Friday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Matthew 12:1-8

“For the Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath.”

The “something greater than the temple” of which Jesus speaks today is, of course, Jesus Himself.  As the Old Testament priests served in the Temple, so the disciples of Jesus serve in His Presence.  It is in serving Him, and especially in offering priestly sacrifice through Him, that all Christian works find their meaning and are rightly ordered.

Here the virtue of prudence shows its place.  Prudence is sometimes called the “charioteer of the virtues”.  A modern analogy would be to see prudence as the steering wheel of a car.  Prudence is neither the engine (which could be correlated with divine charity) nor the gearshift (temperance) nor the GPS (hope).  Nonetheless, as simple as the role of the steering wheel is, the whole vehicle depends essentially upon it.  Likewise with prudence.

The most basic level of moral decision-making is to shun evil and to do good.  Prudence is hardly needed at this level.  But the upper echelons of morality depend greatly on prudence, where the moral agent faces many good choices, and is tasked with choosing not merely the good but the best.  If we realize that Christ—that “something greater”—is always with us, then His Presence will guide our prudent choices.

The Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time [C]
Genesis 18:1-10  +  Colossians 1:24-28  +  Luke 10:38-42

“Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.”

Jesus today is in the home of Martha and Mary.  These two sisters—as often is the case with siblings—are very different.  After reflecting upon these two sisters, we have to choose which of their stances to take up.

First, reflect on Martha.  Martha is physically in the same house as Jesus.  But when He speaks, instead of listening to Jesus, Martha is doing her own thing.  Martha is in the presence of Jesus, but she is not present to Him.

But what exactly is Martha doing instead of listening to Jesus?  She would certainly insist that she’s working for Jesus.  Her work is all about Jesus.  Nonetheless, she’s not doing what Jesus wants her to do.

This sets before us one of the key distinctions of the Catholic spiritual life.  This is the distinction between sincerity and fidelity.  Some persons believe that as long as they’re sincere in what they do in life, then they’re being faithful to what God wants them to do.  This is a misconception, and this misconception can lead to many dead-ends in the spiritual life.  Sincerity may be a virtue, but it is not a measure of fidelity.

Turn next to Martha’s sister Mary.  In today’s Gospel passage, Mary is in the presence of Jesus, and is also present to Jesus.  Mary shows us that the yardstick that measures our fidelity is the spiritual virtue of listening.

Mary listens to Jesus.  But what did Jesus say to her?  It’s telling that St. Luke the Evangelist does not reveal to us what Jesus said to her.  What Jesus said was for Mary alone.  But that Mary listened is for all of us to imitate:  to listen, so that we might faithfully obey God.

What the evangelist does reveal is that Mary “seated herself at the Lord’s feet and listened to his words.”  There are at least two points that the evangelist makes in this sentence.  First:  Mary was seated, not standing for service, like a waiter who takes your order.  Whatever Jesus said to her, it was not marching orders, but something so deep that Mary had to take it “sitting down”, to ponder it thoroughly.

Second:  there was no dialogue between the two.  It was not two-way communication.  The words flowed in only one direction:  from Jesus, to Mary.  And Mary listened.  Mary listened to Jesus’ words:  this is what Jesus calls “the better part”.  Today’s Gospel Reading not only makes a distinction between prayer and action, calling prayer the “better part”.

Today’s Gospel Reading also makes a distinction about two different types of prayer:  between speaking to God and listening to Him.  Listening is the “better part” and the foundational part of prayer.  In your life, when you listen to God first, and base decisions upon that prayer, then this becomes the foundation of your fidelity to God.

Thursday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Matthew 11:28-30

“… my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”

It’s a common mistake to confuse duty and virtue.  We easily take on daily duties, but sometimes we carry them out without faith that God can act through our simple efforts.  We can carry them out without hope that what God can accomplish through our efforts is much more than we can imagine, or for that matter, need to know.  To carry only the yoke of duty—without gracing our good works with the virtues—is to limit our efforts to the scope of our own understanding.

The difference between a yoke of duty that either chafes over the course of the years, or fits smoothly and firmly, is the virtues.  The virtues with which God graces the yoke of duty—both natural virtues such as fortitude, temperance, prudence, and justice, and the divine virtues of faith, hope, and love—are great strengths for our Christian life.

Our Lord Jesus asks that we reflect on the question of whom we serve in our lives.  Performing duties only for duties’ sake leads to great weariness.  To carry out our obligations in order that another might have life and might be drawn closer to God:  this is where we find rest, even in the midst of the workday.  The yoke of the Cross is the virtue of love, the greatest virtue, by which we recognize the truth of Isaiah’s prophecy that it is the Lord who has accomplished all we have done.

Wednesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Matthew 11:25-27

“… no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.”

Today’s Gospel passage speaks to the power of divine revelation.  Jesus speaks directly to His Father, something rare in the four Gospel accounts.  Along with this exclamation, Jesus says, “no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.”

But that’s not the only reference to divine revelation.  In praising the Father, God the Son exclaims to Him that the reason for the Son’s praise is that “although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike.”

God the Son rejoices because His Father has revealed hidden things to the “childlike”.  Here we have a complement to Jesus’ admonition that unless one becomes like a little child, he will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.  This entrance must be connected to those hidden things that escape the vision of the wise and the learned.  The child has a capacity to see things as God wants them to be seen, and that includes the child who is God the Son, in all His divine humility.

Tuesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Matthew 11:20-24

“‘Will you be exalted to heaven?  You will go down to the nether world.’”

“Teddy Bear Jesus” remains one of the more persistent myths within lands that are culturally Catholic (as distinguished from those that are Catholic by personal conviction, sweat, and blood).  This mythic figure became flesh and dwelt among us to tell us how wonderful we are, and that we just need to have more self-esteem.  As popular as this myth is within so much of the modern Western world, it has no basis in the New Testament.  Today’s Gospel passage offers a helpful antidote.

In your hand missal, the two sentences that Jesus addresses to Capernaum may be printed in italics, drawing attention to the fact that they are a quotation from the Old Testament.  Specifically, Jesus here is quoting a very “un-teddy-bear-like” passage from the fourteenth chapter of the Prophet Isaiah.

What has prompted Jesus in today’s Gospel passage to thunder tides of woe against the cities of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum?  Here is the more specific point for our reflection today:  failure to repent.

Jesus has been preaching repentance because it’s a prerequisite for accepting the good news of the Gospel.  No Christian should think that he doesn’t need to repent because he’s already been baptized, accepted the Gospel, and been saved.  The gift of salvation first given in the Sacrament of Baptism certainly can be lost.  But most importantly, we should remember that the motive for Jesus’ reproaches is the same as the motive for His carrying the Cross:  love for each of us.

Monday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Matthew 10:34—11:1

“Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

There is a big difference between a bribe and a gift.  A bribe is something we give to another while demanding something in return.  A gift is an expression of love with no strings attached.  A gift-giver expects nothing in return, but merely gives the gift as a sign of love that already exists between the two.

Jesus gave His life on the Cross for fallen man.  He gave His life as a gift.  In turn, He calls His disciples to give a similar gift:  “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

Jesus is warning us that no one else should stand between ourselves and God.  Our gift of self must be complete.  This seems very self-evident, but can in fact demand a lot of us as Catholics.  Not even members of our family may be chosen above God.

This is a hard saying.  It would seem that Jesus expects us to pit ourselves against our family in order to choose Him.  But Jesus didn’t come to earth wanting to divide people, any more than He wanted to die on the cross for the sake of dying.  He knew, though, that there are some who refuse to choose God in their lives, and that these people can only find peace in their own hearts when they come to God.  Rather than look at Jesus’ words as pitting us against others, we realize that Jesus is telling us that if we want to draw others closer to God, we first of all have to firmly establish our own relationship with God.  Out of that relationship with God, we can work at drawing others closer to God again.

Saturday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Matthew 10:24-33

“[N]ot one [sparrow] falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge.”

Jesus preaches today about Our Father’s providential knowledge and will.  “[N]ot one [sparrow] falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge.”  God knows all things.  We know this abstractly, but perhaps we fail to consider all that this truth of our Faith means.

When we say that God knows all “things”, what sorts of things are we talking about?  Facts that would win God a championship on trivia shows?  Certainly God knows all objective facts about science, history, etc.  But God’s knowledge is not trivial.

God’s infinite knowledge extends to what is most personal.  God knows every action you have ever done or failed to do.  God also knows every thought you’ve ever had, and every word you’ve ever said.  He knows the hopes and desires of every human heart.  He knows of every emotion you’ve ever felt, and of the circumstances that led to those emotions.

But in human earthly providence, knowledge leads to the will.  God’s knowledge of you, as complete as it is—more complete, in fact, than even your own self-knowledge!—leads God only to love you more.  At times, we hide ourselves from God, not understanding the depth of His providential knowledge and will.  When we submit ourselves completely to God, we are more flexible in serving as an instrument of His peace.

Friday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Matthew 10:16-23

O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.

Today’s psalm especially draws out the spiritual themes of today’s Mass.  Psalm 51 is unique among the 150 psalms:  every Friday, it is the first psalm the Church prays at Morning Prayer in the Liturgy of the Hours.

The psalm’s importance is understood better when we realize that the very first words the Church utters each morning in the Liturgy of the Hours come from this psalm:  “O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.”  These words, the last sentence of today’s responsorial psalm, draw out a verse from today’s First Reading.  All week long we have heard the prophet Hosea bringing the wayward Israelites back to their covenant with the Lord God.  Today Hosea encourages them to make his words their own:  “We shall say no more, ‘Our God,’ to the work of our hands; for in you the orphan finds compassion.”

The temptation to make idols out of the work of our hands is always before us.  Yet the Church calls us to humility.  When we pray the Liturgy of the Hours, our first prayer each day comes from God even before it comes from our lips:  “O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall declare thy praise.”  Everything comes from the Lord, and everything is meant to return to the Lord.

Jesus Himself, only Son of the Father, is the embodiment of the wisdom expressed by the Psalmist and Hosea.  He is the embodiment of self-sacrifice.  His is the life that every disciple asks the Father for the grace to enter into.  Even in the midst of the wolves and snakes of the world, when we lay our sins at the foot of the Cross, Christ can act within us.

The Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time [C]
Deuteronomy 30:10-14  +  Colossians 1:15-20  +  Luke 10:25-37

“And who is my neighbor?”

In the year A.D. 529, Saint Benedict laid the foundation for one of the great monasteries in the history of the Church.  Monte Cassino, southeast of Rome, is both very accessible and very easy to spot as you journey towards it.  It sits on the crest of a small mountain, surrounded on three sides by valleys.

One of Father Benedict’s most famous rules for his monks is that “in the person of the stranger, Christ is served”.  Every person who knocks on the doors of a monastery is to be treated as if it were Jesus himself knocking on the door.  Every year on July 11th, the Church celebrates one of the feast days of Saint Benedict, the father of monastic life in the West.  St. Benedict exemplified in his life the invitation that Christ is making to the lawyer in today’s Gospel passage.  Christ makes this same invitation to you and me.

Members of the Benedictine religious order, like all members of religious orders, live lives that are marked by poverty, chastity, and obedience to their superior (that is, the Abbot of their community).  The Benedictines, however, take a vow which distinguishes them:  the vow of stability.  This vow makes Benedictine life different than the lives of religious such as Dominicans and Franciscans, who by the design of their founders were meant to be mendicants, begging for their daily bread as they travelled to and fro through Christian lands, and sometimes beyond.

Benedictines are “tied” both to each other and to the stranger who finds them.  Throughout the Middle Ages, Benedictine abbeys were beacons amidst the confusion and chaos caused by rulers and noblemen fighting each other and pagan tribes invading Christian lands in Europe and northern Africa.  These abbeys were not only centers of learning, but also served the poor of the area, including those who were travelling.

The parable of the Good Samaritan is about the same themes that Benedictine life illustrates:  being tied, being bound, and being wedded to others, no matter who that “other” may be.

As we reflect upon the Gospel Reading, we might imagine what was in this lawyer’s mind as he asked Jesus what he must “do to inherit eternal life”.  Likewise, it’s easy to guess what sort of answer he was hoping to hear when he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”  Most likely he wanted Jesus to say something like:  “Anyone within a one-mile radius is your neighbor.”  In that case, the lawyer would have moved into a deserted area where he could buy four square miles, so that he could plant his house in the middle and have no one any closer than a mile to him.  In other words, the passage implies that the lawyer asked his question in order to isolate himself from others.  But Jesus’ parable only forces him—and us—into even closer contact with others.  Jesus does this by telling His parable about the Good Samaritan.

To us today, the phrase “good Samaritan” is a common part of Western culture.  A “good Samaritan” is someone who helps another in need.  This phrase, however, didn’t have that sort of meaning within the culture in which Jesus and the lawyer lived.  To them, the phrase “good Samaritan” was an oxymoron, like talking about a “square circle” or a “good devil”.  The idea of a “good Samaritan” was inconceivable to Jewish people of Jesus’ day, because the Samaritans lived at a distance from anyone like Jesus who worshipped in the Temple in Jerusalem.  The idea that a Samaritan would help someone going down to Jerusalem was beyond belief.

So the brief moral of this parable is that the person who’s looking to limit his love doesn’t know what love is really about.  How, then, would you put the parable’s moral into practice?  While you may rarely have a stranger knocking on your door as a wanderer knocked on the door of a medieval abbey, you can expand your definition of “neighbor” by praying for someone you are not inclined to pray for.

God loves everyone, even if you and I do not always love everyone.  We need to realize, then:  if God loves someone, we should also, since we’re supposed to live in the Image and likeness of God.  If there’s someone whom we do not love, that says that we’re not living our lives in the same way that God does.