritance.’ So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed
him. Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those
tenants? He will bring those wretches to a wretched end, they replied, and he
will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop
at harvest time. Jesus said to them, Have you never read in the Scriptures
‘The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; the Lord has done
this, and it is marvellous in our eyes’? Therefore I tell you that the kingdom
of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its
fruit. When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they
knew he was talking about them. They looked for a way to arrest him, but they
were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet. (Matthew
21:33‑43, 45‑46)
The Son
The context of this parable is our Lord’s final visit to Jerusalem. He has
entered the city in a form of triumph to the acclaim of the accompanying crowds
who recognized him as the “son of David” coming in the name of the Lord.
Matthew writes that “all the city was moved, saying, Who is this?” Having
entered, Jesus went into the Temple — the magnificent and famous Temple of
Jerusalem — and threw out all who were doing business there. He imposed a
regime of reverence, prayer and teaching.
Then he proceeded to heal the blind and the sick. The very children were crying
out in the Temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” (Matthew 21: 9-15). They were
looking on him as a saviour, and were praising him in the House of God. It
caused tremendous consternation among the chief priests and scribes. They
approached our Lord and demanded, could he not see the excess in all this
unrestrained adulation of him, and in the Temple itself? It was to be entirely
expected, he replied, for “out of the mouths of babes and sucklings you have
perfected praise,” — as if to say, you too ought be joining in. Yet they, the
leaders, were stubbornly refusing. The next day he returned to the Temple, the
House of his heavenly Father, and taught the people. While teaching, he was
interrupted by the chief priests and the elders of the people
(Matt 21: 23) who demanded to know, “By what
authority are you doing these things, and who gave you the authority?” The rest
of the chapter (21: 24-46), including our passage today, is given over to the
confrontation, and in particular to our Lord’s response to their hostility. In
our passage today, our Lord calmly and sovereignly tells a parable which
describes their malice and the ruin to which it is leading them. But to no
avail. Their smouldering hatred intensifies, particularly in view of the
impossibility of their apprehending him in the presence of the people who hang
on his words. They hate Jesus and fear the people who — including even the
children — recognize in him a great prophet.
In his parable our Lord surveys the history of the chosen people, and does
so by calling up the allusions of the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah had said (ch.5) “I
will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard: My loved one had a
vineyard on a fertile hillside. He dug it up and cleared it of stones and
planted it with the choicest vines. He built a watchtower in it and cut out a
winepress as well.” Our Lord begins his parable with the same description.
“There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a
winepress in it and built a watchtower.” In the words of Isaiah, the owner of
the vineyard wanted it to produce good fruit, but nothing came. “Then he looked
for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit.” In our Lord’s
parable, greater detail is given. The tenants refused to receive, accept and
cooperate with the servants of the master of the vineyard. Indeed, they
maltreated and killed them. Our Lord is describing the prophetic tradition
within the chosen people of God. The prophets had been sent on behalf of God to
ask for the produce of a good and holy life, but all they had met with from the
leaders — the tenants of the vineyard — was persecution and rejection. Finally,
a climax came. The owner of the vineyard decided to send his very own son.
“They will respect my son,” he said. But no, for they “took him and threw him
out of the vineyard and killed him,” and they did this in order to have
possession of the vineyard. “This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and then
seize on the inheritance” (Matthew 21:33‑43).
They did not want the master to own the vineyard. They wanted position and
power. St Matthew tells us that the chief priests and the Pharisees who were
there listening to the parable knew quite clearly who it was that our Lord was
referring to. The son in the parable was himself. He was not simply yet
another prophet whom they were rejecting. He was the very son, the natural son
of the owner of the vineyard. His dignity and authority transcended all
prophets before him. They were the tenants who were planning to cast him out of
the vineyard and kill him. The message was clear.
The
climax of the story is a terrible warning. Those who choose to fight against
God will lose what they have been given and will be ground to powder
(Matthew: 45‑46).
In this sense it is a parable for all of us. We all have been granted gifts and
opportunities — or to refer to another parable, we have been granted talents.
They must be put to use, for the master wishes to see produce. Every day and
every opportunity counts. Let us then apply ourselves to the work, the work of
God. So then, now I begin!
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The publicans and
sinners drew near to Jesus to hear him, and the Pharisees and scribes
complained, saying “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So
he told them this parable. “A man had two sons. The younger said to his
father, ‘Father, give me the portion of the estate that would come to
me.’ So he divided the estate between them. Not many
days after, the younger son, gathering all together, went abroad to a
far country. There he squandered his possessions, living riotously.
After he had spent all, there came a mighty famine in that country; and
he began to be in want. So he went and attached himself to one of the
citizens of that country who sent him to his farm to feed swine. He
would willingly have filled his belly with the husks the swine were
eating but no one gave him anything. Coming to himself he said, ‘How
many hired servants in my father's house have plenty of food and here
am I perishing with hunger? I will arise and go to my father and say to
him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am not
worthy to be called your son. Make me as one of your hired servants.’
Rising up he came to his father. When he was still a long way off his
father saw him and was moved with compassion, and running to him hugged
him round his neck and kissed him. The son said to him, ‘Father, I have
sinned against heaven and before you. I am not now worthy to be called
your son.’ The father said to his servants, ‘Bring forth quickly the
first robe and put it on him and put a ring on his hand and shoes on
his feet. Bring here the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and
make merry because this my son was dead, and is come to life again. He
was lost, and is found.’ And they began to be merry. Now his elder son
was in the field, and as he was returning to the house he heard music
and dancing. He called one of the servants, and asked what was going
on. He said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed
the fatted calf, because he has him back safe.’ He was angry, and would
not go in. His father therefore coming out began to entreat him. He
said to his father, ‘Look, for so many years have I served you and I
have never transgressed your orders and yet you have never given me a
kid to make merry with my friends. But as soon as this son of yours
returns, having swallowed up his inheritance with his women, you kill
for him the fatted calf.’ But he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with
me, and all I have is yours. But it was only right that we should make
merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is come to life again.
He was lost, and is found’.”(Luke 15:1-3, 11-32)
The
Prodigal
One of the most consistent theses in the writings of the famous British
historian, Christopher Dawson, is that religion is basic to the culture of man,
and surely even a cursory familiarity with world history would indicate that
this is the case. This in turn suggests that a society’s image of God is
pivotal to how that society functions, how it treats its citizens and how its
culture develops. My suspicion is that by and large, the image of God in human
culture is not of one who is predominantly loving, let alone loving of the
sinner — and the sinner is typical man. Religious man typically feels
himself to be out of sorts with the numinous. He therefore views the holy God
as menacing. He is therefore at pains to placate the gods. He does not draw
near to them out of love and affection but in order to alleviate his
predicament. All this throws into relief the novelty of divine revelation, and
in particular the revelation brought by Jesus Christ. God is different from
what man tends to expect. Surprise of surprises! God draws near with love and
affection to sinful man and invites him into his company. How do we know this?
We know this because this is what Jesus Christ did, and Jesus Christ is God, God
the Son become man. In our Gospel passage today we have our Lord’s famous short
story of the father who is so prodigal with his love for his wayward younger
son. The setting of the story shows that it is all about God and the image we
are to have of him. We read that “the publicans and sinners drew near to Jesus
to hear him, and the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying “This man welcomes
sinners and eats with them.” So he told them this parable”
(Luke 15:1‑3, 11‑32). That is to say, the parable was an
explanation of why our Lord was welcoming sinners and eating with them. The
Pharisees implied by their complaint that this is not what God would do! To show
affection for the sinner is, they thought, to accept his sin.
So our Lord told his story about the father who gave his son so much and then
warmly welcomed him back when he returned to him repentant. Our Lord is like
the father of the Prodigal Son — which means he is like the Father in heaven.
The father of the Prodigal loved all. He loved both his sons, including the
angry elder son who, at the end, refused to go into his father’s house. He
loved his younger son prodigally and at his request gave him his inheritance.
Despite the affront of leaving his father’s house and spending all, his father
showered him with welcome and love when he returned. He did not approve of the
sin he had committed — it would be absurd to interpret the story in that fashion
— but he loved the son who had committed the sin. That is what God is like. He
loves every sinner and longingly awaits his repentant return to his Father’s
love. So earnest is God in his intent to regain the love of his sinful
children, that he sent his only‑begotten Son to die for sinful man. Our Lord in
his public ministry is very different from the typical religious professional of
his people and his day. Typically they separated from the company of sinners
and, we might say, excommunicated them from their presence. Our Lord went out
to them and they, despite his manifest and high holiness, drew near to him with
affection. Let it be observed that we are speaking here of those who knew they
were sinners and who at least vaguely wished to be delivered from their sinful
condition. They sensed that in Christ lay their salvation. They were like the
publican in our Lord’s story of the Pharisee and the Publican praying in the
Temple. There were other sinners who did not recognize themselves as such, and
saw no need for them to draw near to Jesus. They lacked a sense of their own
sin and any desire to repent. I am speaking of the scribes and the Pharisees
who constantly complained. They were like the elder son who at the end did not
re-enter his Father’s house. He stayed outside.
Let
us not make any mistake, though, about our Lord’s real intention. He did not
come simply to show benevolence towards sinners. He came to call sinners —
which means all — to repentance. He came to take away the sin of the world. He
came that all might have life, life in abundance. That life is holiness in
Christ, putting away sin and earnestly doing the will of God in everything. Let
us draw near to Jesus so as to receive from him the grace to live a truly holy
life in him.
Prayers
this week: My eyes are ever fixed
on the Lord, for he releases my feet from the snare. O look at me and
be merciful, for I am wretched and alone.
(Psalm 24: 15-16) Father,
you have taught us to overcome our sins by prayer, fasting and works of
mercy. When we are discouraged by our weakness, give us confidence in
your love. We
ask
this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son in the unity of the Holy
Spirit, one God for ever and ever.
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Jesus came to a
town of Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of land that Jacob had
given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there. Jesus, tired from his
journey, sat down there at the well. It was about noon. A woman of
Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” His
disciples had gone into the town to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to
him, “How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?” —For
Jews use nothing in common with Samaritans.— Jesus answered and said to
her, “If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a
drink,‘ you would have asked him and he would have given you living
water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you do not even have a bucket and
the cistern is deep; where then can you get this living water? Are you
greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this cistern and drank from
it himself with his children and his flocks?” Jesus answered and said
to her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but
whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I
shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal
life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may
not be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water. “I can see
that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain; but
you people say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus said
to her, “Believe me, woman, the hour is coming when you will worship
the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You people
worship what you do not understand; we worship what we understand,
because salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now
here, when true worshippers will worship the Father in Spirit and
truth; and indeed the Father seeks such people to worship him. God is
Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and truth.”
The woman said to him, “I know that the Messiah is coming, the one
called the Christ; when he comes, he will tell us everything.” Jesus
said to her, “I am he, the one who is speaking with you.” Many of the
Samaritans of that town began to believe in him. When the Samaritans
came to him, they invited him to stay with them; and he stayed there
two days. Many more began to believe in him because of his word, and
they said to the woman, “We no longer believe because of your word; for
we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the saviour
of the world.”(John 4:5-15, 19b-26, 39a,
40-42)
The gift
of Baptism
To say the least, our Gospel scene is very intriguing. Here is our Lord, weary
from his intense ministry, resting by Jacob’s well at Sychar in Samaria. Let us
imagine him resting on the well itself, or perhaps seated on the ground with his
back against the well, or alternatively seated on a rock nearby. There he is,
resting.
The text does not say he was alone and that all of his disciples had gone into
the town to buy food. I suspect that at least John was with him because the
full report of the conversation that ensued is given to us in John’s Gospel. If
John was there, it was so striking to John that he never forgot it. Along comes
a Samaritan woman who silently proceeds to draw water from the well, and she
hears our Lord’s simple, initial request to give him some water to drink. Then
there follows a conversation in which our Lord tells the woman in fairly quick
sequence that he has an extraordinary blessing to offer. It will endow with
eternal life all who receive it. What he tells her about herself indicates to
her that he is a true prophet. To this Samaritan woman, this seeming nobody,
this woman with hardly an excellent reputation, this foreigner and heretic, to
her Jesus simply and within the course of a single conversation, reveals the
mighty secret of who he is. She went on to believe and many in her town
believed that Jesus was the Messiah, the Saviour not only of God’s people but of
the world. Our Gospel passage today in the first instance presents us with our
Lord’s own claim to be the Messiah and the Saviour, and it gives us the
wonderful example of many Samaritans who, having seen and heard our Lord for
themselves, rapidly came to a firm and enlightened faith in him
(John 4:5‑15, 19b‑26, 39a, 40‑42). Jesus is
the one and only Saviour of the world. Just as the woman at the well brought
news of Jesus to her own people, so too is every Christian called to bring the
person of the Saviour to all in his own world. Christ spoke to this woman. He
speaks to us through the testimony of his Church and he speaks to us in our own
hearts. He favours each of us with a personal call. That call is to believe in
him and his word as it is proclaimed by the Church, and to bring him and his
word to others.
But let
us consider what our Lord says that he, as the Messiah and Saviour, has to
offer. “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever
drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will
become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” Our Lord is
referring to the gift of the Holy Spirit whom he would give to the one who comes
to him and asks. We are reminded of the testimony of John the Baptist at the
beginning of our Lord’s public ministry. While he, John, baptized with water,
Jesus the Messiah would baptize with the Holy Spirit. This gift of the Spirit
of God would be like a spring of water within, bubbling and gushing with eternal
life. The woman had come to the well to draw water so as to slake physical
thirst and to nourish this mortal life. There is another kind of well available
to all. That well would be within each person. The one who had this interior
well would be able to draw from it a water that sustains an eternal life. What
a gift! The Saviour offers it. How does it come to a person? Firstly, there
must be faith in Jesus. As our Lord says in his conversation with the Samaritan
woman, “If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’
you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” Christ
abides in his body the Church, and we must come to him there with faith and ask
for this great gift. It is given to us at our baptism. For this reason, faith
and baptism are the foundations of the Christian life. The Church teaches that
at our baptism original sin is taken away, together with all personal sins
committed to that point and all the punishment due to sin up to that point. The
one baptized is made a participant in the divine life of the Holy Trinity. He
is incorporated into Christ and into his Church. Baptism gives one a share in
Christ’s priesthood and bestows the gifts of the Holy Spirit and binds the
person to Christ forever. The person becomes, as St Paul writes, a new
creature, holy in Christ and empowered by grace to become holier still. What a
tragedy if, through spiritual neglect and unrepented sin, these stunning
blessings come to nothing!
Let
us place ourselves in the company of Jesus as he quietly reveals himself and his
gifts to this wayward Samaritan woman. Let us gaze on him with love and
wonder. He, Jesus, is the Christ, the one and only Saviour of the world, the
Lamb of God who takes away its sin and who baptizes in the Holy Spirit all who
come to him in faith. At our baptism we receive this gift of the Spirit of God
who, from within, offers us unceasingly the gift of life eternal. Let us guard
and cherish our faith in Jesus and let us rejoice in our baptism from which come
constantly so many blessings.
(E.J.Tyler)
Further reading:
The Catechism of the Catholic Church, no.1262-1274 (Christ and baptism)
It is good to see you put such determination into your study provided,
of course, you put the same determination into acquiring interior life.
(The Way, no.341)
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Jesus said, “Truly I say
to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country. There were many
widows in Israel in the days of Elijah when the heavens were shut for
three years and six months and there was a great famine throughout the
land. To none of these was Elijah sent but to a widow of Sarepta in
Sidon. There were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the
prophet, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.”
Hearing this, all in the synagogue were filled with anger. They rose up
and thrust him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill
on which their town was built in order to throw him down headlong. But
passing through their midst he went his way.(Luke 4:24-30)
Bearing
witness I
could imagine some agnostic readers of the Gospels thinking that Christ ought to
have been more savvy in the way he put things, which is to say in the way he
bore witness. It evoked, they might think, a pattern of rejection. Look at
what happened when he returned to his own town and proceeded to speak plainly
about their likely rejection of him! He aroused their anger and they violently
tried to do away with him. There
have been various authors and commentators on Christ and the Gospels who have
seen in him little more than a failed preacher who was unable to get the people
behind him. But if we start with the true premise, which is that this man Jesus
was the very Son of God, then of course he could make no mistakes about the
proper course to take in his mission. He is the Light of the world. He himself
said that he always did what pleased the Father, and the Father himself said
that he was his own beloved Son in whom he was well pleased. It was, then, the
will of his heavenly Father that he return to his own townspeople and give to
them the opportunity of hearing from him that he, their townsman, was the
Messiah. Undoubtedly he foresaw his rejection by them, just as he foresaw his
ultimate rejection by the leaders of the people, and by so many of the people
themselves. Let us take another Gospel scene, narrated in the Gospel of St John
(ch.6), when our Lord announced his doctrine of the Eucharist. In the synagogue
of Capharnaum our Lord told all who were gathered there that they must eat his
flesh and drink his blood if they were to live, and if they did not do this they
would die. Eternal life would come from eating his flesh and drinking his
blood. He meant what he said literally, and even in the face of abandonment of
him by very many of his disciples, he did not withdraw from his doctrine. He
did not even explain that while he meant this teaching literally, he would
effect it sacramentally. That is to say, he did not tell them that he would
literally give his flesh to eat and his blood to drink — but under the
appearances of bread and wine. Perhaps he could see that if he told them this
they would think that what he had said was only symbolic. He bore witness
plainly and underwent rejection.
We do notice, of course, that in respect to the truth about his very own person,
he made his revelation only gradually. But the time came when the revelation
had to be made plainly, and again it aroused opposition. We read in the Gospel
of St John that our Lord absolutely shocked the scribes and Pharisees when, on
his own authority and without hesitation, he forgave the sins of certain
persons. He stated on another occasion that he was the Lord of the Sabbath.
When doing works of healing on the Sabbath he said to them that inasmuch as his
own Father was always working, he, then, also worked — implying, they could see,
that he was equal to God. For this they picked up stones to stone him with. It
was a replication of what had happened at Nazareth in our Gospel scene today
(Luke 4:24‑30). Finally he allowed himself to
be betrayed into the hands of the leaders of the people, and before them bore
witness to his person. There he was formally and under oath asked by the
highest religious authority if he were the Son of the living God. Yes, he said,
and they would see him coming on the clouds of heaven seated at the right hand
of the Almighty. He knew his testimony would be rejected — not by all but by
the powerful and by the majority — and yet he proceeded to give his witness. It
was the story of his entire ministry. So what was the use of it? Our Lord
came unto his own, St John writes in his Prologue, and his own received him
not. But to all who did receive him he gave the power to become children of
God, sharers in his divine life, citizens of the Kingdom and members of his
family the Church. For this had he come into the world, he told Pontius Pilate,
in order to bear witness to the truth, and those who are of the truth listen to
his voice. The crowning point of our Lord’s story is that the very rejection of
his witness to the truth had its part in the Redemption. He redeemed the world
by his Passion and Death which issued from the rejection of him and his
revelation. That is to say, in the plan of God the rejection of Christ and of
his witness was in no way a practical miscalculation by our Lord himself, a
failure in savvy, but part and parcel of his work of redeeming the world.
The Christian too is called to follow in the footsteps of the Master. He is
called to bear witness to the truth of Jesus and his doctrine despite reversals
and rejection of various kinds and degrees. Christ’s apparent failure, as shown
in today’s Gospel scene portraying his rejection by his own townspeople of
Nazareth, shows that suffering and the cross is now the royal road to victory,
provided it is traversed in union with and under the guidance of Jesus our Lord.
Don't forget that
before teaching one must act. 'Coepit facere et docere,' the holy
scripture says of Jesus Christ: 'He began to do and to teach.'
First, action: so that you and I may learn.
(The Way, no.342)
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Scripture today: Daniel
3:25, 34-43: Psalm 25:4-9; Matthew 18:21-35
Peter came to Jesus
and said, “Lord, if my brother offends me, now often am I to forgive
him? Seven times: Jesus said to him, “I tell you, not seven times but
seventy times seven times. The kingdom of heaven is like a king who
took an account of his servants. When his account began, one was
brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. As he
had not the means pay it his lord commanded that he should be sold
together with his wife and children and all that he had in order to
meet the debt. But that servant fell before him beseeching him, ‘Have
patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ And the master being moved
with pity let him go and forgave him the debt. But when that servant
went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him one hundred
denarii. Laying hold of him he throttled him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe
me!’ His fellow servant falling down besought him, saying, ‘Have
patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ But he would not. He threw
him into prison till he should pay the debt. Now his fellow servants
seeing what had been done were profoundly distressed, and they went and
told their lord all that had happened. Then his master called him; and
said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all your debt because
you appealed to me. Should not you then have had compassion also on
your fellow servant, just as I had had compassion on you?’ His master
being angry, delivered him to the torturers until he paid all the debt.
So also shall my heavenly Father do to you, if you do not every one of
you forgive your brother from your heart.”(Matthew 18:21-35)
Forgiveness
I remember that when the Berlin wall fell and the communist regimes of Eastern
Europe and Russia crumbled there was a great optimism that a new era of peace
would emerge. Such broad hopes proved elusive. Communism did not disappear
(consider China, North Korea and Vietnam today), out of the blue came Islamic
terrorism, and the intractable problems of the Middle East greatly intensified.
Oh,
peace on earth! Peace in individual societies (consider many of the countries of
Africa!), peace in families and peace in the hearts of individuals! What
is the key to it? This is a vast question but one thing should be clear to
ordinary reflection. Peace is impossible without the readiness to forgive and
this is among the hardest of things to do. I am sure that as the years go by
and middle age arrives and passes, many people have a very hard time secretly
coping with memories of wounds and injustices. I remember watching a
documentary on television about several people who had been through the
Holocaust in World War II. Through old age and dementia, they were now locked
in their past memories. Their suffering was acute because all they could do was
live in the memory of their terrible past, and those past injustices had not
been forgiven. Because of their mental condition it was very difficult for
health professionals to gain access to their mental world, and so to assist
them. It is very possible to go right through life never forgiving a wrong
done. While this refusal to forgive does nothing to even up scores with the
perpetrator of the wrong, it brings ongoing suffering to the one wronged.
Ordinary reflection and reason make it clear that a fundamental component of
peace in individual life and in the world is heartfelt forgiveness. While this
is a frequent teaching of religious authorities, one can easily imagine that a
religious agnostic or even atheist would say the same thing. It is plain that
the refusal to forgive does nothing to solve injuries but only compounds them.
Of course, perhaps this point is more easily seen by the one who accepts
Christ’s teaching as the revelation of God. The light of Christ enables the
reason of man to function with greater clarity. Our Lord’s word on this matter
is crystal clear: Peter came to Jesus and said, “Lord, if my brother offends me,
now often am I to forgive him? Seven times? Jesus said to him, “I tell you, not
seven times but seventy times seven times.” Then he tells his parable,
concluding with the stark words, “His master being angry, delivered him to the
torturers until he paid all the debt. So also shall my heavenly Father do to
you, if you do not every one of you forgive your brother from your heart”
(Matthew 18:21‑35). The danger for the
Christian is to keep putting off the work of forgiveness, for it requires great
renunciation. It is, though, the clear will of God and of Christ. A follower
of Christ cannot be pleasing to his Lord if he knowingly hangs on to grudges and
to a refusal to forgive. If he finds it “impossible” (as he might say) to
forgive, then he must work at it and seek to find his way through the impasse.
What are some of the things that can help him? Firstly, as I said, the constant
awareness that God wants him to do so provides a very great incentive.
Secondly, the awareness that he has offended God far the more. In our Lord’s
parable, the wicked servant forgot all that he had been forgiven. Having been
let off an enormous debt, he went out and persecuted someone who owed him what
was, by comparison, paltry. So we ought have a constant sense of our own
sinfulness and of how we have offended God. He has forgiven us, so we should do
the same to others. Just as sin afflicts each of us, so it afflicts those who
have injured us. The thought of this common spiritual affliction can lead us to
be more accepting of the sinful mistakes of others. It can also help us to bear
the opposition, the thoughtlessness, and the injustices (as we view them)
inflicted on us by good people. We are all sufferers of the common affliction
which is sin. God loves and wishes to forgive me. I ought also want to forgive
others.
In the Old Testament we read, “Vengeance is mine, says the Lord.” Our common
Liberator is Christ, so let us look to him. The fundamental inspiration for the
Christian is love for Christ and this love leads him to work at the most
difficult things, appealing to Christ for the gift of his grace to do so. Among
the very difficult things in life is forgiveness of injury done — not just
“seven times but seventy times seven times.” Let us never give up on forgiveness
but work at it till the victory comes. Christ is our love and our source of
divine help. So then, now I begin!
Work! When you feel the responsibility of professional work, the life
of your soul will improve: and you will become more of a man, for you
will lose your habit of 'picking holes' in everything.
(The Way, no.343)
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Jesus said to his
disciples, “Do not think that I have come to destroy the law or the
prophets. I have come not to destroy but to fulfil. For truly I say to
you, till heaven and earth pass away, not one jot nor one tittle of the
Law will pass away till it is all fulfilled. So the one who breaks the
least commandment and teaches men to do the same will be counted least
in the kingdom of heaven. But the one who observes and teaches them
will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”(Matthew 5:17-19)
Obedience There
are and have been many notions and definitions of religion. The religion of
Buddha places the search for and attainment of Nirvana, or enlightenment, at its
heart. I remember very well attending a lecture at the University of Sydney
given by a Zoroastrian scholar. He
was of the opinion that religion is basically a technology, which is to say a
series of steps enabling a person to gain some benefit. A case could be made
for understanding the traditional Aboriginal religion of Australia as a means of
making present and renewing the activity of the original creative beings: so as
to derive certain benefits from the ritual. Well now, what of Christianity? It
would be hazardous proposing a definition that purports to encompass the whole
of Christianity, but certain things are of its essence. In the nineteenth
century, John Henry Newman in one of his writings stated that authority and
obedience are of the essence of religion. He was speaking primarily of revealed
religion and, in particular, the religion revealed by Christ. In insisting on
authority and obedience he was resisting the notion that religion is based
primarily on one’s private judgment, but his point is valid beyond that
particular issue. We accept in faith what God has revealed on the authority of
God himself, and we live this out in a spirit of loving obedience. God’s love
for us is expressed in his exercise of saving authority and power, and our love
for him is expressed in our obedience to his will. What does our Lord say in
our Gospel text today? He speaks of the irreplaceable importance of obedience to
the authority of God commanding: “So the one who breaks the least commandment
and teaches men to do the same will be counted least in the kingdom of heaven.
But the one who observes and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of
heaven.” (Matthew 5:17‑19) Whatever else we
may do in the life of religion, if we do not obey God’s commandments we shall be
counted least in the kingdom of heaven.
In all this our Lord is the model. On one occasion he said to his disciples
that his food was to do the will of his heavenly Father. In the Prayer he
taught his disciples, we are instructed to pray that the will of our heavenly
Father will be done here on earth just as it is done in heaven. In the first
instance, of course, “here on earth” means each of us — we are to pray that it
will be granted to us to do the will of God always. Our Lord told his audience
on one occasion that he himself always did what pleased his heavenly Father.
That is to say, at no point and in no way did he ever do what was not his
Father’s will. During his agony in the Garden he prayed that the cup he was
soon to drink be taken away from him — but “not as I will, but as you will.” Our
Lord was once asked what was the greatest commandment of the Law. He said that
it was to love God with all one’s heart and the second was like it, to love
one’s neighbour as oneself. But this command to love was precisely that — it
was a command. It was not just an invitation, a counsel, a divine preference.
It is God’s command that we love him with all our strength, and being religious
means obeying that command. The Church has always summarized Christian
perfection in terms of the perfect fulfilment of the will of God as it is
expressed in our daily duties. We must strive to obey God’s will to perfection
in all its daily detail, and we do this willingly and out of love for the One
who is our Father. We do so in union with his Son our Lord, and by the grace of
the Holy Spirit. Obedience to the divine will is of the essence of revealed
religion and the love that distinguishes the Christian religion is expressed,
safeguarded and nourished by that obedience. As our Lord said, if you love me
you will keep my commandments. It is impossible to love God and to be lacking
in obedience to him. In this sense Newman is absolutely right: authority and
obedience are of the essence of revealed religion.
This
is what marked our Lord’s own practice, and it distinguishes the practice of the
Christian saint. Do you want to love God during the course of your life? Yes?
Well then, resolve to live in obedience to his commands. A direct flow on from
that is to recognize in his Church the presence of his authority. He has
endowed his Church with his authority to guide and teach in his name. I give to
you the keys of the Kingdom of heaven, he told Peter. Whatever you bind on
earth will be considered bound in heaven. There is no escaping it, the
recognition of God’s authority and obedience to it is of the essence of the
spirit of Christianity.
Teacher: your keenness to know and practise the best method of helping
your students to acquire earthly knowledge is undeniable. But don't
forget that you must have the same keenness to know and practise the
Christian spiritual life, which is the only method of helping them and
you to be better.
(The Way, no.344)
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Scripture today:
Jeremiah 7:23-28; Psalm 95:1-2, 6-9; Luke 11:14-23
Jesus said to his
disciples, “Which of you were he to ask his father for bread, would
receive from him a stone? or were he to ask for a fish would receive a
serpent? Were he to ask for an egg would he hand him a scorpion? If you
then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much
more will your Father in
heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?” Having cast a devil
out of a dumb man the mute spoke and the crowds were in full
admiration. But some of them said, “He casts out devils by Beelzebul,
the prince of devils.” Others tried to test him by asking of him a sign
from heaven. But seeing their thoughts, he said to them, “Every kingdom
divided against itself will be brought to ruin, and so too every
household. Now if Satan also is divided against himself, how shall his
kingdom stand? For you say that through Beelzebul I cast out devils. If
I cast out devils by Beelzebul, by whom do your own people cast them
out? Therefore let them be your judges. But if I by the finger of God
cast out devils then the kingdom of God has for certain come upon you.
When a strong man armed keeps his court he holds securely all that he
owns. But if a stronger than he comes on the scene and overcomes him he
will take away all his armour wherein he relied, and will distribute
his spoils. He who is not with me is against me; he that gathers not
with me, scatters.”
(Luke 11:14-23)
The
Trinity
One of the great classics of Christian spirituality is The Imitation of
Christ by Thomas
ŕ
Kempis. It consists of numerous maxims set forth in chapters according to
topic. They are powerful sayings that encapsulate various aspects of the
following of Christ, and the book has gained a high sanction of the Church.
There are other books written in a similar style and structure, in different
eras of the Church’s history.
For instance, St Josemaria Escriva (1902‑1975) wrote three books of spirituality
having a similar format, the most famous of them being The Way. They
consist of maxims of varying lengths — sayings, we might call them. Now, whole
sections of the Gospels also consist of sayings of Christ connected together
within and by means of the narrative of his public ministry. Perhaps he
repeated many of them often to his disciples and perhaps — who knows! — like a
good teacher he got them to repeat them back to him. In this way they may have
been memorized. Whatever of that speculation, our Gospel passage today contains
in its first saying consoling teaching about prayer and trust in the Holy
Trinity. There we have Jesus the Son of God instructing his disciples on
prayer. He exhorts them to pray to their Father in heaven and to pray with the
utmost confidence. If any one of them were to ask his own father for a favour,
would not his father do it for them? How much more will the heavenly Father
readily do the greatest of favours. And what is that? It is to give to
his children the gift of the Holy Spirit to those who ask him. So in his
teaching on prayer our Lord brings before us the Father, the Son and the Holy
Spirit. The Son is instructing us on prayer. The Father will answer our
prayers. The Holy Spirit is the gift par excellence of God. Let us then take
our cue from Jesus our Lord and turn confidently to our Father in heaven for all
our needs. Our greatest need is for the Holy Spirit to come and abide with us,
giving us his gifts and blessings. Indeed, the more filled we are with the Holy
Spirit, the more shall we know what to ask for.
In our Gospel text, our Lord’s next teaching is different in its object but once
again trust in the Holy Trinity is a central feature. It is occasioned by a
malicious insinuation that he is driving out the devils by working in concert
with Satan, their master. His power comes from being in league with the chief
of the demons — and we can imagine this gratuitous assertion being made slyly
and knowingly, with slow and deliberate unction as if coming from those with
insight. Our Lord effortlessly showed the absurdity of this suggested
strategy. Satan would be destroying his own strongholds were he to have Christ
as his partner, vigorously and totally undoing his work. No, it is by the
finger of God that he was casting out devils and not at all by the power of
Satan. The finger of God? Probably “the finger of God” is the Holy Spirit for
it was by the power of the Holy Spirit that Christ did his work. His greatest
work, that of offering himself as a Victim on the Cross, he did by the power of
the Holy Spirit — so we are informed by the Letter to the Hebrews. So once
again we have Christ, the Holy Spirit, and God the Father. Christ is
establishing the Kingdom of his Father and doing so by the power of the Holy
Spirit. He is driving out Satan and destroying his holdings. Moreover, Christ
warns that his strength is invincible. “But if a stronger than he comes on the
scene and overcomes him he will take away all his armour wherein he relied, and
will distribute his spoils. He who is not with me is against me; he that
gathers not with me, scatters” (Luke 11:14‑23).
In the first saying Christ exhorts his disciples to have full confidence in the
Father in heaven when they are at prayer: if we who are evil can do good to
others, how much more will our Father in heaven do the greatest good to us! In
the second teaching of the passage, our Lord exhorts his disciples to have
confidence in himself. He is the strong one and to gather with him is to be
safe. In both teachings the Holy Spirit is very much at work.
Let us place our full confidence in the Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy
Spirit. Let us pray to the Father for all our needs, but most especially for
our greatest need, the gift of the Holy Spirit and his grace. Let us gather
with Christ who is our strong and invincible redeemer. He casts out Satan and
protects all who take their shelter in him. We have nothing to fear if we live
in the grace of the most holy Trinity, one God in three divine persons.
Culture, culture! Very good: let us be second to none in striving for
and possessing it.
But, culture is a means and not an end.
(The Way, no.345)
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Scripture today:
Hosea 14:2-10; Psalm 81:6c-11ab, 14 and 17; Mark 12:28-34
One of the scribes,
seeing how well Jesus had answered them, asked him which was the first
of all the commandments. Jesus answered him, “The first of all the
commandments is this, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord your God is the
only God. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with
your whole soul, with your whole mind and with your whole strength.’
This is the first commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love
your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than
these.” The scribe said to him, “Well spoken, Master. What you have
said is true. There is only one God. There is no other besides him. He
is to be loved with one’s whole heart, all one’s understanding, one’s
whole soul and all one’s strength. We are to love our neighbour as our
self. This is a greater thing than all holocausts and sacrifices.”
Jesus seeing that he had answered wisely, said to him, “You art not far
from the kingdom of God.” After that no one dared ask him any more
questions.(Mark 12:28-34)
The
command to love
Many years back I came across a book which I bought entitled Giants of God.
It consisted of biographies of various great Christian leaders since the
Reformation, especially in England. They were, in their way, “giants of God” in
that they loomed large in their religious influence and achieved considerable
visible results. But the impression given by the very title and by the subjects
of the chapters was that God’s giants are only persons of unusual talents and
great influence over the course of religious affairs.
Such “giants” might be the likes of Hooker, Andrewes, Wesley, or Wilberforce.
But what of the little person of ordinary natural talents and influence — is
there any sense in which such a person can be a “giant” of God? There most
certainly is and our Gospel passage today gives us the key to it. God wants us
to do good work for him, and assuredly those who are endowed with exceptional
gifts and capacities have the ability to do extraordinary work for him. But
consider the first of all the commandments. It is not that we do work for God
that stands out beyond the ordinary. The first “work” that God wants us to do
for him is to love him. He also wants us to love our neighbour as ourselves.
One of the scribes, seeing how well Jesus had answered them, asked him which was
the first of all the commandments. Jesus answered him, “The first of all the
commandments is this, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord your God is the only God. You
shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with your whole soul, with
your whole mind and with your whole strength.’ This is the first commandment.
The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no
other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:28‑34).
This, then, is what God seeks from us above all — love! We can love only by the
help of grace, and when love informs all we do, there is given to all our work
for God a beauty beyond compare.
Of course, any love for God will depend on our faith in him and his word. Our
love will be the expression of our faith in him just as it will be the
expression of our hope in him. In the Gospel of St John the crowds ask our Lord
what the work is that God expects of them, and our Lord replies that the work of
God is to believe in the one he has sent. This belief in Jesus is the
foundation of our love for him who is the Son of God. So the greatest work we
can do in life is to believe in Jesus totally and to love him with all our mind,
heart, soul and strength. In this sense a humble and obscure Carmelite nun can
be a “giant of God” in the depths of her soul — and that is precisely what St
Therese of Lisieux was towards the end of the nineteenth century in France. It
is this spiritual greatness that God is seeking, not just in the few but in all
of his disciples. The Church teaches that all of Christ’s faithful are called
to holiness of life and to a share in the Church’s mission. By their baptism
they are called to it, and they are endowed with the gifts of grace that make it
possible. What is needed is the will to do it and the light to follow the right
way. Furthermore, this love for God which should be total does not operate in a
vacuum. It takes flesh in daily work. Love is the driving force of our daily
work. In this sense the daily work of the Christian can sanctify him. His love
for Christ, nourished by the word of God and by the Sacraments, is expressed in
and augmented by, the daily work which the providence of God and his vocation in
life call him to do. The humble tradesman, the ordinary housewife and mother,
the office worker, whoever it is from the highest to the lowest, is called to
sanctify his work by investing it with all the faith, hope and especially love
of which he is capable. He is to love God with all his heart in his daily work,
endeavouring to fulfil all the duties of his state in life as well as possible
out of love. His work might be unnoticed by others, but the faith and love
present in it makes of him “God’s giant.”
Let us take to heart Christ’s words about the first of all the commandments,
which is that we love God with all our heart and our neighbour as ourself. This
is the work of life par excellence, and it is a work that is to inform all other
work we do. God wants us to be aiming at perfection, the perfection of love for
him and for our neighbour. All who have the foundation of faith can with great
realism aim at this, remembering that it is not just an vague ideal. It is
God’s command.
Student: form yourself in a solid and active piety, be outstanding in
study, have a strong desire for the 'professional' apostolate. And with
that vigour of your religious and professional training, I promise you
rapid and far-reaching developments.
(The Way, no.346)
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(February 22, 2008) The Authority of Peter the Apostle
This feast commemorates Christ’s choosing Peter to sit in his place as
the servant-authority of the whole Church (see June 29). After the
“lost weekend” of pain, doubt and self-torment, Peter hears the Good
News. Angels at the tomb say to Magdalene, “The Lord has risen! Go,
tell his disciples and Peter.” John relates that when he and Peter ran
to the tomb, the younger outraced the older, then waited for him. Peter
entered, saw the wrappings on the ground, the headpiece rolled up in a
place by itself. John saw and believed. But he adds a reminder: “..They
did not yet understand the scripture that he had to rise from the dead”
(John 20:9). They went home. There the slowly exploding, impossible
idea became reality. Jesus appeared to them as they waited fearfully
behind locked doors. “Peace be with you,” he said (John 20:21b), and
they rejoiced. The Pentecost event completed Peter’s experience of the
risen Christ. “...They were all filled with the holy Spirit” (Acts
2:4a) and began to express themselves in foreign tongues and make bold
proclamation as the Spirit prompted them. Only then can Peter fulfil
the task Jesus had given him: “... Once you have turned back, you must
strengthen your brothers” (Luke 22:32). He at once becomes the
spokesman for the Twelve about their experience of the Holy
Spirit—before the civil authorities who wished to quash their
preaching, before the council of Jerusalem, for the community in the
problem of Ananias and Sapphira. He is the first to preach the Good
News to the Gentiles. The healing power of Jesus in him is well
attested: the raising of Tabitha from the dead, the cure of the
crippled beggar. People carry the sick into the streets so that when
Peter passed his shadow might fall on them.
At the end of John’s Gospel, Jesus says to Peter, “Amen, amen, I say to
you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you
wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and
someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go”
(John 21:18). What Jesus said indicated the sort of death by which
Peter was to glorify God. On Vatican Hill, in Rome, during the reign of
Nero, Peter did glorify his Lord with a martyr’s death, probably in the
company of many Christians. (AmericanCatholic.org)
click on
centre arrow for video
Scripture today: 1 Peter 5:1-4; Psalm
23:1-3a, 4, 5, 6; Matthew 16:13-19
Jesus
came into the region of Cesarea Philippi and asked his disciples, “Who
do men say that the Son of man is?” They said, “Some say, John the
Baptist. Other say Elias, and others again, Jeremias or one of the
prophets.” Jesus said to them, “But who do you say I am?” Simon Peter
answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus
answered, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona: because flesh and blood has
not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I say to you,
you are Peter and on this rock I will build my church. The gates of
hell will not prevail against it. I will give to you the keys of the
kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound also in
heaven. Whatever you will loose on earth will be loosed also in heaven.”(Matthew 16:13-19)
Our Gospel passage
today is one of thee key texts of the Gospels and the appreciation and
understanding of its implications has steadily developed in the course
of the Church’s history. Towards the end of 1845 John Henry Newman
published his famous work entitled The Development of Christian Doctrine establishing that characteristically and
in the plan of God Christian doctrine develops. Christian doctrine is a
developing system in the sense that what Christ has revealed is
progressively understood by the Church, and in tandem with this growing
understanding — under the guidance of the Holy Spirit — the Church
develops her formal and infallible doctrine. Our Gospel passage today
(Matthew 16:13-19) is a case in
point. In the scene Christ elicits from Simon — the leader and
spokesman of the Twelve — his profession that Jesus is the Messiah the
Son of the living God. What a magnificent profession it is! By the
grace of the Father almighty, Simon has come to see who Jesus really
is. On the basis of this faith and insight, Christ now lays the
foundation, the rock on which he will build his Church. That rock that
he lays is Simon himself. He gives to Simon his new office, his title,
the title of his office. It is that of the Rock, the visible rock of
the Church which Christ will build. Yahweh God of course is the living
Rock of his chosen people, and Christ is the living Rock of his Church,
the new people of God. But Simon will now stand in his place as the
visible Rock on which this Church is to be built. In Simon’s successors
this visible rock will continue as the foundation and on this rock the
Church will be strong and indeed invincible. So strong will be this
Church founded on Peter that the gates of hell will never prevail
against it. That is because it will have Christ abiding within it as
its unseen head and life and Satan is no match for Christ.
It is clear that
Simon Peter is now inseparable from the true Church which Christ is
founding. To a very great degree its strength will derive from its
being built on Peter. Moreover, an extraordinary role is conferred on
Peter in government. To him Christ gives the keys to the Kingdom of
heaven, implying that the Kingdom of God is to be located in his
Church, the Church he is founding on Peter. That Kingdom, of course,
consists of the person of Christ and of those who are in union with
him. Life in the Kingdom is life in Christ. That life in Christ is to
be found in the Church Christ is here founding and which would be
finally born with the sending of the Holy Spirit. Simon Peter, the
visible rock of the Kingdom present in the Church of which Christ is
the head, possesses the keys. He is empowered to unlock access to the
riches of Christ in whom is to be found every heavenly blessing. He
opens and he closes, and those who wish to enter the Kingdom which is
life in Christ are, in the plan of God, to turn to Peter. He it is who
unlocks the doors and the treasures. Clearly, the King is entrusting
his Kingdom to his vice-gerent, to his prime minister we might say. He,
the King, will be gone from visible sight but he will be present and
operative in his grand Vicar. Great is his spiritual power, for
“Whatever you bind on earth will be bound also in heaven. Whatever you
will loose on earth will be loosed also in heaven.” (Matthew 16:13-19). Of course, he must
do only what his Lord wishes and for this he will have the guidance of
the Spirit of God who will come when Christ is glorified. So then,
Christ founded his Church — not just any sort of body that happens to
accept elements of his teaching, but a definite Church with clearly
identifiable structures. Most significantly, his Church is built upon
the rock of Peter and it is this Church which will prevail against the
powers of hell. The Kingdom is present in that Church, and the keys to
it are in the hands of Peter. He is the one who binds and loosens, and
where he is, there Christ is.
Let us ponder on
our Lord’s words in today’s passage. There is so much to stimulate our
mind and heart. At the centre of it is the person of Jesus the Messiah,
the Son of the living God. In him is to be found the Kingdom, and the
one who lives in him is a citizen of the Kingdom. Where is he, and
where are the means to live in him? They are to be found in his Church
which he built and which he sustains upon Simon and his successors,
those who hold the keys. Let us love the Church Christ has instituted
and use its blessings to attain the sanctity meant for us.
You must not kill, and
whosoever does kill will be in danger of the judgment. But I say to
you, that whosoever is angry with his brother will be in danger of the
judgment. Whosoever says to his brother, Raca, will be in danger of the
council, and whosoever says, You fool, will be in danger of hell fire.
If therefore you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember
that your brother has any thing against you, leave there your offering
before the altar, and go first to be reconciled to your brother. Then
come to offer your gift. Arrive at an agreement with your adversary in
time while you are on the way with him. Otherwise your adversary may
deliver you to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer,
and you will be cast into prison. Amen I say to you, you will get out
from there till you repay the last farthing. (Matthew 5:20-26)
Alternatively, religious ceremonies could be a means to placate and supplicate
the gods. At the age of 37 Julius Caesar bribed his way into the elected office
of Pontifex Maximus, senior state priest, and so performed public religious
ceremonies. Religion was important for the Romans. Again, there is a level of
religion which goes beyond ceremonies and involves everyday behaviour. The
religious person in his concrete activity in society tries to obey the powers
above. He understands that if he steals, or is dishonest, or injures others,
then he will be judged and punished by God or the gods. If he is just and good
to others then he will be rewarded. However, there is a level of religion that
is far deeper than this, far more all‑pervasive and radical. That is the
religion of the heart in which all that goes on in a person’s mind and heart is
subjected to the will of God and ordered to his glory. This is surely the
fundamental challenge facing every person who wishes to please God in life and
it is the basic arena of God’s concern. God is fundamentally concerned about
what is the state of our mind, heart and soul because from there come the words,
the actions and entire life of the individual and of all of society. The state
of mankind depends on what is happening in the minds and hearts of all men and
women. When our Lord was asked by one of the scribes which is the greatest
commandment of the Law, he was being referred to a Law which also embraced
numerous laws and prescriptions regulating religious and social behaviour.
Which is the greatest of them? Our Lord’s reply emphasised the religion of the
heart. He said that the first and greatest commandment was to love God with all
one’s mind and heart, and the second was to love one’s neighbour as oneself.
Everything depends on this love, he said.
