Tuesday of Week 6 of Ordinary Time – Gospel
Commentary on Mark 8:14-21
Yesterday we saw the blindness of the Pharisees in asking Jesus to give some sign of his authority from God. Today we see the blindness of Jesus’ own disciples. This, of course, is pointing to our own blindness in not recognising the clear presence of God in our own lives.
The disciples are travelling across the lake in the boat. They had forgotten to bring food with them and there was only one loaf between them all. As they cross the lake, Jesus is talking to them saying:
Watch out—beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.
For the Jews, yeast was a corrupting agent because it caused fermentation. That was why at the Pasch they ate unleavened, incorrupt bread. And Paul tells the Corinthians:
Clean out the old yeast so that you may be a new batch of dough, as you really are unleavened. (1 Cor 5:7)
Jesus is telling his disciples to avoid two opposing kinds of corruption: that of the Pharisees, which is based on narrow-minded and intolerant legalism, and that of Herod, which is based on amoral and hedonistic pleasure-seeking.
However, the disciples are not really listening to their Master. They latch on to the word “yeast” and link it with their present obsession—not enough bread. Their lunch is the only thing on their minds. Jesus, of course, knows what is going on in their minds.
He scolds them:
Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes and fail to see? Do you have ears and fail to hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?
They answer, “Twelve”, and Jesus says:
And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?
And they responded, “Seven”.
Then Jesus said to them:
Do you not yet understand?
Five loaves for 5,000 with 12 baskets over, seven loaves for 4,000 with seven baskets over, and they, a mere dozen people, are worried about being short of food when Jesus is with them?
Mark tends to be very hard on the disciples. They cannot see, they cannot hear, and they fail to understand what is happening before their very eyes. But they are learning gradually, as we shall see.
Of course, Mark is firing his shots not just at the disciples, but at you and me. How much faith do we have in God’s care for us? Can we hear? Can we see? Are we also without understanding?
Read more
Thursday of Week 25 of Ordinary Time – First Reading
Commentary on Haggai 1:1-8
For two days we take our readings from Haggai, one of the lesser known of the so-called Minor Prophets. The whole book consists of only two chapters and both our readings will be taken from the first chapter.
The Jerusalem Bible notes:
“The last, post-exilic, period of prophecy opens with Haggai. The change is striking. Before the Exile the watchword of the prophets was Punishment. During the Exile it became Consolation. Now it is Restoration. Haggai appears at a critical moment in the development of Judaism; the birth of the new Palestinian community. His short exhortations are precisely dated, August and September of 520 BC. The first Jews to return from Babylonia to rebuild the Temple were quickly discouraged. The prophets Haggai and Zechariah stirred them to new efforts and urged Zerubbabel the governor and the High Priest Joshua to resume work on the Temple. This was done in September, 520 BC.”
The four brief discourses composing this book are entirely concerned with this ‘restoration’. Since the Temple is still in ruins and Yahweh has destroyed the harvests, it is believed the rebuilding will usher in the age of prosperity. However unimposing, this new Temple will dim the glory of the old; and power is promised to Zerubbabel, the chosen one of God. Therefore, this Temple and this descendant of David become the focus of a messianic hope that will be more clearly expressed in Zechariah.
The New International Version Study Bible also gives a brief historical background which helps to contextualise today’s reading:
“Haggai was a prophet who, along with Zechariah, encouraged the returned exiles to rebuild the Temple (see Ezra 5:1-2;6:14). ‘Haggai’ means ‘festal’, which may indicate that the prophet was born during one of the three pilgrimage feasts (Unleavened Bread, Pentecost or Weeks, and Tabernacles). Based on the verse in Haggai 2:3, Haggai may have witnessed the destruction of Solomon’s Temple. If so, he must have been in his early 70s during his ministry…”
In 538 BC, the conqueror of Babylon, Cyrus king of Persia, issued a decree allowing the Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple. Led by Zerubbabel, about 50,000 Jews journeyed home and began work on the Temple. About two years later (in 536 BC) they completed the foundation amid great rejoicing. Their success aroused the Samaritans and other neighbours who feared the political and religious implications of a rebuilt Temple in a thriving Jewish state. They therefore opposed the project vigorously and managed to halt work until Darius the Great became king of Persia in 522 BC. Darius was interested in the religions of his empire, and Haggai and Zechariah began to preach in his second year (520 BC). The Jews were more to blame for their inactivity than their opponents, and Haggai tried to arouse them from their lethargy. When the governor of Transeuphrates and other officials tried to interfere with the rebuilding efforts, Darius fully supported the Jews. In 516 BC, the Temple was finished and dedicated. Next to Obadiah, Haggai is the shortest book in the Old Testament.
Today’s reading finds us in the same period as the Book of Ezra which we have just been reading. King Darius is the emperor of Persia. It is the first day of the sixth month (August/September) in the year 520 BC, the second year of his reign. The New Moon was the day on which prophets were sometimes consulted.
King Darius Hystaspis (or Hystaspes) ruled Persia from 522 to 486 BC. As a historical footnote, it was he who prepared the trilingual inscription on the Behistun (Bisitun) cliff wall (located in modern Iran), through which cuneiform languages were later deciphered.
Haggai, the Lord’s prophet, has a message from Yahweh for the governor of Judah, Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, and for the high priest, Joshua, son of Jehozadak. In 1 Chronicles we are told that Jehozakak was taken away into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar.
The Lord’s message is clear. He wants his Temple to be built, but “these people” are saying the time has not yet come for the rebuilding, even though the foundations had been laid 16 years previously (in 536 BC). They have other priorities, like the building of their own houses. Because of their sin, the nation is not called “my people”.
Then:
…the word of the Lord came by the prophet Haggai, saying: “Is it a time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?”
The luxury of the homes of the wealthy with their “paneled houses” contrasts sadly with the ruined state of the Lord’s home. “Paneled houses” were usually connected with royal dwellings, which had cedar paneling. There seems to be an element of sarcasm in the Lord’s question. It also reminds one of David’s embarrassment about living in a palace while the Ark of the Covenant was still confined to a tent:
See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God stays in a tent. (2 Sam 7:2)
It seems the returned exiles did not have any such qualms.
Now comes a warning about their self-centred lifestyle:
Consider how you have fared.
They are living a life of conspicuous consumption, like people living it high while debts mount on their credit cards:
You have sown much and harvested little; you eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and you that earn wages earn wages to put them into a bag with holes.
This is a pretty accurate image of our own credit card culture!
They have planted abundantly, but have been punished by famine when the harvests never materialised. Because of that, they live lives which give no satisfaction, no matter how active they are. They earn wages, but these disappear when prices soar during time of famine.
Instead, let them get down to the task of rebuilding the Lord’s house. Let them go up into the hills of Judah and get the timber for building. Perhaps wood from the hills around Jerusalem was to supplement the cedar wood already purchased from Lebanon. Once the Lord’s House is complete, he will:
…take pleasure in it and be honored…
The reading is a wake-up call to us about our priorities. How are we building the “Lord’s house”? Do we take care of our own priorities first and then wonder about what God wants as an after-thought? St Ignatius Loyola in his Spiritual Exercises speaks of people organising their lives according to their own desires and likes and then, when everything is set, start wondering what God might want. Of course, it should be the other way round.
The rich man in the Gospel made his money first and then asked Jesus what he should do to gain eternal life. When told that he needed to get rid of his wealth and share it with the needy, he could not do it.
Read more
Thursday of Week 29 of Ordinary Time – First Reading
Commentary on Romans 6:19-23
Today’s reading is an immediate continuation of yesterday’s and more or less repeats what was said then. Paul continues today with the imagery of slavery and urges the Romans to switch from one kind to another. He knows how morally weak they are, so he expresses himself in human terms which he knows are not a perfect analogy:
For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and lawlessness, leading to even more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, leading to sanctification.
They will become more holy, more in the image of their God and Saviour. He realises there is some difficulty using the word ‘slave’ of Christians who are essentially free in Christ. Nor is he implying that in becoming slaves of immorality, they are not responsible for the choices they make, any more than in submitting themselves totally to goodness in Christ. When they lived a life of sin, what did they really gain? All they got were experiences of which they are now deeply ashamed because, with Christ in their lives, they know that kind of sinful behaviour only brings death, spiritual death. He now switches the image somewhat.
From being enslaved to sin and liberated in Christ, he speaks of their being now liberated from sin and enslaved to the service of God. But this enslavement, which is a commitment to the good, will bring about their sanctification and will terminate in life without end (another paradox). Slavery to God produces holiness, and the end of the process is life without end. There is no eternal life without holiness. Those who have been ‘justified’ will surely give evidence of that fact by the presence of holiness in their life.
As has been said already, anyone who is truly ‘graced’ by the love of God must reveal that in the way they lead their lives. Jesus taught just that when he said that only a good tree can bear good fruit and vice versa. And again, that any branch on the Vine, which Christ is, will produce an abundance of fruit. The fruit-less branch will be cut off and thrown away.
Then in a much-quoted phrase, Paul again repeats his thesis:
…the wages of sin is death…
But of course:
…the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Two kinds of ‘slavery’ are contrasted. The slavery of sin brings death as its wage; sin creates a debt to death. The slavery in faith to Christ as Lord brings life as an unearned, unmerited gift—the gift of life without end.
To our modern way of thinking, slavery of any kind is not to be even considered. But slavery to God and goodness has totally different effects. It is only possible where there is total freedom—the freedom to be able to surrender oneself totally and unconditionally in the arms of the true, loving and beautiful God. No one is more alive than the one who gives himself or herself completely to God and makes God’s will entirely their own.
And, of course, Paul is perfectly right. The wages of sin is indeed to slide inexorably into a deteriorating quality, and ultimately loss, of life. The gift, the unearned and totally gratuitous gift that God offers us by his love leads to a life that knows no end. This is the true freedom which brings happiness and perfect peace. It is for us to make the choice: to be sin’s slave or God’s.
Read more
Wednesday of Week 12 of Ordinary Time – Gospel
Commentary on Matthew 7:15-20
Today’s reading continues from the Sermon on the Mount and contains a warning which must have been very relevant in the early Church, but has not lost its meaning in our own day.
Sadly, there are ‘prophets’ who are wolves in sheep’s clothing. On the outside, they seem to have the image of Jesus, his gentleness and love, but in fact they are religious predators, using people for their own ends. There have been unfortunate examples of this in some so-called ‘televangelists’ who, in the name of the Lord Jesus, ripped off countless numbers of trusting people, many of them elderly and not well-off, by making them pledge large sums of money they could not afford.
How can you recognise them? By their “fruits”, i.e. by the way they behave and not just by what they say or the claims they make. It is not that difficult to separate the genuine from the false. As Jesus says, it is not possible for a bad tree to consistently produce good fruit nor for a genuinely good tree to produce bad fruit. Very often we have to admit that we try to make a good impression on people and we often try to hide from others what we believe to be our weaknesses.
Integrity and transparency are precious qualities to be found in any person and they are not easy to achieve. Most of us wear masks of some kind. Yet people can often identify more easily with a person whose faults are admitted. They feel that they are dealing with the real person and not a phoney. This can apply very much to pastors and other religious leaders.
Jesus is calling on us today to be really genuine people. Take care of the inside and the outside will take care of itself.
Read more
Friday of Week 21 of Ordinary Time – Gospel
Commentary on Matthew 25:1-13
The second chapter of the Eschatological Discourse consists of three long parables, all of which are familiar to us. They have the common theme of preparation for the final coming of the Lord, whenever that will be.
Today’s reading is the parable about the wise and foolish bridesmaids. The story likely reflects common wedding customs of the time. The bridesmaids who attend on the bride are waiting for the bridegroom to come. The time of his arrival is not known. Perhaps, at that time, it was his way of asserting his male authority from the very beginning of their marriage.
In the story there are 10 bridesmaids altogether. Of these we are told five were “wise” and the others were “foolish”. The “wise” young women all brought an extra supply of oil with them while the “foolish” ones only had their lamps. The lamps consisted of oil-soaked rags at the top of a pole and needed to have oil added every 15 minutes or so.
The bridegroom was long in coming. The implication is that he was taking much longer than expected. In fact, he was so long in coming that the bridesmaids all fell asleep. Suddenly, in the middle of the night, the call went up:
Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.
Immediately the young women got ready and trimmed their torches. The charred edges had to be cut away and the rags soaked in more oil. The foolish ones immediately realised they were running out of oil. They ask their companions to share some of their oil. These refused on the grounds that there was not enough to go round and none of them would have enough. The foolish ones were told to go off and buy some more for themselves.
However, while they were still away, the bridegroom arrived. Those who were ready went into the marriage celebration with him and the doors were shut. When the foolish bridesmaids finally arrived with their new supply of oil, they found the doors closed in their face. They cried out:
Lord, lord, open to us.
But the bridegroom answered:
Truly I tell you, I do not know you.
Again this is a parable warning us all to be ready when the Lord comes. In the early Church, he had at first been expected to come in the very lifetime of the early Christians. This belief is reflected in the First Letter to the Thessalonians (read during the weekdays of the Cycle 1 First Readings), which is the earliest writing of the New Testament.
But Jesus did not come and, by the time Matthew’s Gospel appeared, people were beginning to realise that his coming could be in a more distant future. It is in this context that today’s parable gives a warning. If the Lord was not going to come soon, then some people might begin to take things easy and become lax in their living of the gospel. Today’s passage suggests that that is not a very wise way of behaving.
The bridegroom may not have come when expected, but he did come. And, when he came, half of the group were not ready. In other places, Jesus has warned that the:
..day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. (Matt 24:36)
Because:
the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.
(1 Thess 5: 2)
The only policy is constant readiness. If we are not ready and he does come, then we may find the doors closed and hear what are perhaps the most chilling words in the whole Gospel:
…I do not know you.
In John’s Gospel, Jesus says that, as the Shepherd, he knows his sheep and they know him. Not to be known by Jesus means to have broken our relationship with him through sinful and loveless behaviour. To be in that state when he comes is truly tragic. The choice is ours, as we have been given adequate warning.
While the Gospel is speaking about the final or eschatological coming of Jesus as King and Lord, it would be very complacent of us to think that there are no signs of its happening in the near future. That would put us in the same category as the foolish bridesmaids! While the final coming may still be far off, our own rendezvous with the Lord can be at any time. For all practical purposes, that is the time for which we must be prepared.
Our news media is full of reports of lives being cut short by accident, illness or violence. Any of us could be one of those victims, young and in perfect health with a whole life before us. But the Lord calls when he calls.
Will I have ‘oil in my lamp’? That is, what would I be able to show the Lord in terms of gospel-centred living? Maybe we think the “wise” young women in the story were selfish not to have shared their oil, but there are some things which we have to bring to the Lord on our own. We cannot borrow the good life that someone else has led. It has to be totally ours.
Clearly, the best way to prepare is not to think anxiously of the future, but to concentrate on the here and now. Let us learn to live totally in the present, to seek and find God there. If we can do that, then all the rest will take care of itself. And, whether the Groom arrives early or late, it will not matter. Because he has been constantly part of our everyday lives. And, apart from the insurance that it gives, is it not by far the best way to spend our days?
Read more
Sunday of Week 3 of Advent (Year B)
Commentary on Isaiah 61:1-2,10-11; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24; John 1:6-8,19-28 (more…)
Read more
Monday of Week 34 of Ordinary Time – Gospel
Commentary on Luke 21:1-4
Today we begin the last chapter of Luke’s Gospel, preceding his account of the Passion. Jesus is still in Jerusalem and spending time preaching in the Temple.
One day, as he stood near the treasury where there were 13 trumpet-shaped boxes to receive the offerings, he saw among all the well-off people dropping in their (surplus) money, a poor widow who put in two copper coins of very small value.
Jesus immediately comments on her generosity and faith. The others were putting in offerings which they could easily afford; it would have involved no diminution of their lifestyle, no hardship of any kind. But this woman was a poor widow and therefore belonging to the least advantaged of all people in that society. In fact, poverty and widowhood were, for many, almost synonymous.
And this woman put in everything she had. It has been observed that she had two coins and she put in both. Under the circumstances and by the Law, she need only have put in one and kept the other for her own needs. Jesus sets her up as an example of someone who put her total trust in God’s providence. She gave everything to him.
No one is saying that one should literally follow her example—it could be seen as irresponsible. We are told to love our neighbours—but also ourselves. At the same time, how often when we do dip into our pockets do we really give to others money that we were thinking of spending on something we do not really need? Or are we like the people in today’s story who casually give money they will not miss in the slightest? There is a difference between ‘giving alms’ and sharing our goods and good fortune with those who have less—a lot less than us.
St Paul, writing to the Christians of Corinth (and quoting from Exodus 16:18) and appealing for help for poorer Christian communities, says in part:
For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have. For I do not mean that there should be relief for others and hardship for you, but it is a question of equality between your present abundance and their need, so that their abundance may also supply your need, in order that there may be equality. As it is written, “The one who had much did not have too much, and the one who had little did not have too little.” (2 Cor 8:12-15)
This is a nice description of what justice in our society means.
There have been Christians who closely followed the widow’s example. St Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa) absolutely refused to have any stable income for her work, and she was not alone in this. And it has often been remarked that it is people at the lower end of our society who are most generous in supporting needy causes.
The fact that this story comes just before the Passion has led many to see in this woman a symbol of Jesus himself, who will, in the words of the Letter to the Philippians, “empty himself” completely and surrender his whole life totally into the hands of his Father, holding nothing back.
But even during Jesus’ life, he seems to have had no private means of any kind. At the same time, he was not a beggar. He simply lived a life where he gave totally of himself, and others gave him in return just what he needed at any particular time.
Clearly, most people cannot literally follow the example of Jesus, but there are many examples of people who did. If only we too could have that kind of trust, that kind of generosity, that ability to share and that kind of freedom—freedom from material ‘wants’ and freedom for others.
The richest person is not the one who has accumulated much, but the one who has the least needs. In this sense, this poor widow was rich indeed.
Read more
Tuesday of Week 2 of Lent – First Reading
Commentary on Isaiah 1:10,16-20
Today’s reading is an attack on hypocrisy and a call for humility in the presence of God and in the presence of our brothers and sisters. The passage is from the very beginning of Isaiah and is primarily an attack on the people’s hypocrisy—the same theme as in today’s Gospel.
There are strong words from Isaiah on his people and their rulers. He calls the leaders of God’s people “rulers of Sodom” and speaks of the people as “people of Gomorrah”. Sodom and Gomorrah were the epitome of all that was most evil and repellent to God. They are classic examples of sinful cities completely destroyed (see Gen 13:13; 18:20-21). And just as Jesus addressed Peter as Satan for blocking God’s plans, so Isaiah addresses his countrymen as deserving no better than the corrupt citizens of those wicked cities.
In verses which are omitted, God, speaking through his prophet, denounces the endless round of burnt offerings and sacrificial animals.
Bringing offerings is futile;
incense is an abomination to me…
even though you make many prayers,
I will not listen. (Is 1:13,15)
Why? Because “your hands are full of blood.” There is no relationship between the endless prayers piously offered and behaviour which is totally unacceptable to God.
But God’s desire is not to condemn, but instead to call his people to genuine repentance.
Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean…
And how are they to do this? By offering still more sacrifices? By going to Confession? By saying a perfunctory Act of Contrition? No, they are to repent and “seek justice”; they are to redress the wrongs done to others, and “defend the orphan; plead for the widow.” In the Jewish society of the time, these were the weakest and most neglected of people. There could be no real repentance unless care was taken of the weakest and neediest in society. For us, in Lent, the message is exactly the same.
And there is hope:
If your sins are like scarlet,
will they become like snow?
Because:
If you are willing and obedient,
you shall eat the good of the land…
For those who truly repent (Greek, metanoia)—and this is shown by a radical change in their behaviour and in the way they act towards the weak and neglected—total rehabilitation is possible. That is what we hope will be our experience, too, this Lent.
The choice is ours, either to submit ourselves to the compassionate way of God and find life, or go our own rebellious, self-centred way and find death.
Read more
Tuesday of Week 4 of Lent – First Reading
Commentary on Ezekiel 47:1-9,12
About today’s passage from Ezekiel, the Vatican II Missal states:
“In the Middle East, desert land was commonplace and water all-important. Water was a symbol of God’s saving grace. The prophet Ezekiel described a future idealised Temple, the source of deepening waters and fertile abundance.”
A marvellous river, flowing out from under the Temple, is a manifestation of the blessings conferred on the land by Yahweh’s return to live among his people. It is linked in today’s Gospel with the healing of the man who was waiting for the waters of the ‘Sheep Pool’ to move.
The First Reading describes an ever-increasing stream of water flowing out from the Temple. It is to be understood as a healing, life-giving water. And, in the background, there is the image of the river flowing through the Garden of Eden, a symbol of the life that God gives to all creation. In the world of the Middle East, a world of parched deserts, water signifies great blessings, just as dryness and drought signify a curse.
Although not fed by any tributaries, the river continues to increase remarkably, until it is too deep to wade across. The banks of the river are seen to have an abundance of trees, again reminiscent of the fertility of Eden (Gen 2:9). The river flows on into the deep depression that marks the course of the River Jordan and into the Dead Sea, so named because its high salt level makes life impossible. But it is to be understood that the river will make the Dead Sea’s waters wholesome. Literally, the angel says that the river will ‘heal’ the waters of the Sea:
…when it enters the sea, the sea of stagnant waters, the water will become fresh.
That this lowest (1,300 feet below sea level) and incredibly salty (about 35 percent) body of water should be able to sustain such an abundance of life indicates the wonderful renewing power of this “river of the water of life” (Rev 22:1).
The prophet says:
…there will be very many fish once these waters reach there. It will become fresh, and everything will live where the river goes.
Here we have the image of miraculous water flowing from the Temple and conferring a marvellous fertility. The power of the water is such that, as it flows into the Dead Sea where nothing can live because of its saltiness, the sea flourishes with fish, and fruit trees of every kind grow along its shores. There are overtones of the creation of the teeming waters in the Creation story (Gen 1:20-21). Ezekiel writes:
Wherever the river goes…everything will live…
In the context of the Gospel, this water is the Life that Jesus gives:
…whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. (John 6:35)
Truly, this is a symbol of the kind of life that God wishes us to share with him. Jesus says:
I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
(John 10:10)
Let us during this Lenten season experience the healing power of Jesus, a healing power which was initiated at our Baptism, but which needs to continue for as long as we live.
Read more