Commitment

                         13th Sunday in Ordinary Time

                  A cycle

 

      

Today’s first reading from the Book of Kings is about Elisha, one of the greatest of the Hebrew prophets. Elisha is often regarded as a precursor of Christ mainly because of his miraculous healings. In our reading today we have only half the story about the prophet’s encounter with the woman of Shunem. We are told that in response to the woman’s hospitality. Elisha promises that the childless woman will bear a son.  

 

In the passages that follow we see that the woman finds it hard to believe but, sure enough, she does conceive and bear a son a year later. But in a few years her boy is struck down with a severe headache while working in the fields with his father. He is brought home, put to bed and appears to be dying. The grief stricken mother then summons Elisha from a nearby town. When Elisha finally arrives, he restores the young boy to life in much the same way that Jesus would do for the son of the widow of Nain centuries later. For her generous hospitality, the Woman of Shunem had indeed received a prophet’s reward.

 

This first reading leads into today’s gospel where Jesus speaks about receiving a prophet’s reward. Before we go any further, we have to deal with the seemingly harsh words he says in this passage from Matthew. 

 

Whoever loves father and mother more than me is not worthy of me,

and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me;

and whoever does not take up his cross

and follow after me is not worthy of me.

 

We must understand that at the beginning of this chapter Jesus has named and called the Apostles. The rest of the chapter deals with his instructions for those who would follow him on his mission. Like anyone else asking others to embark on a significant and even perilous mission, Jesus asks his followers to understand what they are getting into before taking on the responsibility. 

 

He is telling them that they will meet opposition not only from strangers and enemies but also from their own loved ones. He is also saying that once they embark on the journey, they will not be able to look back. To follow him and take up his cross will involve a total commitment.

 

We all understand the importance of commitment in life. Coaches preach it to their athletes. They tell them that they must be willing to sacrifice and give up things in order to reach their goal. Usually, the most successful athletes are those who are most committed to their goals. They won’t let anything stand in their way even if their friends and loved ones do not give full support, or urge them to take it easy. To be successful in sports or anything else requires commitment. In a way, only when we sacrifice ourselves for some greater goal do we really find out what we’re made of or who we really are. 

 

We don’t have to be athletes to understand the nature of commitment. Ordinary people can achieve extraordinary things in their everyday lives even though they might not realize it. Last week we celebrated Father’s Day and what takes more commitment and self-sacrifice than being a father, except maybe being a mother.

 

The saints are models of commitment. Years ago, I heard a story about a man on a crowded airplane waiting to take off. As usual, the cabin was noisy before take-off but all of a sudden the cabin turned quiet. He wondered why and looked up to see two nuns wearing blue and white saris walking down the aisle toward his seat. It was Mother Teresa and a companion and they sat down next to him.

 

They immediately took out their rosaries and began to recite the decades in a low voice. Although Catholic the man was an admittedly lukewarm one, but he couldn’t help following along as they recited the prayers. When they finished, Mother Teresa asked him if he prayed the rosary daily. He said that he didn’t, and so she handed him her own beads and said, “You will now.” His life was change by this brief encounter with a prophet who had given up all to take up her cross and follow Jesus. 

 

Another saint who gave up all for Jesus was St. Paul. His greatest regret was that his own people rejected him. They beat him, imprisoned him, and even turned him over to pagans to be martyred. In today’s passage from the letter to the Christian community in Rome he tells them that they should be aware that since they have been baptized into death with Christ, they will also experience a new life with him. In that new life, they will love father and mother, son and daughter more than they could ever have imagined.

 

###

Reading 1. 2 Kings 4: 8-11, 14-16a

Reading II. Romans 6: 3-4, 8-11

Gospel. Matthew 10:37-42 (a prophet’s reward).

Peter and Paul

                                    Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Apostles

                                    

Feed My Sheep
Assumption Church window
Fairfield CT

            

It takes a great feast day for the Church to interrupt the regular Sunday celebrations of Ordinary time. Today, June 29, is the feast of Saints Peter and Paul and that certainly qualifies. You wonder why the Church does not have a separate feast day for each of these important saints. Perhaps it’s because their lives are so intertwined in Scripture and Tradition.

Although their backgrounds were different, they both had remarkable conversion experiences. For the most part the Acts of the Apostles is all about the work of Peter and Paul. They are both powerful and effective preachers, they both work healing miracles, and they both have miraculous escapes from their enemies. Yet, they each insist that it was only by invoking the “name of Jesus” that they were able to accomplish anything. They took no credit to themselves. Tradition tells us that they both suffered martyrdom in 64 A.D. during the persecution of Christians by the brutal and insane Roman emperor, Nero. 

However, I think that the reason for today’s feastday is not necessarily the greatness of these two saints but their weakness.  Both were failures who had to seek redemption before they could follow in the Lord’s footsteps. Rather than trying to hide the story of Peter’s denial that he even knew Jesus, the Church broadcasts this dark moment in the life of the first Pope. The denial of Peter is one of the few incidents recorded in all four gospels. Moreover, artists have never tired of depicting Peter’s denial. In Caravaggio’s version, after someone claims that Peter was a follower of the recently arrested Jesus, Peter points to himself as if to say, “who me?”

In the same way, no attempt has ever been made to hide the fact that St. Paul persecuted members of the early Church. Before his conversion on the road to Damascus, Paul considered himself the greatest of sinners. In Raphael’s depiction of St. Cecilia discarding her musical instruments after she has discovered the music of heaven, the saint is flanked by St. Paul and Mary Magdalen, both symbols of saints who had triumphed over sin. Paul leans on the sword that usually identifies him in sacred art but it is not an ordinary sword. In one of his letters Paul referred to the word of God as the sword of the Spirit.

There is a church at the northern entrance of the city of Rome right next to the famous Paizza del Populo. It is called Santa Maria del Populo and it contains two of the greatest works of the artist Caravaggio. In the small Cerasi chapel Caravaggio has depicted the Martyrdom of Peter on one wall, and just a few feet away on the opposite wall the Conversion of Paul.

In S. Maria del Populo the two saints can be seen together again just as on this feastday. Peter is depicted head down on a cross as he is about to suffer the same fate as Jesus. In the gospel of the vigil mass we have tha account of the appearance of our Lord to Peter after the Resurrection. As if to remind us that Peter had denied him three times, Jesus asks Peter if he loves him. Each time when Peter affirms his love, Jesus deflects it and tells him to feed his sheep. In other words, to direct his love to those entrusted to his care. The image at the top of this post depicts the Risen Lord handing the shepherd’s staff to Peter.

Caravaggio depicted Peter at the end of his journey but Paul is depicted at the beginning. He is shown fallen on the ground with his arms outstretched toward the light that is blinding him. Paul hints at the end of his story in today’s in today’s reading from the letter to Timothy.  

I, Paul, am already being poured out like a libation,

And the time of my departure is at hand.

I have competed well, I have finished the race;

I have kept the faith.

Today, their message still goes out to all the earth.

###

Reading 1. Acts 12:1-11

Reading II. 2 Timothy 4: 6-8, 17-18

Gospel. Matthew 16: 13-19 (thou art Peter).\

Vigil:

Reading 1Act 3: 1-10

Reading II: Galatians I: 11-20.

Gospel: John 21: 15-19 (Feed My sheep) 

Paul and the Risen Lord

                        4th Sunday of Easter

                                   

Caravaggio: Conversion of Paul

In all the Sundays between Easter and Pentecost the first reading comes from the Acts of the Apostles as we follow them on their early missionary activity. Please note that even though we read these accounts now, they refer to the activity of the Apostles after Pentecost. Today the focus shifts from Peter to Paul, who called himself  "the least of the Apostles."

In this cycle of readings we don't even get into the story of Paul's conversion. We'll have to wait for another day to hear the account of his meeting with the Risen Lord on the road to Damascus. By the time we pick up the story in today's reading Paul, the persecutor of Christians, has already been converted, baptized, and empowered to preach. From the hints in today's reading it seems clear that his mission was at first to the Jewish communities outside of the Holy Land.

By the time of Christ practically every city in what we would call the Near East had a prominent Jewish community of merchants and tradesmen. Although the Romans had conquered, it was Greek culture, language, thought and practices that predominated in this part of the ancient world. So when Paul speaks of Gentiles he is usually referring to the Greeks. Needless to say there was bound to be friction between Greek and Jew. Historians trace the origins of anti-Semitism to the rivalry between these Greek and Jewish communities long before the time of Christ.

On their part the Jews regarded the Greeks as unclean and preferred to live apart from them. The worship of idols and the offering of sacrifices to those idols was an abomination to the Jews. Just as serious were some practices among the Gentiles, like abortion and pornography, which disgusted the Jews.

Antioch, where we meet Paul today, was a flourishing Greek trading center. Obviously, Paul feels at home among the Jewish community there. Following normal Jewish practice Paul and Barnabas enter the synagogue on the Sabbath and take their seats. It seems clear from today's reading that Paul doesn't think that Jews have to stop being Jewish in order to follow Christ. In fact, the more we learn about Judaism in the time of Christ, the more we see the great similarity between Jew and Christian.

However, in the next few weeks we are going to see that there were fundamental differences. The most basic one had to do with the claim that Jesus makes in today's gospel account from St. John.

            My sheep hear my voice;...

            I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish....

            My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all,...

            The Father and I are one.

Jesus identifies Himself with the God of Israel. We must realize that no one would ever think of the Holy Trinity unless Jesus had continually referred to Himself along with the Father and the Spirit. A reasonable person could conclude that there could only be one God. The Jews did and so would the Moslems 600 years after the time of Christ. The Moslems still regard Jesus and His Mother with great reverence. Mary, for example, is the only woman named in the Koran. Still, Jesus was only a good man or a great teacher. The claim that He is one with the Father is equally shocking to them as well as to the Jews. It was not logic or reason that led the early Church to reject heresies that claimed that Jesus was only a man. It was the words of Jesus, himself.

Why should we believe His words? Who wouldn't regard them as absurd or crazy? Although it's clear that Paul converted many Jews, we can sympathize with those who found his words shocking and threw him out of town. Indeed, whenever we see the Jews mentioned in scripture, we should put ourselves in their place. How many Christians today prefer to think of Jesus as just a good man or a fine teacher who went about doing good works? Even then we don't want Him running our affairs or interfering in our lives.

For Paul the reason for belief was the Resurrection. In another place, he said that "if Christ is not risen, then our faith is in vain." He personally witnessed the Risen Christ on the road to Damascus. He called himself the least of the Apostles because he had persecuted the Church and was the last to see the Lord. After his conversion Paul's eyes were opened and he saw that the God of Israel had become incarnate in Jesus. Things could never be the same.

Jesus came for all men. It was no longer possible for Jew and Greek to live apart, for all are brothers and sisters. Paul now believes that the mission of the Jews all along had been to save their despised enemy. He says to his Jewish brethren and to us,

            I have made you a light to the Gentiles,

            that you may be an instrument of salvation

            to the ends of the earth.

In the reading from the Book of Revelation John has the same vision as Paul. He sees a multitude "from every nation, race, people and tongue" standing at the Heavenly throne before the Risen Lamb. The Lamb "will lead them to the springs of life-giving water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

The Risen Lamb of God
Stained Glass Window
Assumption Church, Fairfield CT

###

Reading 1. Acts 13:14, 43-52

Reading II. Revelation 7:9, 14b-17

Gospel. John 10: 27-30 (The Father and I are one).

Feast of the Holy Family…

                                    The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph

                                  

Holy Family Window
Assumption Church
Fairfield CT*

It is appropriate that we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family right after Christmas. Not only do we continue the narrative of the infancy of Christ but also at no time do families come closer together than at Christmas. However, there is a dark side. We all know that the Christmas season can strain and test family relationships.

Today's first reading from the Book of Sirach can be summed up in the great commandment to "honor thy father and mother." It would do us well to pay close attention to Sirach's words. He tells us that the authority of a father and mother come from God, and that it is ingrained in all of us. We would call it today a part of our genetic makeup. To depart from this practice violates our very nature and will only result in bitterness and unhappiness. 

In our time when so many of our parents can no longer take care of themselves, the words of Sirach are more important than ever.

            My son, take care of your father when he is old;

            grieve him not as long as he lives.

            Even if his mind fail, be considerate of him;

            revile him not all the days of his life.

In our culture the roles of father and mother have come increasingly under attack. Television and movies usually portray fathers as ignorant simpletons or as brutal abusers. This only reflects a culture where men casually urge their girl friends or wives to abort their own children. That men should act as guardians and protectors of their wives and children is now regarded as old fashioned and laughable.

In today’s gospel St. Luke tells the poignant and significant story of the Presentation of the infant Jesus in the temple in Jerusalem. Here Joseph and Mary fulfill their duty to “consecrate” their child to the Lord. Parents today do something similar when they bring their own newborn to church to be baptized. Maybe they don’t meet with such interesting characters or hear such puzzling prophecies, but they still should be amazed by what lies ahead of them and their child. The parents are taking on an awesome responsibility.

Presentation in the Temple
Assumption Church
Fairfield CT*

The role of father and mother is also the central theme of our passage today from St. Paul's letter to the Colossians. How are we to understand this reading especially that controversial passage where St. Paul says, "Wives, be subordinate to your husbands, as is proper in the Lord."

We could say that Paul, like so many of his contemporaries, was a "sexist" who thought that women were second-class citizens. We could also say that since Paul never married, he knew nothing about the actual relationship of a man and a woman in marriage or the way they would arrange responsibility in a household even then.

However, we could also say that Paul was dealing in this passage with a very practical problem that had arisen in the early Christian churches, especially among the Gentiles. It would appear that the new faith was especially attractive to women. Scholars tell us that in pagan families it was often the woman who first converted to Christianity, and then subsequently brought their husbands and families into the fold. This is not unusual even in our time.

However, there were cases where the husband would not convert, and women in this situation wondered what to do. Should they stay with their pagan husbands or should they leave? Paul always urges them to remain faithful to their marriage vows. He knew that there was no social safety net for these women outside of marriage but he also argued that they would be better able to bring their husbands and families to believe by remaining married.

Finally, I think we could say that St. Paul is preaching a revolutionary new doctrine here. For a minute, let's concentrate on his advice to the men. "Husbands, love your wives." It is hard for us to realize that in the ancient world, love of a husband for his wife was not the ideal. Our idea of a young couple falling in love and dedicating their whole lives to one another was an alien idea in the ancient world. At that time and for centuries after marriages were arranged between families. A young woman or girl might only meet her future husband, often an older man, for the first time at their engagement. A woman was little more than a child-bearing machine. If she could not bear children, her husband was obligated to divorce her. As far as romantic feeling or sexual pleasure was concerned, a man usually found that outside of the bonds of matrimony.

Despite today's popular opinion, Christianity elevated the role of women not only in society but also in the eyes of her husband. St. Paul understands the teaching of Christ to mean that Christian men must give up their whole lives for their wives and families, a rare thing in any time. Look at the first part of today's reading. St. Paul is telling the Colossians and us to put on virtue in the same way we would put on a suit of clothes. The relationship in a family should consist of "heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience." A family built on these virtues won't have to worry about who's the boss.

Today's feast is not just about "The Holy Family" but it’s about making our families holy.

            And over all these put on love,

            that is, the bond of perfection.

            And let the peace of Christ control your hearts,…

###

Reading 1. Sirach 3: 2-6, 12-14

Reading II. Colossians 3: 12-21

Gospel. Luke 2: 22-40 (the child grew and became strong).

* Images by Melissa DeStefano

Peter and Paul

                                    Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Apostles

                                    

Feed My Sheep
Assumption Church window
Fairfield CT

           

It takes a great feast day for the Church to interrupt the regular Sunday celebrations of Ordinary time. Today, June 29, is the feast of Saints Peter and Paul and that certainly qualifies. You wonder why the Church does not have a separate feast day for each of these important saints. Perhaps it’s because their lives are so intertwined in Scripture and Tradition.

Although their backgrounds were different, they both had remarkable conversion experiences. For the most part the Acts of the Apostles is all about the work of Peter and Paul. They are both powerful and effective preachers, they both work healing miracles, and they both have miraculous escapes from their enemies. Yet, they each insist that it was only by invoking the “name of Jesus” that they were able to accomplish anything. They took no credit to themselves. Tradition tells us that they both suffered martyrdom in 64 A.D. during the persecution of Christians by the brutal and insane Roman emperor, Nero.

However, I think that the reason for today’s feastday is not necessarily the greatness of these two saints but their weakness.  Both were failures who had to seek redemption before they could follow in the Lord’s footsteps. Rather than trying to hide the story of Peter’s denial that he even knew Jesus, the Church broadcasts this dark moment in the life of the first Pope. The denial of Peter is one of the few incidents recorded in all four gospels. Moreover, artists have never tired of depicting Peter’s denial. In Caravaggio’s version, after someone claims that Peter was a follower of the recently arrested Jesus, Peter points to himself as if to say, “who me?”

In the same way, no attempt has ever been made to hide the fact that St. Paul persecuted members of the early Church. Before his conversion on the road to Damascus, Paul considered himself the greatest of sinners. In Raphael’s depiction of St. Cecilia discarding her musical instruments after that she has discovered the music of heaven, the saint is flanked by St. Paul and Mary Magdalen, both symbols of saints who had triumphed over sin. Paul leans on the sword that usually identifies him in sacred art but it is not an ordinary sword. In one of his letters Paul referred to the word of God as the sword of the Spirit.

There is a church at the northern entrance of the city of Rome right next to the famous Paizza del Populo. It is called Santa Maria del Populo and it contains two of the greatest works of the artist Caravaggio. In the small Cerasi chapel Caravaggio has depicted the Martyrdom of Peter on one wall, and just a few feet away on the opposite wall the Conversion of Paul.

In S. Maria del Populo the two saints can be seen together again just as on this feastday. Peter is depicted head down on a cross as he is about to suffer the same fate as Jesus. In the gospel of the vigil mass we have tha account of the appearance of our Lord to Peter after the Resurrection. As if to remind us that Peter had denied him three times, Jesus asks Peter if he loves him. Each time when Peter affirms his love, Jesus deflects it and tells him to feed his sheep. In other words, to direct his love to those entrusted to his care. The image at the top of this post depicts the Risen Lord handing the shepherd’s staff to Peter.

Caravaggio depicted Peter at the end of his journey but Paul is depicted at the beginning. He is shown fallen on the ground with his arms outstretched toward the light that is blinding him. Paul hints at the end of his story in today’s in today’s reading from the letter to Timothy. 

I, Paul, am already being poured out like a libation,

And the time of my departure is at hand.

I have competed well, I have finished the race;

I have kept the faith.

Today, their message still goes out to all the earth.

###

Reading 1. Acts 12:1-11

Reading II. 2 Timothy 4: 6-8, 17-18

Gospel. Matthew 16: 13-19 (thou art Peter).\

Vigil:

Reading 1Act 3: 1-10

Reading II: Galatians I: 11-20.

Gospel: John 21: 15-19 (Feed My sheep)

Prophet without Honor

                                    4th Sunday in Ordinary Time

                                     

Caravaggio: Conversion of Paul

Today's first reading is from the beginning of the book of the Prophet Jeremiah. It is Jeremiah's call to be a prophet:

            But do you gird your loins;

            stand up and tell them

            all that I command you.

Jeremiah is going to be a prophet not in the sense that he is going to foretell the future but in the sense that he is going to remind the people of their past and their covenant with God, and bring them back into a true relationship with their God. How often have they forgotten that they are a chosen people, a people with a mission to bring all the nations to God. Jeremiah is warned that it will not be an easy task. His own people, Judah's kings and princes, priests and people, will fight against him.

.

This reading sets the scene for the continuation of Luke's gospel account of the return of Jesus to the synagogue in His home town of Nazareth which we began last week. The first verse of today's gospel reading actually repeats the ending of last week's reading. Remember, Jesus had read a passage from Isaiah about the Lord's anointed or chosen one and then said, "Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing."

Today's reading gives us the peoples' reaction. In his Spiritual Exercises, St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus, urged his followers to try to visualize the scenes of the gospel, even see them in their minds as if they were part of the scene itself. Let's put ourselves in this scene. We're in the church, we're impressed with the eloquent words of Jesus but then we remember that He is only  one of us. "Isn't this the son of Joseph?"  Maybe we're thinking, "Wait a minute, who does this guy think he is?"

Jesus hears and says, "no prophet is accepted in his own native place." More than that he tells us that in the past other prophets had been rejected by us, and could only do their healing among foreigners, even enemies. "There were many lepers in Israel during the time of Elisha the prophet; yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian." Israel, Syria, the names are still with us today in the most strife torn region of the world. Naaman himself was a Syrian warlord.

OK, we're still in the scene and we can imagine our reaction. "When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were all filled with fury." We surge along with the crowd as we drive Him to the outskirts of the little hill town to throw Him over a cliff. However, He passes through our midst and goes away, leaving His home town of Nazareth behind.

St. Paul himself was no stranger to angry mobs. Before his conversion he had participated in the stoning of St. Stephen, the first martyr. He was on the road to Damascus to persecute the Christians there when he encountered the risen Christ and received his own call to prophesy--to bring the gospel to all nations. In today's second reading we find that he is finding it no easier than Jeremiah.

He had established a Christian community in the leading Greek city of Corinth but after leaving them to continue on his missionary journeys, he has heard that the have begun to bicker among themselves. In the last two weeks we got a sense of what they were arguing about. Some felt that they were better than others--that they had received greater spiritual gifts. Christians of Jewish or Greek ancestry could not put away their traditional hostility to each other. So Paul has had to remind them that all our gifts or abilities come from Christ, that we all are part of His Mystical Body, and that we all have a role to play in the mission of Christ.

Even today there are many who don't like Paul especially when he tells women to be silent in Church or reminds them to be subservient to their husbands. We'll have to talk about those remarks some other day but for now it is enough to say that the same Paul wrote in today's reading the most beautiful and eloquent words that have ever been written on the subject of Love.

We're in the season of love, the time of the year when we celebrate St. Valentine's day.  We know that our culture today has cheapened and debased the gift of love. We only have to watch TV to see that our culture is seeking after the lesser gifts. Paul tells us to "strive eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts." He boils them down to three:

            So faith, hope, love remain, these three;

            but the greatest of these is love."

What is love?

            Love is patient, love is kind.

            It is not jealous, it is not pompous,

            it is not inflated, it is not rude,

            it does not seek its own interests,

            it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury,

            it does not rejoice over wrongdoing

            but rejoices with the truth.

            It bears all things, believes all things,

            hopes all things, endures all things.

Let's hope that we don't share the fate of the crowd at Nazareth when Love "passed through the midst of them and went away." ###

See video for Leontyne Price's version of Gershwin's "Love Walked Right In".

Reading 1. Jeremiah 1:4-5, 17-19

Reading II. I Corinthians 12: 31--13:13

Gospel. Luke 4: 21-30  (the son of Joseph?)

Holy Family

Holy Family
A cycle

Reading 1. Sirach 3: 2-6, 12-14
Reading II. Colossians 3: 12-21
Gospel. Matthew 2:12-15, 19-23 (flight into Egypt).

It is appropriate that we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family right after Christmas. Not only do we continue the narrative of the infancy of Christ but also at no time do families come closer together than at Christmas. However, there is a dark side. We all know that the Christmas season can strain and test family relationships.

Today's first reading from the Book of Sirach can be summed up in the great commandment to "honor thy father and mother." It would do us well to pay close attention to Sirach's words. He tells us that the authority of a father and mother come from God, and that it is ingrained in all of us. We would call it today a part of our genetic makeup. To depart from this practice violates our very nature and will only result in bitterness and unhappiness.

In our time when so many of our parents can no longer take care of themselves, the words of Sirach are more important than ever.

My son, take care of your father when he is old;
grieve him not as long as he lives.
Even if his mind fail, be considerate of him;
revile him not all the days of his life.

In our culture the roles of father and mother have come increasingly under attack. Television and movies usually portray fathers as ignorant simpletons or as brutal abusers. This only reflects a culture where men casually urge their girl friends or wives to abort their own children. That men should act as guardians and protectors of their wives and children is now regarded as old fashioned and laughable.

Nevertheless, that was precisely the role that Joseph played in today's story of the flight into Egypt. Warned of the danger facing his little family, "Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed for Egypt." The danger was real. Although we skip over the passage in today's reading, Matthew tells us that the madman King Herod had every male child under two years of age in Bethlehem and its nearby towns put to death. We still call this the slaughter of the "Holy Innocents."

The role of father and mother is also the central theme of our passage today from St. Paul's letter to the Colossians. How are we to understand this reading especially that controversial passage where St. Paul says, "Wives, be subordinate to your husbands, as is proper in the Lord."

We could say that Paul, like so many of his contemporaries, was a "sexist" who thought that women were second class citizens. You could also say that since Paul never married, he knew nothing about the actual relationship of a man and a woman in marriage or the way they would arrange responsibility in a household even then.

However, you could also say that Paul was dealing in this section with a very practical problem that had arisen in the early Christian churches, especially among the Gentiles. It would appear that the new faith was especially attractive to women. Scholars tell us that in pagan families it was often the woman who first converted to Christianity, and then subsequently brought their husbands and families into the fold. This is not unusual even in our time.

However, there were cases where the husband would not convert, and women in this situation wondered what to do. Should they stay with their pagan husbands or should they leave? Paul always urges them to remain faithful to their marriage vows. He knew that there was no social safety net for these women outside of marriage but he also argued that they would be better able to bring their husbands and families to believe by remaining married.

Finally, I think you could say that St. Paul is preaching a revolutionary new doctrine here. For a minute, let's concentrate on his advice to the men. "Husbands, love your wives." It is hard for us to realize that in the ancient world, love of a husband for his wife was not the ideal. Our idea of a young couple falling in love and dedicating their whole lives to one another was an alien idea in the ancient world. At that time and for centuries after marriages were arranged between families. A young woman or girl might only meet her future husband, often an older man, for the first time at their engagement. A woman was little more than a child bearing machine. If she could not bear children, her husband was obligated to divorce her. As far as romantic feeling or sexual pleasure was concerned, a man usually found that outside of the bonds of matrimony.

Despite today's popular opinion, Christianity elevated the role of women not only in society but also in the eyes of her husband. St. Paul understands the teaching of Christ to mean that Christian men must give up their whole lives for their wives and families, a rare thing in any time. Look at the first part of today's reading. St. Paul is telling the Colossians and us to put on virtue in the same way we would put on a suit of clothes. The relationship in a family should consist of "heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience." A family built on these virtues won't have to worry about who's the boss.

Today's feast is not just about "The Holy Family" but its about making our families holy.

And over all these put on love,
that is, the bond of perfection.
And let the peace of Christ control your hearts,...

5th Sunday of Easter

5th Sunday of Easter
C cycle

Reading 1. Acts 14: 21-27
Reading II. Revelation 21: 1-5a
Gospel. John 13:31-33a, 34-35 (love one another).

In today's first reading we continue to follow Paul and Barnabas on their missionary journey. Last week we saw that after meeting opposition in the Jewish community in Antioch, a seaport in what is now Turkey, they decided to take their message to the Gentiles or non-Jews. In fact Paul now realizes that the mission of the Jews has always been to bring the God of Israel to the Gentiles.

It's hard for us to understand the need for this missionary activity. We do not realize how much fear ruled the world in which Paul and Barnabas traveled. When we read of Greek and Roman philosophers and poets, we fail to realize that they were few and far between. For the most part the Gentiles were consumed by fear of the gods. Here's a few examples.

In the ancient world families had to produce heirs to carry on the worship of the ancestral gods. Superstition led people to attribute any bad luck to a failure to properly carry out the rites and sacrifices for the dead family gods. Women, therefore, were little more than child bearing machines. If they couldn't bear children, Roman law required that their husbands divorce them. In most cases the very idea of love between husband and wife was unimaginable. Girls as young as 12 were given in marriage to men much older. If a woman bore a daughter, her husband could order her to kill the infant girl and try again. Infanticide was a common practice among the Romans.

Sacrifices were continually offered to idols in order to appease the gods. These were not harmless practices. Plague, famine, every stroke of bad luck was caused by some god who had been angered by failure to follow the proper rituals. I recently read a letter from a young missionary nurse in Thailand who reported how fear of the gods could ruin the life of an entire family. Even today when a child becomes ill a poor family will not seek medical help but will offer up a chicken to the gods. When the child's condition worsens, they then offer their cow only to find that doesn't work either. The child dies anyway but now the family faces financial ruin and starvation.

Of course, we know of other civilizations where human sacrifice was the accepted way to appease the gods. In today's gospel reading we have something new. The scene is at the Last Supper where Jesus predicts his own sacrifice for us. He says to the Apostles,

I give you a new commandment: love one another.
As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.
This is how all will know that you are my disciples,
if you have love for one another.

This command to the Apostles will have a profound influence in the ancient world. The Christians like their Jewish brethren cannot practice abortion or infanticide. They must welcome their children and love them, even their daughters. In fact, many of the conversions in the early Church occurred because pagan men could not find pagan wives. They married Christian girls who brought their husbands to the faith as so many still do today.

In a well-known passage St. Paul tells husbands to love their wives. We don't realize after 2000 years of Christianity how shocking or abnormal this must have appeared in the ancient world. After all, what does love mean? Jesus gave us plenty of examples. At the Last Supper He stooped to wash the feet of his disciples. No self respecting Gentile would ever consider serving his wife in this manner. The next day He gave his life on the Cross as an example to us. From that day on every Christian man and woman had the responsibility to lay down his or her life for each other.

We are going to see over the next few weeks that this love was intended to extend beyond our own family, village, tribe, and nation. In today's gospel Jesus did not ask us to love Him, He commanded us to love one another. It's sad to think how little progress we've made in the last 2000 years. All the fears and horrors that Paul and Barnabas found in the ancient world still exist today. We only have to pick up today's newspaper to see the evidence.

Today's second reading is from the Book of Revelation. St. John had a vision, a dream of "a new heaven and a new earth." God, he says, will be with his people.

He will wipe every tear from their eyes,
and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain,
for the old order has passed away.

Today, more than ever it seems like just a dream. But what can we do? How does it help to give up on faith, hope, or charity? We have our command, our marching orders. There is nothing stopping us from embarking on our own missionary journey. Maybe we don't have the gift of preaching but we can give a good example to our neighbors. "Paul and Barnabas opened the door of faith to the Gentiles." We can open the door so that Love can walk right in.

This is how all will know that you are my disciples,
if you have love for one another.
































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4th Sunday of Easter

4th Sunday of Easter
C cycle

Reading 1. Acts 13:14, 43-52
Reading II. Revelation 7:9, 14b-17
Gospel. John 10: 27-30 (The Father and I are one).

In all the Sundays between Easter and Pentecost the first reading comes from the Acts of the Apostles as we follow them on their early missionary activity. Please note that even though we read these accounts now, they refer to the activity of the Apostles after Pentecost. Today the focus shifts from Peter to Paul, who called himself "the least of the Apostles."

In this cycle of readings we don't even get into the story of Paul's conversion. We'll have to wait for another day to hear the account of his meeting with the Risen Lord on the road to Damascus. By the time we pick up the story in today's reading Paul, the persecutor of Christians, has already been converted, baptized, and empowered to preach. From the hints in today's reading it seems clear that his mission was at first to the Jewish communities outside of the Holy Land.

By the time of Christ practically every city in what we would call the Near East had a prominent Jewish community of merchants and tradesmen. Although the Romans had conquered, it was Greek culture, language, thought and practices that predominated in this part of the ancient world. So when Paul speaks of Gentiles he is usually referring to the Greeks. Needless to say there was bound to be friction between Greek and Jew. Historians trace the origins of anti-Semitism to the rivalry between these Greek and Jewish communities long before the time of Christ.

On their part the Jews regarded the Greeks as unclean and preferred to live apart from them. The worship of idols and the offering of sacrifices to those idols was an abomination to the Jews. Just as serious were some practices among the Gentiles, like abortion and pornography, which disgusted the Jews.

Antioch, where we meet Paul today, was a flourishing Greek trading center. Obviously, Paul feels at home among the Jewish community there. Following normal Jewish practice Paul and Barnabas enter the synagogue on the Sabbath and take their seats. It seems clear from today's reading that Paul doesn't think that Jews have to stop being Jewish in order to follow Christ. In fact, the more we learn about Judaism in the time of Christ, the more we see the great similarity between Jew and Christian.

However, in the next few weeks we are going to see that there were fundamental differences. The most basic one had to do with the claim that Jesus makes in today's gospel account from St. John.

My sheep hear my voice;...
I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish....
My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all,...
The Father and I are one.

Jesus identifies Himself with the God of Israel. We must realize that no one would ever think of the Holy Trinity unless Jesus had continually referred to Himself along with the Father and the Spirit. A reasonable person could conclude that there could only be one God. The Jews did and so would the Moslems 600 years after the time of Christ. The Moslems still regard Jesus and His Mother with great reverence. Mary, for example, is the only woman named in the Koran. Still,for Moslems Jesus was only a good man or a great teacher. The claim that He is one with the Father is equally shocking to them as well as to the Jews. It was not logic or reason that led the early Church to reject heresies that claimed that Jesus was only a man. It was the words of Jesus, himself.

Why should we believe His words? Who wouldn't regard them as absurd or crazy? Although it's clear that Paul converted many Jews, we can sympathize with those who found his words shocking and threw him out of town. Indeed, whenever we see the Jews mentioned in scripture, we should put ourselves in their place. How many Christians today prefer to think of Jesus as just a good man or a fine teacher who went about doing good works? Even then we don't want Him running our affairs or interfering in our lives.

For Paul the reason for belief was the Resurrection. In another place, he said that "if Christ is not risen, then our faith is in vain." He personally witnessed the Risen Christ on the road to Damascus. He called himself the least of the Apostles because he had persecuted the Church and was the last to see the Lord. After his conversion Paul's eyes were opened and he saw that the God of Israel had become incarnate in Jesus. Things could never be the same.

Jesus came for all men. It was no longer possible for Jew and Greek to live apart, for all are brothers and sisters. Paul now believes that the mission of the Jews all along had been to save their despised enemy. He says to his Jewish brethren and to us,

I have made you a light to the Gentiles,
that you may be an instrument of salvation
to the ends of the earth.

In the reading from the Book of Revelation John has the same vision as Paul. He sees a multitude "from every nation, race, people and tongue" standing at the Heavenly throne before the Risen Lamb. The Lamb "will lead them to the springs of life-giving water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."






























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4th Sunday in Ordinary Time

4th Sunday in Ordinary Time
C cycle

Reading 1. Jeremiah 1:4-5, 17-19
Reading II. I Corinthians 12: 31--13:13
Gospel. Luke 4: 21-30 (the son of Joseph?)

Today's first reading is from the beginning of the book of the Prophet Jeremiah. It is Jeremiah's call to be a prophet:

But do you gird your loins;
stand up and tell them
all that I command you.

Jeremiah is going to be a prophet not in the sense that he is going to foretell the future but in the sense that he is going to remind the people of their past and their covenant with God, and bring them back into a true relationship with their God. How often have they forgotten that they are a chosen people, a people with a mission to bring all the nations to God. Jeremiah is warned that it will not be an easy task. His own people, Judah's kings and princes, priests and people, will fight against him.
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This reading sets the scene for the continuation of Luke's gospel account of the return of Jesus to the synagogue in His home town of Nazareth which we began last week. The first verse of today's gospel reading actually repeats the ending of last week's reading. Remember, Jesus had read a passage from Isaiah about the Lord's anointed or chosen one and then said, "Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing."

Today's reading gives us the peoples' reaction. In his Spiritual Exercises, St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus, urged his followers to try to visualize the scenes of the gospel, even see them in their minds as if they were part of the scene itself. Let's put ourselves in this scene. We're in the church, we're impressed with the eloquent words of Jesus but then we remember that He is only one of us. "Isn't this the son of Joseph?" Maybe we're thinking, "Wait a minute, who does this guy think he is?"

Jesus hears and says, "no prophet is accepted in his own native place." More than that he tells us that in the past other prophets had been rejected by us, and could only do their healing among foreigners, even enemies. "There were many lepers in Israel during the time of Elisha the prophet; yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian." Israel, Syria, the names are still with us today in the most strife torn region of the world. Naaman himself was a Syrian warlord.

OK, we're still in the scene and we can imagine our reaction. "When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were all filled with fury." We surge along with the crowd as we drive Him to the outskirts of the little hill town to throw Him over a cliff. However, He passes through our midst and goes away, leaving His home town of Nazareth behind.

St. Paul himself was no stranger to angry mobs. Before his conversion he had participated in the stoning of St. Stephen, the first martyr. He was on the road to Damascus to persecute the Christians there when he encountered the risen Christ and received his own call to prophesy--to bring the gospel to all nations. In today's second reading we find that he is finding it no easier than Jeremiah.

He had established a Christian community in the leading Greek city of Corinth but after leaving them to continue on his missionary journeys, he has heard that the have begun to bicker among themselves. In the last two weeks we got a sense of what they were arguing about. Some felt that they were better than others--that they had received greater spiritual gifts. Christians of Jewish or Greek ancestry could not put away their traditional hostility to each other. So Paul has had to remind them that all our gifts or abilities come from Christ, that we all are part of His Mystical Body, and that we all have a role to play in the mission of Christ.

Even today there are many who don't like Paul especially when he tells women to be silent in Church or reminds them to be subservient to their husbands. We'll have to talk about those remarks some other day but for now it is enough to say that the same Paul wrote in today's reading the most beautiful and eloquent words that have ever been written on the subject of Love.

We're in the season of love, the time of the year when we celebrate St. Valentine's day. We know that our culture today has cheapened and debased the gift of love. We only have to watch TV to see that our culture is seeking after the lesser gifts. Paul tells us to "strive eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts." He boils them down to three:

So faith, hope, love remain, these three;
but the greatest of these is love."

What is love?

Love is patient, love is kind.
It is not jealous, it is not pompous,
it is not inflated, it is not rude,
it does not seek its own interests,
it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury,
it does not rejoice over wrongdoing
but rejoices with the truth.
It bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things.

Let's hope that we don't share the fate of the crowd at Nazareth when Love "passed through the midst of them and went away."

Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph

Holy Family
B cycle

Reading 1. Sirach 3: 2-6, 12-14
Reading II. Colossians 3: 12-21
Gospel. Luke 2: 22-40 (the child grew and became strong).

It is appropriate that we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family right after Christmas. Not only do we continue the narrative of the infancy of Christ but also at no time do families come closer together than at Christmas. However, there is a dark side. We all know that the Christmas season can strain and test family relationships.

Today's first reading from the Book of Sirach can be summed up in the great commandment to "honor thy father and mother." It would do us well to pay close attention to Sirach's words. He tells us that the authority of a father and mother come from God, and that it is ingrained in all of us. We would call it today a part of our genetic makeup. To depart from this practice violates our very nature and will only result in bitterness and unhappiness.

In our time when so many of our parents can no longer take care of themselves, the words of Sirach are more important than ever.

My son, take care of your father when he is old;
grieve him not as long as he lives.
Even if his mind fail, be considerate of him;
revile him not all the days of his life.

In our culture the roles of father and mother have come increasingly under attack. Television and movies usually portray fathers as ignorant simpletons or as brutal abusers. This only reflects a culture where men casually urge their girl friends or wives to abort their own children. That men should act as guardians and protectors of their wives and children is now regarded as old fashioned and laughable.

In today’s gospel St. Luke tells the poignant and significant story of the Presentation of the infant Jesus in the temple in Jerusalem. Here Joseph and Mary fulfill their duty to “consecrate” their child to the Lord. Parents today do something similar when they bring their own newborn to church to be baptized. Maybe they don’t meet with such interesting characters or hear such puzzling prophecies, but they still should be amazed by what lies ahead of them and their child. The parents are taking on an awesome responsibility.


The role of father and mother is also the central theme of our passage today from St. Paul's letter to the Colossians. How are we to understand this reading especially that controversial passage where St. Paul says, "Wives, be subordinate to your husbands, as is proper in the Lord."

We could say that Paul, like so many of his contemporaries, was a "sexist" who thought that women were second-class citizens. We could also say that since Paul never married, he knew nothing about the actual relationship of a man and a woman in marriage or the way they would arrange responsibility in a household even then.

However, we could also say that Paul was dealing in this passage with a very practical problem that had arisen in the early Christian churches, especially among the Gentiles. It would appear that the new faith was especially attractive to women. Scholars tell us that in pagan families it was often the woman who first converted to Christianity, and then subsequently brought their husbands and families into the fold. This is not unusual even in our time.

However, there were cases where the husband would not convert, and women in this situation wondered what to do. Should they stay with their pagan husbands or should they leave? Paul always urges them to remain faithful to their marriage vows. He knew that there was no social safety net for these women outside of marriage but he also argued that they would be better able to bring their husbands and families to believe by remaining married.

Finally, I think we could say that St. Paul is preaching a revolutionary new doctrine here. For a minute, let's concentrate on his advice to the men. "Husbands, love your wives." It is hard for us to realize that in the ancient world, love of a husband for his wife was not the ideal. Our idea of a young couple falling in love and dedicating their whole lives to one another was an alien idea in the ancient world. At that time and for centuries after marriages were arranged between families. A young woman or girl might only meet her future husband, often an older man, for the first time at their engagement. A woman was little more than a child-bearing machine. If she could not bear children, her husband was obligated to divorce her. As far as romantic feeling or sexual pleasure was concerned, a man usually found that outside of the bonds of matrimony.

Despite today's popular opinion, Christianity elevated the role of women not only in society but also in the eyes of her husband. St. Paul understands the teaching of Christ to mean that Christian men must give up their whole lives for their wives and families, a rare thing in any time. Look at the first part of today's reading. St. Paul is telling the Colossians and us to put on virtue in the same way we would put on a suit of clothes. The relationship in a family should consist of "heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience." A family built on these virtues won't have to worry about who's the boss.

Today's feast is not just about "The Holy Family" but it’s about making our families holy.

And over all these put on love,
that is, the bond of perfection.
And let the peace of Christ control your hearts,...