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Friday of Week 2 of Lent – First Reading

Commentary on Genesis 37:3-4,12-13,17-28

There is a strong parallel between the stories of Joseph and Jesus in today’s readings. In both cases the words quoted from the Psalm apply:

The stone that the builders rejected
has become the chief cornerstone. (Ps 118:22)

Joseph is the favourite of Jacob’s twelve sons, the sons who would later become the patriarchs of God’s people. His brothers became jealous of him and grew to hate him. They hated him even more for the dreams he told. In one of these, he said he had a vision of the family bringing in the harvest. In the dream, all his brothers’ sheaves bowed down before Joseph’s sheaf. This, of course, did happen later when the brothers came to Egypt during a time of famine in search of food. Unknown to them at first, Joseph was the grand vizier of Egypt in whose presence they paid homage.

In today’s reading, when Joseph, at the instructions of his father, went to visit his brothers in the fields, they conceived a plot to kill him. However, one of the brothers, Reuben, intervened and suggested instead that Joseph be thrown down a dry well, hoping to give him back to their father later. Reuben was the eldest son, but later fell out of favour after committing incest with his father’s concubine. Judah subsequently took over leadership of the family. The other brothers agreed to Reuben’s suggestion because they did not want to have the blood of their own brother on their hands. Perhaps they remembered what happened to Cain.

Eventually Joseph is either sold to Ishmaelites on their way to do business in Egypt or discovered in the well by Midianites and sold for 20 pieces of silver to traders on their way to Egypt. In later times, this sum was the value of a male of Joseph’s age who had been dedicated to the Lord (see Lev 27:5). The father is later told that his son has died from an attack by animals and is given back, as proof, the famous multi-coloured coat stained with (goat’s) blood.

Joseph should have ended up in obscurity as a slave in Egypt, but thanks to his ability to interpret dreams, he was to win the favour of the Pharaoh and become the chief minister in Egypt and ultimately the saviour of his own people from famine—a famine which Joseph had foretold and helped to prepare for.

The story prepares us for the coming of Jesus, who is clearly the son in the parable featured in today’s Gospel. Jesus, too, was a ‘man of dreams’, with a vision of life which was rejected by many close to him. He, too, was sold into the hands of enemies precisely because of that, to become the saviour of his own people.

Saturday of Week 2 of Lent – Gospel

Commentary on Luke 15:1-3,11-32

The parable of the Prodigal Son is a marvellous revelation of God’s unending love and mercy for the repentant sinner. In the story, the son demands and receives his share of the inheritance from a loving father. Asking for his inheritance while his father was still alive was tantamount to saying he could not wait until his father had died.

He then goes off to a far country, far from his father. He is not only far away in distance, but also in thinking. He wastes the inheritance he has been given on pleasures and enjoyment of the most immoral kind. And in the end, he has nothing.

When a famine strikes the place he is living, he has nothing to eat and no money to buy food. He is forced (horror of horrors for a Jew) to feed pigs, and is so hungry he is ready even to eat the slops given to them. One can hardly imagine a lower level of abasement and poverty.

But then, he comes to his senses. He thinks of the home and the loving father he abandoned so stupidly—a home where the lowest servants and the slaves are better off than he is, and he decides he will try to go home. But after what he has done, he does not expect to be accepted back. He decides he will beg to be taken in as one of the lowest servants, and he prepares a carefully worded speech for his father.

Then he starts the journey back in fear and trepidation, knowing he deserves very severe treatment, if not outright rejection. He is afraid to hear his father say, “Go back to your pigs and your whores!”

But while still far away, his father sees him. Unknown to the son, his father has been anxiously waiting and hoping during all this time for him to return, but he never sent out to have him brought back. If the son wants to go his own way, the father will not stop him, and he will not force him to come back.

Full of compassion, the father rushes out to welcome his returning son and takes him in his arms. The son tries to make his speech of repentance, but it is totally ignored. Instead, his father gives orders for the best clothes to be brought out and a magnificent banquet to be laid on:

…for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!

It is a time for celebration.

The elder son, working in the fields (the Lord’s vineyard) comes back at the end of a hard day and hears the sounds of merrymaking. When he is told what is going on, he becomes extremely angry. After all, he has been a loyal, faithful, hard-working son and nothing even approaching this was ever done for him. Yet his brother, who was steeped in debauchery and wasted so much of his father’s wealth, is welcomed like a returning hero.

Because of this, the elder son refuses to go into his father’s house (surely some of the saddest words in this story). The father remonstrates, saying:

…you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. But…this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.

We have to celebrate, says the father.

The story is a clear reply to the criticism of the scribes and Pharisees that Jesus was mixing and eating with sinners. They simply did not understand the mind of God as revealed in Jesus’ behaviour. How well do we understand?

The two clear lessons from today’s Gospel are:

I can be absolutely sure of God’s mercy and forgiveness, provided I turn back to him in true sorrow;
I need to have the same attitude of compassion with people who offend me. I must be ready to forgive and be reconciled. I cannot refuse to love someone that God loves.

There are three people in this story and we can identify with all of them:

The son who went far from his Father and followed his own way into the most degrading behaviour.
The son who thought he was good and observant, but deep down, did not have the mind of his Father at all. He kept the commandments and all the rules, but did not have a forgiving heart.
The Father whose love never changes no matter what his children do, and is ready to accept them back every time without exception.

Which of these three most represents me? Which one would I want to be like? Many say they identify most with the elder son—which of course is the point of the story. They are the real sinners who shut their hearts against God’s compassionate love. The parable does not tell us what the elder son ultimately decides. What would we do?

Saturday of Week 2 of Lent – First Reading

Commentary on Micah 7:14-15,18-20

Today’s Mass readings are about God’s great desire that the sinner repent and experience God’s love and tender mercy. The First Reading comes from the prophet Micah, a contemporary of both Hoseah and Isaiah.

The passage consists of a prayer which appears to be from the time after the return of the Jews from exile in Babylon (537 BC). At this time, the people were still few in number, possessed only a fragment of their former land, and were surrounded by hostile nations.

It is a plea for God to take care of his beleaguered people. But there is confidence because their God is quite unlike any other:

Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity
and passing over the transgression
of the remnant of his possession?

The passage reflects what Jesus tells us about God in today’s Gospel.

The people may at times deserve the anger of God, but it will never last, for God loves his people too much. In fact, it is difficult to conceive now of a God who responds in anger when his people sin. It is never he who distances himself from us; it is we who are unfaithful.

We can always be sure of his “faithfulness” and of his “steadfast love”, which he had promised so long ago and so many times. He had sworn to Abraham and Jacob that their descendants would be as numerous as the specks of dust of the earth and sand on the seashore, and he had promised Abraham that he would be the father of many nations. God will not go back on that promise.

And so, we too have confidence of complete forgiveness and reconciliation. This compassion of God for the sinner and his desire to take him back is graphically illustrated in the marvellous story of the Prodigal Son, the subject of today’s Gospel.

We too, whenever we are truly sorry and ready to change, can be absolutely sure of meeting the same compassion and forgiveness.

Wednesday of Week 2 of Lent – Gospel

Commentary on Matthew 20:17-28

In the Gospel, Jesus takes his disciples aside to let them know what is going to happen to him. This is, in fact, the third time he has told them of this, and it is the most detailed of the Passion predictions. For the first time, mention is made of being handed over to the Gentiles. The text follows Mark very closely, except where Mark says that Jesus will be killed, Matthew explicitly says “crucified”.

The reactions of the disciples are not recorded here, but we know that on previous occasions they were both shocked and saddened. They were also perplexed. How could people do this to the Messiah for whom they had waited so long? How could their own leaders do this to the Messiah? Even worse, how could they hand him over into the hands of the hated Romans? They did not yet understand that, or even how, Jesus would enter into his glory through rejection, suffering and death.

In fact, they have still a lot to learn, as what follows clearly indicates. The mother of James and John approaches Jesus with a request, a typical mother’s request. In Mark’s Gospel, it is the boys themselves who ask the favour. Why Matthew has the mother asking is not clear. There could be an allusion here to Bathsheba, wife of King David, seeking the kingdom for her son Solomon. Another possibility is that Matthew is more deferential to the disciples than Mark, who regularly shows up their failure to understand the meaning of Jesus’ teaching.

Jesus asks her:

What do you want?

If Jesus asked me that question right now, what answer would I give? The mother of James and John asks that her two sons be on Jesus’ right and left in the kingdom. ‘Kingdom’ here is to be taken in the sense in which Jesus normally uses it, that is, the Kingdom of God on earth rather than referring to Jesus in glory. The two disciples envision Jesus as Messiah, King of his people and with a court like every other earthly king.

The mother uses her contact with a person in authority to press for some short-cut privileges for her sons. Understandable indeed, but not the way that God or Jesus works.

Jesus then asks the two disciples:

Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?

“We are able” they say with confidence. They are ready to do anything to get the top spots with the Messiah. They have forgotten the words that, unless we carry our cross after Jesus, we cannot be his followers. And yes, they would “drink the cup” of pain and sorrow and suffering, but that is not what they are thinking about now.

In any case, the places at the right and left of Jesus are not privileges given to the first people who just ask. Jesus works by quite other standards. And besides, Jesus says:

…to sit at my right hand and at my left, this is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.

The other ten disciples are not much better. They are angry and indignant about the backdoor tactics of James and John. Obviously, their thinking is no different. So Jesus teaches them about real greatness.

In the secular world, leaders exert power, domination and manipulation. They control people for their own ends. In Jesus’ world, it is altogether different. To be great is to put one’s talents totally at the service of others, to empower—not to have power. Jesus himself is the perfect example. It is a lesson we do not find easy to learn or to follow.

And Jesus says in conclusion:

…whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave, just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.

The word ‘ransom’ here is to be taken in the sense of ‘liberation, making free’. ‘Many’, as a Semitic expression, means ‘all’. Jesus put his whole life at our disposal so that every single person should experience liberation and fullness of life. We are called to take part in the same great enterprise.

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.

Thursday of Week 2 of Lent – First Reading

Commentary on Jeremiah 17:5-10

The theme of today’s Mass concerns priorities and is about our responsibilities to those around us. It deals with Cain’s question: “Am I my brother’s keeper?” and the story of the beggar (Lazarus) and the rich man.

In the First Reading, Jeremiah makes a strong contrast between two kinds of people:

those who think they are self-sufficient, who are immersed in the material world and ignore the place of God in their lives. They feel they ‘have it made’; and
those who put all their trust in God and in the way of life that God suggests.

The lives of the first type are basically arid and empty:

They shall be like a shrub in the desert…

They have no eye for what is really good. Surrounded by luxuries and pleasures, they unwittingly live in a desert. They measure their lives by what they have—not by what they themselves are, and even less by what they are in their relationships with others.

The second group of people are:

…like a tree planted by water,
sending out its roots by the stream.
It shall not fear when heat comes,
and its leaves shall stay green;
in the year of drought it is not anxious,
and it does not cease to bear fruit.

Such people may lead lives of great material simplicity, but are in touch with a deeper source of wealth: God’s truth, wisdom and love.

Finally, there is the warning about our ‘gift’ for self-deception. Verse 11, not quoted (for some reason) in today’s reading, is very appropriate:

Like the partridge hatching what it did not lay,
so are all who amass wealth unjustly;
in midlife it will leave them,
and at their end they will prove to be fools.

You can’t take it with you and, while you have it, you need to share it with those who are genuinely deprived. This is clearly the message of today’s Gospel as well.

It is very easy to be persuaded that happiness lies in having things, having status, having power. But God is not interested in things that impress externally; he only judges what goes on in the depths of the heart. Where do I stand in all this? Where do I put my trust? In what are my values?

Thursday of Week 2 of Lent – Gospel

Commentary on Luke 16:19-31

In today’s Gospel, we have illustrated in parable form two of Luke’s beatitudes:

Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. (Luke 6:21)

and

…woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. (Luke 6:24)

The linkage with the First Reading is obvious.

On the one hand, you have a rich man dressed in purple and fine linen, both signs of great wealth. He also has a good table and enjoys the choicest of foods every day. While the rich man is sometimes called Dives, this is simply the Latin word for ‘rich’. In reality, the rich man is nameless. In spite of all his money, he is a nobody.

At the same time you have a poor man called Lazarus. He was hungry and longed, like the dogs, to pick up the scraps that might fall from the dining table. The dogs even licked his sores. Dogs were abhorrent to Jews, so this was a particularly degrading thing to happen.

What is striking about this scene is that nothing seems to be happening. The rich man is eating, the poor man is sitting and waiting. There are no words between them. The poor man is not abused or chased away, he is simply ignored—as if he did not exist.

Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me. (Matt 25:40)

Then both men die. Lazarus is brought by angels to the bosom of Abraham. But the rich man is condemned to an existence of great suffering in Hades, the place of the dead. The rich man now begs for even the slightest relief from the man he ignored in his lifetime. But it is now too late.

The rich man had his chance and he blew it. He had his life of ‘good things’ and he now knows just how ‘good’ they really were. It is now Lazarus’ turn to have the really good thing, the companionship of his God.

The rich man begs on behalf of his brothers that they be warned. Abraham replies to him:

They have Moses and the prophets [i.e. the whole Jewish religious tradition]; they should listen to them.

The rich man responds:

…but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.

To which Abraham replies:

If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.

This is surely a reference to Jesus himself, and to the many Jews who refused to believe in him even after his resurrection. There are people today who want some special signs from God in order to believe. We have the Good News of the New Testament and the living, experienced presence of Jesus among us. We do not need any more. We have all the guidance we need to lead the kind of life which will ensure we spend our future existence in the company of Lazarus.

And that life is measured not by wealth, status or power, but in a life of caring and sharing relationships. In a world of extreme consumerism, hedonism and individualism, today’s readings have a very important message. Those who are truly rich are those who enrich the lives of others.

Friday of Week 2 of Lent – Gospel

Commentary on Matthew 21:33-43,45-46

Today’s Gospel is a parable spoken to the unbelieving chief priests and elders of the people. It is the history of the Israelite people told in parable form. In fact, it is more of an allegory than a parable, as each of the persons and incidents described point to real people and real events. Some scholars think that what we have here is really an early Church document, rather than something directly from Jesus. What may be more likely is that a parable spoken by Jesus has been modified in the light of later events.

The owner of the vineyard is clearly God. The vineyard is the house of Israel, where God’s people are to be found. The tenants of the vineyard are the people of God.

Servants sent to collect the harvest are abused in various ways—beaten, killed or stoned. The servants represent the prophets and other spokespersons sent by God to his people, many of whom were rejected, not listened to and even abused.

Finally, the owner decides to send his son, saying:

They will respect my son.

On the contrary, the tenants rationalized that, if they got rid of the son, they could take over the whole vineyard for themselves. They could carry on without the owner.

So they seized the son, threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. This is a clear reference to Jesus’ being crucified outside the walls of Jerusalem.

And what will the king do then? Jesus asks. The leaders condemn themselves by answering the question: “He will put those wretches to a miserable death”—just as happened when the city of Jerusalem was totally destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.

Instead, the vineyard is let out to new tenants—those Jews and Gentiles, the new people of God, who believe in Jesus as Lord and Saviour. The stone rejected by the builders becomes the cornerstone. Jesus says:

Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces its fruits.

This is one of only two instances where Matthew uses the term ‘Kingdom of God’ rather than ‘Kingdom of Heaven’. The Gentiles had for long been rejected as unbelievers and outsiders. Now, it is on them, together with those Jews who accepted Jesus, that the Kingdom will be built.

The Gospel ends by commenting that the unbelieving priests and elders understood his message perfectly, but because of Jesus’ popularity with the people, they could do nothing in retaliation for the moment.

Again and again it has happened in world history that fighters for truth and justice have been rejected, jailed and tortured, but eventually found themselves the saviours of their people. Let us make sure that we are listening to the right people—the people who have the message of truth, love and justice—and that we follow them. Jesus, our Saviour, still speaks through his followers.

Wednesday of Week 2 of Lent – First Reading

Commentary on Jeremiah 18:18-20

Today’s readings continue in a slightly different direction from that of yesterday: the need for someone who is a servant to not expect a reward. Right behavior means doing the right things in the right way because they are right, and not for glory, honour, praise or reward.

There are plots against the prophet Jeremiah. People find his teaching uncomfortable and they want to get rid of him. He is seen as a trouble-maker. In the eyes of his critics, getting rid of Jeremiah will make their own lives easier. Without him around to pronounce harsh truths, the work of the priests, sages and other prophets can go on just as before. Their words are so bland and harmless, and lull people into complacency as they have always done.

But Jeremiah is puzzled. Referring to the attacks being made on him when he passes on God’s word to the people, he asks:

Is evil a recompense for good?

It is a question that is often asked: “How could God allow this to happen to such a good person?” He had pleaded with God on the people’s behalf and this is the reward he gets.

We will see in today’s Gospel that those plotting against Jesus do not treat him any differently. We should not be surprised either if, as Christians, we meet with ridicule and rejection. The world is not ready to hear words of truth and justice. It does not like the true prophet who has the tendency to draw people’s attention to the things they don’t want to hear. Jesus had that annoying habit too.

But let us also consider whether people’s indifference to our message and way of life is because of its blandness, like salt without taste. If so, then we deserve to be ignored.

Monday of Week 2 of Lent – Gospel

Commentary on Luke 6:36-38

Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

This is the last sentence in Luke’s version of Jesus’ teaching on the need to love our enemies. We saw the Matthaean version last Saturday. There the passage ends with:

Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
(Matt 5:48)

It is clear that in showing compassion for all, even those who wish us evil, we are to aim at imitating our heavenly Father.

God’s compassion is all-embracing. His love reaches out to all without any discrimination between saint and sinner. Like the rain and sun which fall equally on all, so God’s compassion and mercy are extended to all. We, too, are being called to follow the example of our God and of Jesus his Son. We remember the words of Jesus as he was being nailed to the cross:

Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. (Luke 23:34)

Here is the compassion of God being expressed in an extreme situation. These same words will be repeated by Stephen when he is being stoned to death.

In today’s Gospel, we are told to follow that compassion by not sitting in judgement on others. That in no way means that we are to be blind to the genuine faults of others. But we are not in a position to take the higher moral ground so that we can sit in judgement on the supposed wrongdoer.

If we are honest, we know we judge others a lot—often with very little evidence and even less compassion. Our media, too, are full of judgment. Our conversations, our gossip is full of judgment. We lack compassion for the weaknesses of our brothers and sisters.

At the same time, we do very little to help them correct their ways; in fact, they seldom hear the criticisms we make. It is most often done behind their backs. If they unexpectedly appear, we quickly change the subject. We seem to take pleasure in the backbiting. We might even be disappointed if they reformed! Yet Jesus tells us:

…do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.

Before receiving the Eucharist we pray,

Forgive us our sins as we forgive the sins of others.

This is a dangerous prayer to make, yet it trips so easily off our tongues, the same tongues that can be so critical and judgemental.

The Gospel calls for great generosity in our relationship with others. Not just material generosity, but generosity in love, in understanding, in tolerance and acceptance, in compassion and forgiveness. The more generous we are with others the more we will receive in return. And so we pray:

Lord, teach me to be generous,
to give and not to count the cost,
to fight and not to heed the wounds,
to toil and not to seek for rest,
to labour and to seek no reward
save that of knowing that I do your holy will.
Amen.

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