Friday of Week 18 of Ordinary Time – Gospel

Commentary on Matthew 16:24-28

Jesus has already shocked his disciples by telling them in advance what is going to happen to him as Messiah. Now he goes further and tells them that they too will have to have a part in his experience.

They are to follow in his footsteps. Like him, they are to be ready to take up their cross—whatever it may be—and carry it behind him. For some, it will mean dying for Christ and the Kingdom. For others, it will mean living totally for Christ and the Kingdom. Notice, Jesus tells them to take up their own cross, not his. That cross will be different for each person; it takes the form of some difficult thing which it is clear we must accept and not run away from. It is not to be sought for—that would not be a healthy thing to do. It will come, unmarked and unchosen, but clear.

The other way, to avoid all pain and seek only what brings pleasure and enjoyment, is to go down a cul-de-sac, a blind alley that leads nowhere. That is what we mean by trying ‘to save our life’. It is a sure way to lose it.

What is the use of gaining “the whole world”, becoming a multi-billionaire and being profoundly unhappy? Living for oneself only is to end up finding one’s self dying. Letting go of one’s life to live for others, to live for truth, love and justice is to live a full life, even if shortened by physical death.

Many of the saints died long before their time, but achieved in a few years what most of us cannot do in a long life. There is a scriptural phrase applied to some of the saints who died relatively young:

Consummatus in breve, explevit tempora multa.

It means that, although their life came to an early end, they had filled it with many good things.

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Friday of Week 18 of Ordinary Time – First Reading

Commentary on Deuteronomy 4:32-40

Today we begin the first of five readings from the book of Deuteronomy, the last of the five books of the Pentateuch. The book has a distinct plan of its own. It is a code of civil and religious laws (chaps 12—26:15), with a long discourse of Moses for its framework (chaps 5—11 and 26:16—chap 28). The whole is preceded by a first Mosaic discourse (chaps 1—4:43) and followed by a second (chaps 4:44—28:69) and a third (chaps 29—33:29). This is followed in its turn by sections dealing with the last days of Moses: Joshua’s mission, the long canticle of Moses, the blessings he pronounces and his death (chaps 31—34).

According to the Jerusalem Bible:

”The code of Deuteronomy is in part a resumption of the laws proclaimed in the desert. Its discourses commemorate the great events of the Exodus, of Sinai and of the early stages of the Conquest; they explain the religious meaning of these events and appeal for fidelity to the Law whose importance they emphasise.”

The book was written long after Moses’ time and consists largely of an updating of Moses’ original teaching. Today’s reading is taken from the first of the three long discourses attributed to Moses, which form the greater part of the whole book. It speaks of the unique privilege the Israelites have had. Moses asks the Israelites:

Has anything so great as this ever happened, or has its like ever been heard of?

In other words, have any other people had such extraordinary experiences of their God as they have? Was there ever a word so majestic spoken from one end of the heavens to the other?

Moses continues with his questions:

Has any people ever heard the voice of a god speaking out of a fire, as you have heard, and lived?

…has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs and wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by terrifying displays of power, as the Lord your God did for you in Egypt…

All of this God did for the Israelites before their very eyes.

Yahweh’s purpose was to show that he was the true God and there is no other. We have here something new—an explicit assertion of the non-existence of other gods. The Decalogue simply forbade the worship of foreign gods. The God of the Israelites was the God of Abraham, of Isaac, of Jacob and, at an earlier period, distinguished from the gods of other peoples. These had long been regarded as inferior to Yahweh, impotent and contemptible, but their existence was not denied. But now a new level in understanding has been reached—these gods simply do not exist.

In order to teach his people, Yahweh made them hear his voice from heaven; on earth they were allowed to see his great fire, and from the heart of the fire they heard his words. They saw his presence among them in the cloud and the fire. Because of his great love for their ancestors, Yahweh chose their descendants and brought them out of Egypt. They saw the wonders of that liberation.

He went further and showed his might and power by dispossessing nations larger and stronger than they were. The passage below references the people they had to overcome in taking possession of Canaan as the Promised Land:

He brought you out of Egypt with his own presence, by his great power, driving out before you nations greater and mightier than yourselves, to bring you in, giving you their land for a possession, as it is still today. (Deut 4:37-38)

So the people should:

…acknowledge today and take to heart that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other.

This is a re-assertion of the uniqueness of God. Because of that, Moses says the people are expected to:

Keep his statutes and his commandments, which I am commanding you today for your own well-being and that of your descendants after you, so that you may long remain in the land that the Lord your God is giving you for all time.

Perhaps our lives and our experiences with God have not been marked with such dramatic signs. But if we reflect a little, we will soon realise that he has done wonders in our lives. Let us recall these today, be truly thankful, and respond with loving and unconditional praise and service. Our Faith is both a gift and a privilege.

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