Saint Peter Canisius – Readings

Commentary on 2 Timothy 4:1-5; Psalm 40; Matthew 5:13-19

Peter Canisius was very much an exemplar of the teaching in today’s Gospel. The reading is taken from the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew. The Sermon begins with the Beatitudes, which are a set of values which should characterise the true disciple of Jesus. In fact, they can be called a portrait of Jesus himself.

They are immediately followed by Jesus telling his disciples that these values are not just for themselves, but are to be communicated to the whole world. And Jesus uses a number of dramatic images to emphasise the impact that his disciples are to make on the world. They are to be the salt of the earth. Salt is a very valuable commodity and is both necessary to give taste to food, but also as a need for the functioning of our bodies. One of the characteristics of salt is that it is totally absorbed into the food so that it cannot be seen, and yet its presence or absence is immediately noticeable.

That is how Christians are to be present in our society. We are to be fully immersed in it, fully part of it but, at the same time, make a difference by the values of the Gospel. If we make no impact, if we live our Christian vocation in a way that is purely for ourselves and is unnoticed by others, then we are like tasteless salt and only good to be thrown out.

Other images are that the followers of Jesus are to be the light of the world. We do that by living our lives in the way that Jesus lived his. No one could say that Jesus was invisible – neither should we be. Or we are to be like a city built in a hilltop (as Jerusalem was) and visible for miles around. Or we are to be like a lamp in a house which, after it has been lit, is not hidden away under something…this would be nonsense. At the same time, our lives are to shine out before the world, not so that people will admire us, but so that they will be led to search for the source of that light and find their way to God, the Father, Source and Goal of all being.

Undoubtedly, Peter Canisius lived out this Gospel. He was a light for the Catholic faith and did not spare himself in spreading its message all over Central Europe. The words of the First Reading from the Second Letter to Timothy can so well be applied to him. Paul is instructing his missionary companion Timothy:

In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I solemnly urge you: proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable; convince, rebuke, and encourage with the utmost patience in teaching.

He is warned that people will not want to listen to the truth and will “wander away to myths”.

Timothy, on the other hand, is to:

…be sober in everything, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully.

Peter lived in the highly contentious world of the Reformation when there were deep divisions among Christians, between Catholics and Protestants, and between Protestants themselves who, after separating from Rome, became ever more fragmented.

Everything indicates that Peter was a person who spoke with convincing power of argument, but also with courtesy and respect for those who disagreed with him. Our Church today remains deeply divided, but in more recent times there has been a strong desire for the divisions to be overcome and for the restoration of unity, which is not the same as uniformity.

We need to remember the prayer of Jesus at the Last Supper, where he prayed for unity among his followers as a sign of the truth of his and their message:

By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. (John 13:35)

Let that be the guide for our lives too.

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Saint Justin, Martyr – Readings

Commentary on 1 Corinthians 1:18-25; Matthew 5:13-19

The Gospel reading comes from the Sermon on the Mount, and immediately follows the Eight Beatitudes, which can be said to be a portrait of Jesus and also of every Christian modelled on him. What today’s passage reminds us that it is not enough, as a follower of Christ, just to be a good person—to be, as people say, “in the state of grace” so that we can “go to heaven”. Much more is asked of a follower of Jesus. We are not only to model ourselves on him, but to invite others to do the same.

To be a Christian is to be a missionary. It is not just to ‘convert’ people in the sense of ‘making them Catholics’. It is to spread throughout the world the vision of life which Jesus had as God in the flesh, with the hope that more and more people will live their lives in this way. Jesus uses lovely images to say this. He calls on us to be the “salt of the earth”. As Jesus says:

…but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything but is thrown out and trampled under foot.

We are to be the light of the world and a light that can be seen. A light covered up makes no sense. We are to be like a city built on a hill; it cannot hide. And yet how often does it happen that we discover with someone we have known for a long time, perhaps even a next door neighbour that they are Christians? How many people know that I am one? And how do I make myself visible?

The second part of the Gospel is on the observance of the Jewish Law, the Law of Moses. One must remember that this is from Matthew’s Gospel, which is written by a Jew (or Jews) for Jewish Christians, and Matthew is very anxious to assure his fellow-Jews that Jesus’ coming does not mean the abolition of the Law of Moses, but rather its fulfilment. So Jesus here assures his fellow-Jews that not a jot of the old Law will disappear till the end of time. And that:

…but whoever does them [i.e. keeps the commandments] and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

However, in the section of Matthew’s Gospel (which is not part of today’s reading), Jesus makes it very clear that a literal observance of the Law is not, in fact, sufficient. And so he gives six examples from the Mosaic code whose full observance must go far beyond the letter of the Law. So, one must not just refrain from killing, but from doing any harm whatever to a brother and sister. In other words, the teaching of Jesus does not nullify the Mosaic Law, but goes far beyond it. This could be said to be the extension the Ten Commandments to their Christian counterpart—the Beatitudes.

Justin, too, was deeply concerned that the original teaching of Jesus be taught and defended against all forms of distortion, while at the same time recognising that this teaching can be developed and deepened.

The First Reading, taken from the beginning of the First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians, highlights the paradox between the truth of Jesus’ message of Truth and Love, and the violently negative reactions it aroused. As Paul says very strikingly:

For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

It confounds the wisdom of the world:

Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?…For Jews ask for signs and Greeks desire wisdom…

In the Gospel accounts, we find the Jews many times asking Jesus for signs to verify the claims he was making and the teaching he was giving. The Greeks loved to philosophise in their efforts to find the truth:

…but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.

This was the wisdom that Justin constantly taught in his debates with those who would deny the truth of the gospel, or present distorted interpretations of it. It is a wisdom that the world still finds difficulty in accepting, but there many who do. Am I one of them?

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Saint Alphonsus Mary de’ Liguori, Bishop and Doctor – Readings

Commentary on Romans 8:1-4; Matthew 5:13-19

The Gospel reading comes from the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew. It touches on two themes relevant to Alphonsus. The first is where Jesus tells his followers that they must not keep his message to themselves. It is a message that must be shared and promulgated as widely as possible. And Jesus uses several images to make his meaning clear. His followers are to be the “salt of the earth”. But if they lose their taste, that is, if the message becomes dead in them, they are useless as salt and should be got rid of. We might add that salt only works when it is fully inserted in the food; it is no good if it just remains at the side of the plate. We, too, can only be effective ‘salt’ in our society when we are totally inserted into it.

Other images that Jesus uses are that his followers are to be the “light of the world”, shining the light of Jesus’ Way by word and example. They are to be like a “city built on a hill” which cannot be hidden. An invisible Christian is no Christian (although perhaps a good person). Similarly, no one lights a light and then hides it under a cover. On the contrary, a light is set up in the place where its light is most effective. Lastly, our light is to “shine before others”, not so that people will praise us for being so good, but so that they will be led to serve and praise God.

In the second theme, Jesus speaks of his attitude to the Jewish law. Jesus did not come to put an end to this law. Rather, he came to go beyond it and bring it to a higher level. So the Jewish law was not to be changed or invalidated, but superseded. In subsequent passages (not in our reading today), he will give six examples of what he means. He will say it is not enough not to kill, but it is wrong even to have hateful and hurting thoughts in the depths of one’s mind.

Alphonsus spent much of his time teaching people how to observe God’s law as it comes to us in the Scriptures. He constantly sought a balance between excessive legalism, the law for its own sake, and excessive laxity in watering down the moral requirements of the laws. Let him, then, be a model for us both in our readiness to share our Christian life with others in word and action, and also in being truly moral people—a morality motivated above all by love.

In the First Reading, from the Letter to the Romans, Paul distinguishes between living in the ‘flesh’ and in the Spirit. To live in the ‘flesh’ is to live a life of pure self-interest. To live in the Spirit is to be inspired by the vision of life that Jesus has given us. It is, above all, the law of love that is to govern our every action. Paul writes that:

God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and to deal with sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

This was the deep concern of Alphonsus, that all live in the Spirit of Christ. And in his writings, he tried to show how this was to be done in the various situations of life.

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