Friday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time
Mark 12:35-37

“The great crowd heard this with delight.”

Today’s Gospel passage is as unusual as it is brief.  The unusual nature of this passage of only three verses (or four sentences) is highlighted by the evangelist’s concluding observation that the “great crowd heard this with delight”.  What is it about Jesus’ words that delights them?

We have a clue to Jesus’ aim in His initial question:  “How do the scribes claim that the Christ is the son of David?”  Jesus’ subsequent words, then, seem a rebuke of the scribes.  Likely, the members of the crowd were not fans of the scribes, so that Jesus’ rebuke allows the crowd to delight in what they wished they themselves could do.

But Jesus never rebukes without wanting those rebuked to turn instead to the Truth.  Consider the content of Jesus’ rebuke.  Jesus is rebuking what the scribes claim about the Christ.  We know from the entire context of the Gospel that this claim is one basis by which Jewish leaders would put Jesus to death.  Jesus indeed is the Christ.  Jesus is the only begotten Son of God.

The delight of the crowd, then, is like the cheers of “Hosanna!” on Palm Sunday.  The crowd’s delight will be short-lived if this Christ who delights them today is tried tomorrow as a criminal.  Perhaps, however, the rebuke that Jesus issues today would ultimately bear fruit in the conversion of a scribe towards faith in the Word made flesh.

The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ [B]
Exodus 24:3-8  +  Hebrews 9:11-15  +  Sequence + Mark 14:12-16,22-26

“This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many.”

references to the Catechism of the Catholic Church cited for this Solemnity by the Vatican’s Homiletic Directory:

CCC 790, 1003, 1322-1419: the Holy Eucharist
CCC 805, 950, 2181-2182, 2637, 2845: the Eucharist and the communion of believers
CCC 1212, 1275, 1436, 2837: the Eucharist as spiritual food

More than fifty years after the close of the Second Vatican Council, disagreements still simmer over the best way to interpret its teachings.  Disagreement is found is different areas of the Church’s life, such as marital morality and ecumenism.  Yet nothing engenders more disagreement than the celebration of the Eucharist.  Today’s feast of Corpus Christi can help us reflect upon the Church’s teachings about this most blessed of the seven sacraments.

One of the more confused ideas used to interpret the Council is that Holy Mass ought to be entertaining (for example, through its music or preaching).  During summer vacation, if you travel far enough outside our diocese, you might stumble upon Masses animated by the principle of giving the faithful what they want.

By contrast, the Church’s history shows a different approach:  give the faithful what they need, and do so by giving them what God has handed down.  There are two questions that have to be answered, then.  First, what do the Christian faithful most need?  Second, what has God handed down?

We’re not talking here about the sacraments’ inner essence, which is grace, but about their outer form, which the Church has the power to change to some extent.  Concerning the form of Holy Mass, what principle should shape it?  What would be wrong with elements drawn from popular entertainment, which clearly draw crowds marked by outer enthusiasm?

Some seem eager for great crowds and great outer enthusiasm in churches.  Yet the history of the Church, both ancient and modern, shows that when the Church sets the course of her mission according to numbers and outer enthusiasm, the Church bears little lasting fruit for lack of roots.  Consider that during the hours that Jesus was nailed to the Cross, the number of His followers was few, and they had little enthusiasm for the way He had trod.  Nonetheless, the Church knows that she is called to preach nothing but Jesus Christ crucified [see 1 Cor 2:2].

At the heart of this preaching is self-sacrifice.  If we want to know what the Christian faithful most need, then, we need to know self-sacrifice.  Jesus’ words at the Last Supper, when He instituted the Eucharist, reflect this central principle.  “This is my body, which will be given for you; do this in memory of me.”  “This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many.”  These words of Jesus don’t reflect a spirit of entertainment, which indulges whatever the crowd currently cries for.

But how can a principle like self-sacrifice take concrete form within Holy Mass?  Consider the example of hymn lyrics.  Tally the proper nouns and pronouns in any given hymn.  Are most of them first-person (I, me, mine, we, us, ours), or do most of them refer to God?  Who is the focus of the hymn:  man or God?  A hymn that illustrates the principle of self-sacrifice sings more about God than man, and sings about man as fallen and redeemed by Jesus’ self-sacrifice on Calvary.

So if the faithful need chiefly from the form of Holy Mass a spirit of self-sacrifice, what, secondly, has God handed down to the Church to foster this goal?  The simplest answer is that He has given Himself, in Word and Sacrament.  God’s Word and the Sacrament of Corpus Christi shape the form of Holy Mass.  The content of the Mass shapes the form of the Mass.  Form follows function, and one of the functions of Mass is to form us into the likeness of Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.

If that seems a bit abstract, consider practical examples regarding the role of Scripture within Holy Mass.  With a few exceptions, most consider the fact that more of the Bible is read at Mass during the year to be a positive change made after the Second Vatican Council.  Yet two other modern changes distort—towards one extreme or the other—the place of Scripture within Holy Mass.

In some churches built or renovated after the Second Vatican Council, the altar and pulpit are positioned at equal distances from the sanctuary’s midpoint.  This arrangement suggests that the two chief parts of Holy Mass—the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist—are of equal importance.  Yet the Church throughout her history has taught that the structure of Mass—like salvation history itself—contains a dynamism.  The first half of Mass prepares the faithful for the second half, as the Old Testament prepares God’s People for the New, where the Word becomes Flesh and dwells among us.

On the other hand, the modern change that gives prominence to hymns at Mass has come at the cost of the proclamation of Scripture.  In the form of Mass used before the Second Vatican Council, hymns didn’t supplant the singing of the scriptural antiphons (during the Entrance procession, the Offertory, and the Communion procession).  Each of them—antiphons and hymns—had its own place.  But the modern form of Mass allows these scriptural antiphons—which may be sung either in a brief form or in an extended form like the Responsorial Psalm—to be omitted altogether, impoverishing the faithful by substituting the human words of hymns for the divine Word of Scripture.

What the Christian faithful most need is what they most deeply want.  God has handed down to man through the Church what mankind most deeply wants:  self-transcendence through self-sacrifice.  The Church’s Sacred Liturgy inspires us, nourishes us, and fits us for self-sacrifice, and so for fitting praise to God for His own self-sacrificial love.

Thursday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time
Mark 12:28-34

“‘There is no other commandment greater than these.’”

In in the Mystery of the Word made Flesh, God makes clear to us—in the flesh—not only His divine nature.  In his human life, God the Son makes clear to us the meaning of the Law of ancient Israel.  In the person of Christ Jesus, we learn how to fulfill the great teaching given our fathers in faith.

In particular, if we listen carefully to Our Lord’s summary of the Torah in today’s Gospel passage, we notice that along the same lines that there are two natures in the one person of Jesus Christ, so these two commands make but one single commandment.

Love, quite obviously, is the common denominator between these two commands:  “Love the Lord completely,” and “Love your neighbor as yourself.”  Understanding these two as one means having Christ at the center of our entire spiritual focus:  seeing in Christ our neighbor, and seeing in Christ our Lord and God.  And so we are to love others as Christ has loved us.  But we must even go one step further.  We are to love others so that others will love as Christ has loved us.  Not merely are we to give our lives for others.  We are to so have an effect on others that they in turn will do the same.  But how is this possible?  We cannot control the decisions of others.  Even if we love them they may hate us in turn.

In artistic images of the Crucifixion, we see symbolically what Jesus is teaching in today’s Gospel passage.  In many such images, there are five persons:  two above, two below, and Jesus in the center of them all.  The two below are invariably Mary and John, who represent the human race for whom Jesus died:  Jesus’ human “neighbors”.  The above are only indirectly portrayed usually:  in such images, two angels stand for the other two Divine Persons, God the Father and God the Holy Spirit.  Among them all is Jesus Christ, true God and true man, who on the Cross shows us perfectly how to love God and neighbor at one and the same time.

Wednesday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time
Mark 12:18-27

“‘He is not God of the dead but of the living.’”

In today’s Gospel passage, Our Lord tries to make clear to the Sadducees the meaning of the Resurrection.  St. Mark the Evangelist, at the start of the Gospel passage, explains that the Sadducees “say there is no resurrection”.  That might be hard for us to believe.  We might tend to think that the Jewish people, having already existed—in the days of Jesus—for many centuries as God’s Chosen People, would have been united in their beliefs.  But they were not.

Consider another passage of the New Testament.  Towards the end of the Acts of the Apostles (Chapter 23), St. Paul is on trial before the Jewish high council in Jerusalem for professing his faith in the Risen Jesus.  Among those before whom St. Paul stood, there were two different groups of Jewish leaders:  Pharisees and Sadducees.  The author of Acts explains that “the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection or angels or spirits, while the Pharisees acknowledge all three” [Acts 23:8].

Aware of this division among the Jewish leaders, St. Paul does something clever.  He boldly declares before both groups, “My brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of Pharisees; [I] am on trial for hope in the resurrection of the dead.”  At that, a “great uproar occurred, and some scribes belonging to the Pharisee party stood up and sharply argued, ‘We find nothing wrong with this man. Suppose a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?’” [Acts 23:6,9].  With that the trial ended, though not St. Paul’s trials for being a Christian.  Eventually, as you know, he was martyred in Rome for his faith in the Risen Christ.

The point that connects to today’s Gospel Reading, however, is that in Jesus’ day, the Jewish people were not united in their beliefs.  Some rejected the notion of a resurrection altogether, and others—even if they professed it—were not clear in their understanding of the belief.

But given all that, we need to take the plank out of our own eye.  We as Christians believe in the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead on that original Easter Sunday morning.  We also believe in the hope of resurrection that God offers to all who die with faith in Christ.  Nonetheless, we still very likely do not fully appreciate and understand the beauty of the new life that is experienced by those raised from the dead.

In the four Gospel accounts, we never find Our Lord Jesus going into great detail about the nature of the afterlife.  There are two practical reasons for this.  First, the glory of Heaven is too far beyond our comprehension.  Second, our only hope for sharing in that glory is to persevere in running the race which God has set before us.  Jesus wants us to pay attention more to our spiritual “today” rather than the promise of “tomorrow”.  This is because we reach Heaven only if we put our faith into action.  We must today, in the here and now, stir into flame the gift of God each of us first received at our baptism.

Tuesday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time
Mark 12:13-17

“‘Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.’”

Jesus trips up the Pharisees and Herodians in today’s Gospel passage because of a dichotomy in their thinking.  They easily recognize the image of Caesar, but fail to see two even more clear images.  Focus on the first.

They fail to see Jesus as the divine Image of God the Father:  in other words, they don’t recognize Jesus’ divinity.  In addressing Jesus they say, “Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man”.  Then they assert of him, “You do not regard a person’s status but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth.”  In both statements they speak of Jesus in regard to truth (he is a truthful man and he teaches the way of God in accord with the truth) without recognizing that Jesus, as the divine Image of the Father, is the Truth made flesh.

We might be willing to pardon this, as no one else in the Gospel (excepting perhaps Mary, Joseph and the Baptizer) seems to recognize Jesus’ divinity, either.  This failure is at the heart of the drama in the Gospel, and reaches a climax on Calvary with Jesus’ cry:  “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do”  [Luke 23:34].

The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Zephaniah 3:14-18  +  Luke 1:39-56
May 31, 2021

… Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice ….

Catholic art is beautiful because it focuses on persons:  the three Divine Persons, and human persons as well.  In Catholic art that portrays today’s feast—the Visitation of Our Blessed Mother—there are four persons shown to the eye of the viewer.  Of course, two of them have to be shown indirectly because they are unborn children:  St. John the Baptist in the womb of Elizabeth, and Our Lord in the womb of the Blessed Virgin.  Sometimes these two unborn children are portrayed by something akin to halos shining, indicating the grace that dwells within these women through their openness to human and divine life [see the sacred image below].

If we were to order these four persons in order of holiness, we would first place the Lord Jesus, who is not merely a holy human being, but the source of all holiness:  the eternal Son of God.  We would certainly place second the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God:  she who merited to bear our Redeemer.  We would likely place third St. John the Baptist, whom some theologians have taught was without Original Sin.

But reflect today on Saint Elizabeth:  fourth in this line, yet like you and me.  She is a human creature, not a divine Person.  She receives assistance from the Blessed Virgin, as you and I do each day.  She was chosen not for drama, as was her son, but for simplicity of life.  In light of St. Elizabeth’s vocation, what do you and I take today from her example?  “…Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice….”  Ask Jesus in your prayers to open your heart to the Holy Spirit, that you might each day speak of His power, His glory, and His love for all people.

Saturday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time
Mark 11:27-33

“By what authority are you doing these things?”

In today’s Gospel passage we hear a face-off between Jesus and the religious leaders of His day.  They challenge Jesus to explain the origin of His authority.

In response, Jesus cleverly poses what seems like a simple question.  It would hardly seem related to the topic raised by the religious leaders:  “Was John’s baptism of heavenly or of human origin?”

However, this question trips up the religious leaders precisely because they lack authority.  Instead, they pander to the crowds, worrying about what those whom they’re supposed to be leading will think of them.

Jesus’ question to these leaders is a challenge to those today who claim to lead in the Name of Jesus.  He challenges them to hold fast to the teachings of Jesus, even when this might cause them to be unpopular with those whom they lead.

Friday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time
Mark 11:11-26

“May no one ever eat of your fruit again!”

Saint Mark the Evangelist, in composing the Gospel passage that we hear today, uses a literary technique.  It demonstrates the meaning of faith.  St. Mark takes two very different scenes and combines them.  These two scenes—Jesus cursing the fig tree, and Jesus confronting those who profane the Temple—end up illuminating each other.

The Good News of Jesus stands in contrast to the messages of self-fulfillment that the world tries to preach.  The withered fig tree is an image of those who have no faith, such as those who profane the Temple.  That kind of withering is the ultimate fate of those who live by the standards of the world.

You and I, however, are called to make an act of faith in Christ Jesus.  Today’s Gospel passage calls us to do this in a specific way.  The first step is explained by Our Lord Jesus in the last sentence of today’s gospel passage:  “When you stand to pray, forgive anyone against whom you have a grievance so that your heavenly Father may in turn forgive you your faults.”  Jesus’ words here echo what you and I pray each time we say the Our Father:  “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

The Most Holy Trinity [B]
Deuteronomy 4:32-34,39-40  +  Romans 8:14-17  +  Matthew 28:16-20

The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God ….

A well-written biography fascinates.  The narrative of a subject’s life—the events surrounding the person, as well as the choices which the person makes amidst those events—captures the imagination.  The individual person’s choices are windows into the person’s inner life:  the person’s mind, heart and soul.

Something similar is true regarding the Most Blessed Trinity.  Theologians describe the Trinity by means of two different terms.  One is called the “economic Trinity”.  The word “economic” refers in this case not to money, but to works performed, as in the phrase “home economics”.  So the “economic Trinity” is the Blessed Trinity described in terms of works performed “outside” the Trinity.

In other words, the “economy” of the Trinity is those works that the Trinity never had to carry out, but nevertheless freely chose to carry out.  The Trinity carried out these works simply out of love.  These works chiefly fall into two groups:  creation and salvation.  The work of creation concerns every created thing in the universe, visible and invisible.  The work of salvation solely concerns mankind, and includes man’s redemption and sanctification.

The Trinity’s works of creation and salvation serve as windows into the inner life of the Trinity.  This inner life is called the “immanent Trinity”.  This inner life of God is the very essence of the Trinity.  While the works of the “economic Trinity” are “exterior” to God, and therefore never had to be carried out, the “immanent Trinity” is God’s essential Being throughout eternity:  as He was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be.

On this Sunday’s Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, we can reflect on God’s works of creation and salvation as a way of peering into His inner life.  It’s fitting that the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity on the Sunday after Pentecost.  The two solemnities stand in a certain contrast to each other.  Pentecost celebrates the culmination of the Trinity’s “economy of salvation”, while the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity peers into the inner life of the “immanent Trinity”.  Consider further the connection between the “economic Trinity” and the “immanent Trinity”, and how the former illuminates the latter.

The beauty of creation inspires poets and mountain climbers, biologists and physicists to see the works of creation in a transcendent way.  In other words, the beauty of the works of creation points our attention to “where” they came from.  For believers, this reflective act of transcendence leads beyond those particular works, and also beyond the “how” of creation, all the way back to God Himself.

Chief among the visible works of God’s creation is the human being.  It’s little wonder that first-time parents draw closer to God as they stand in awe of the innocence, beauty, and dignity of a single, tiny human life.  Throughout the Church’s history, the greatest teachers of the Catholic Faith have reflected on how man—male and female—is created in the image of God.  This image is seen especially in how man’s intellect and will operate.  Although every animal has an intellect and a will, allowing it to reason and make choices, the human intellect and will are different because they are capable of self-transcendence.  The human intellect can map the cosmos and the human will can construct an edifice to last a millennium.

Yet while the works of creation reveal God’s inner life in a myriad of ways, the Trinity’s work of salvation does so even more powerfully.  In the order of salvation history, this work includes both redemption and sanctification.

In the fullness of time God revealed Himself as a Trinity of Persons when He established His new and everlasting Covenant through the Sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross.  In this singular act of self-sacrifice—which Jesus offered fully through His human intellect and will, which is to say, knowingly and freely—Jesus gave up His divine and human life for the sake of His Bride, the Church.  Nonetheless, the Sacrifice of the Cross is not only the work of God the Son.  It is is a Trinitarian sacrifice, made at the initiative of God the Father and through the Power of God the Holy Spirit, who is the love of the Father and the Son for each other.