Scripture Reflections for May 19 and May 20th, 2008

Scripture: May 19, 2008, Seventh week in Ordinary Time, Tuesday. James
4:1-10. Psalm 55:7-11,23. Mark 9:30-37. Lectionary # 342:

This is one of the most beautiful scenes and lessons in the life of
Jesus and we have it from the journalistic style of St. Mark. We read it
within the context of the disciples vying with one another to see who is
the best, who is number one. Naturally, this is unacceptable to Jesus who
wants all of his disciples to be humble and honest about who they are
before God, our Father. We see Jesus putting his arms around a little
child while saying, Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me,
and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me." (Mark
9:37). Now, doesn't that seem easy to do? Yet, because of the way we are
we have to really think about this saying and Jesus warmth to the child.
As Catholics we are especially called to this if we are in leadership
positions and working with children and youth. The cases of abuse have
hurt the Body of Christ which needs healing for these sinful acts. To be
humble, honest, and to have a listening heart to God's love which is
expressed in the commandments is essential to understand today's message.
Too often arrogance, individualism, self-centeredness makes us think we are
number one or we at least push for such acclamation. Our sports show us
this that winning is everything and to be MVP is the goal of many of these
"heroes".
Humility in the biblical sense is not a weak virtue. It requires more
strength and sincerity and honesty than most virtues. It needs to be
coupled with kindness and patience in our dealing with youth and children.
Wisdom has been put before us both in James' epistle and in the teaching
and lessons Jesus is giving to us through his disciples. We need a
listening heart which is the ear of the soul. Prayer is essential, too.
Those who wrote the Psalms understood humility and so did Mary, the mother
of Jesus, as we see in her Magnificat or Psalm of praise to God. In the
Psalms that we use each day in the Eucharist we have clear expressions of
the heart that have the right orientation to the loving-kindess of God
(Hesed) and God's mercy toward the poor.
Abraham, Moses, David, Jesus, and Mary show us by their lives and
their total response to God what true humility is. It takes a self-giving
person, a non egocentric one to have the strong and courageous effort that
humility requires. Jesus himself tells us, " Learn from me for I am meek
and humble of heart." The Scriptures also tell us that Moses was one of the
meekest among his people. He was truly a humble man who listened to God.
Amen.

Scripture for May 20th, seventh week of ordinary time. James 4:13-17.
Psalm 49:2-3,6-11. Mark 9:38-40. Lectionary # 343.

Both Mark and Matthew emphasize Jesus as a teacher. His sayings, his
parables, and his wisdom are easily seen in these two Gospels. Mark of
course is an outline for Matthew; while Matthew has found many more sayings
of Jesus and has brought them together in his masterpiece of five sections
on the teachings of Jesus. Today in Mark Jesus teaches us about goodness
seen in others who do not belong to our family, our group, or our religious
persuasion. How do we react to their goodness? Goodness speaks for
itself. Jesus shows his disciples that anyone who does good things should
not be despised but praised. We are to judge persons by their fruits and
when they are good as is often the case we should applaud them not be
jealous or envious. Unfortunately, the pettiness of pride, envy, and
jealousy do color our outlook on others and we distract ourselves from
seeing the good in others. Today's short lesson from Jesus corrects these
aberrations of the heart and helps us to see the bigger picture that Jesus
proposes to us. If someone is casting out the demon of addiction in others
why should we be negative about this good deed? Jesus says, "Do not stop
him, for no one who does a good deed of power in my name will be able soon
afterward to speak evil of me. Whoever is not against us is for us. For
truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you
bear the name of Christ, will by no means lose the reward." (Mark 9:39-41).
Unity amidst diversity is important in today's society and world. We
are all made in the image and likeness of God. This is the starting
principle for those who believe in God. We are capable of seeing this
image and likeness and know that it is good. This can also be a guiding
principle in religious dialogue and sharing sessions. We need to have a
both...and outlook rather than our ordinary either...or mentality.
Matthew shows us the importance of not judging the other in this very
strong saying, "How can you say to your neighbor,'Let me take the speck out
of your eye,' while the log is in your own eye.? You hypocrite, first take
the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the
speck out of your neighbor's eye." (Matthew 7:4-5). Amen.

Scripture reflection for May 19, 2008

Scripture: Monday, May 19th, 2008. James 3:13-18. Psalm 19:8-10,15. Mark
9:14-29. Lectionary # 341.

James continues to urge us to be open to the Spirit of Wisdom. His
sermonettes bring together the other virtues under this great gift of the
Spirit. In the deutero-canonical writing of Sirach we find that Wisdom
contains many virtures and outstanding qualities. James seems to be
following the same train of thought in his very down to earth letter to
Christian Jews. James enumerates some six or seven qualities or effects
that wisdom has. We are encouraged then to practice this gift from the
Spirit. "The harvest of justice is sown in peace for those who cultivate
peace."
In Mark we find Jesus healing a man who is possessed. He needs,
however, to confront the curiosity, amazement, and lack of faith in the
crowd, in his disciples, and even in the father of the possessed. The
latter, however, comes to faith by expressing his deep concern for his son,
"I do believe! Help my lack of trust." Jesus is constantly moving his
listeners to have such trust in him, but throughout the Gospel almost
everyone except the women are dull and lacking in wisdom. When asked why
they disciples could not perform this healing, Jesus tells them, "This kind
you can drive out only by prayer." We perk up and listen whenever prayer
is mentioned in Mark for it is not often that we do hear of it as compared
with Luke, Matthew, and John. It could be that Mark focuses more on the
actions and miracles of Jesus than the other writers, but when he does
mention prayer we had better listen!
We are called to be people of God's wisdom like Sirach and St. James.
When we pray and do the works of justice and peace we do experience the
effects of the Spirit of wisdom. Virtues and good behavior are part of the
gift of wisdom. It is an excellent virtue for ministers of the word, for
those in health professions and counsellors, spiritual directors and
mentors. We can calm ourselves through wisdom and prayer and then we are
able to heal others with sound advice or consoling words when needed by
someone who is in pain or loss. Strife and jealousy are removed as James
tells us and we are guided into the peace of God. We pray then with the
last verse of today's responsorial psalm:
"Let the words of my mouth and the thought of my heart find favor
before you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer." Amen.

Scripture Reflection for Trinity Sunday

Scripture: Trinity Sunday, May 18, 2008: Exodus 34:4-6,8-9. Daniel 3:52-56
for Psalm Response, II Corinthians 13:11-13. John 3:16-18. Lectionary #
165:

St. Paul ends his epistle in today's reading with a prayer that is
perfect for this feast of the Holy Trinity: "The grace of the Lord Jesus
Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you
all." (II Cor. 13:13). What a beautiful expression of praise and prayer to
acknowledge through faith alone that the Trinity is unity of three Persons
in One God. This paradoxical mystery of the Christian faith is what
divides us from all other monotheistic religions but in its essence
confesses the belief in one true God. It is the most profound mystery of
faith in the Christian religion and only developed in theology after a
hundred or more years. Only the gift of faith given at Baptism and the
influence of the Spirit both in our hearts and in Scripture can give the
Christian person such a gift of faith. No one earns it, and no one can
explain it though Augustine, Aquinas, and theologians try to probe its
mystery. Paul himself shows that he too struggled with it. We know this in
a careful reading of his thoughts expressed in his epistles. His belief in
the Trinity springs more from his heart than his mind, or rather from his
whole being. In a sense, he does for the Trinity what he did in faith as a
follower of the Mosaic covenant, "Hear, O Israel: the Lord is our God, the
Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with
all your soul, and with all your might." (Deuteronomy 6:4-5).
Our first reading from Exodus 34 gives us the Mosaic Covenant
(Pentecost or Shavuot ) on Mount Sinai and it too is a revelation of the
faith of Israel: "The Lord, the Lord, a merciful and gracious God, slow to
anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast
love for the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity and transgression
and sin." ( Exodus 34:6-7). This like the prayer of Paul is also a
revelation prayer from God to Israel.
Appropriately, on this feast of the Trinity, the Church in its
liturgy chooses and reads a passage from John's Gospel to express what the
Trinity is in a comforting message of salvation through God's revelation,
"Yes, God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever
believes in him may not die but may have eternal life." (John 3: 16).
As Catholic Christians there is this doxology that expresses our
faith through a Marian prayer, " May the Father, and the Son, and the Holy
Spirit be glorified in all places through the immaculate Virgin Mary.
Amen."

Scripture Reflection for Saturday, May 17, 2008

Scripture: Saturday, May 17, 2008 (Sixth week in Ordinary Time). James
3:1-10. Psalm 12:1-5,7-8. Mark 9:2-13. Lectionary #340:

God surprises us with many graces in our lives; some of these
experiences of God's loving kindness are transforming events, for example,
the reception of a sacrament or the reconciliation with a friend. By
listening with our heart we are able to discern such moments and thereby
deepen our relationship with God. Praise and thanksgiving are good ways of
appreciating God for such surprises of grace. The transfiguration of Jesus
before his three chosen apostles, Peter, James, and John, was also a
transforming moment for them through God's loving kindness. It helped them
to understand the mystery of Jesus' suffering, death, and resurrection. We
know they were shocked when they heard of Jesus' prediction of this journey
of suffering and death and then resurrection. He has to tell them about it
two more times! We read in Mark's original version of the transfiguration,
"They kept his word to themselves, though they continued to discuss what
"to rise from the dead" meant."(Mark 9:10). This questioning one another
about the resurrection was their way of discerning what Jesus was teaching
them about the Paschal Mystery. Discernment is an important part of our
personal and communitarian calls that we hear from the Scriptures.
St.Ignatius himself was converted to deepening his relationship with God by
pondering over and reflecting upon his life experiences. This led him to
formulate his Spiritual Exercises which continues to be one of the most
powerful forms of discernment today. Today we come down the mountain with
Jesus after having experienced him transfigured. We take up our ordinary
tasks and our relationships with renewed energy as we contine to reflect
upon them in the light of the Gospel and its teaching. Both Mark and the
other Evangelists will continue to help us by providing these teachings of
Jesus. It is our task to reflect upon them and to discern each time we
hear or read the Gospel what the Lord is calling us to do in today's
society. Transfiguration means transformation into Christ. It takes the
risk of resurrection faith to be transformed into Jesus. Pope John Paul II
made this event of the Transfiguration the fourth luminous mystery, namely,
those mysteries connected with the active ministry of Jesus in the four
Gospels. Amen.

Scripture Reflection...

Scripture for Friday, May 16th. (6th week in Ordinary Time). James
2:14-24,26. Psalm 112:1-6. Mark 8:34-9:1. Lectionary # 339:

Jesus addresses the crowd gathered together with his disciples who
have heard about the Messianic Secret. Now the crowd (all of us) will hear
the same mystery that he shares with us. It is not easy to hear, but it is
Mark's theology taken from what he has heard from Peter and then mulling it
over has put it down in the first Gospel ever written somewhere near 70
A.D. Again, Jesus asks questions as is his wont as a Wisdom person. "What
can you offer in exchange for your life? What profit is it if we gain the
whole world but destroy ourselves in the process?" Again, Mark is framing
this through his theology of the Cross. He confronts us with Jesus' words
to shock us out of our comfort zones and push us toward keeping our
priorities straight through our relationship to God through the Gospel. We
are called as Christians to follow the Master in the paradox of losing
one's life in order to gain new life--eternal life. It is not escapism or
"pie-in-the sky" theology on the part of Mark, but the hard road of
suffering and rejection, death, and eventually the experience of being
resurrected to eternal life.
In addressing the crowds, we see that Jesus' message is universal.
He is not asking of us something which he himself has not experienced. As
the Son of God and Son of Man he gives us the model for being a follower,
and for being a disciple. The opening sentence speaks of his summons to us
to follow him. Perhaps, this is why the chosen three disciples, Peter,
James, and John experience the Transfiguration of Jesus right after this
summons. It is a grace helping us to transform ourselves into the Christ
life. Transfiguration means transformation or as St. Paul puts it, "For me
to live is Christ!"
It is good to recall the opening sentence of St.Mark each time we
take up this Gospel:"The beginning of the Gospel (Euaggelion can mean Good
News) of Jesus Christ, the Son of God." (Mark 1:1). Mark is emphasizing
the preaching of the Gospel through his own written Good News. Henry
Wansbrouh comments, "(Mark) teaches that what is done for the sake of the
Gospel is done for Christ's sake, because Christ is present in the
preaching of the Gospel." (A New Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture).
Amen.

Scripture Reflection for tomorrow

Scripture for May 15,2008 (sixth week in ordinary time, a Thursday). James
2:1-9. Psalm 34:2-7. Mark 8:27-33. Lectionary # 338:

What is the Messianic Secret that Mark seems to have within his
Gospel, especially in the first half of it? How does this relate to who
Jesus is for the Markan community? Does it have meaning for us today? It
seems that we are asking questions of a Gospel that has more questions than
the other three together! So we are on the right track in understanding
how Mark wants us to become faithful disciples of Jesus. His Messianic
Secret is an exegetical question that the scholars have probed; the other
Gospels do not have it so Mark, like Luke, Matthew, and John has his own
theological approach to the question who is Jesus for you? Peter is the
one who answers the question today by stating outright "You are the
Messiah." But that is supposed to be a secret, so Peter is reprimanded for
his refusal to accept what Jesus says after Peter's confession of who Jesus
is for him. Mark gives two primary or foundational titles to Jesus that
the other evangelists follow but not with the same frequency and
theological meaning that Mark gives to these two guiding Christological
titles, namely, the Son of Man and the Son of God.The Son of Man is
described especially in chapters 1-8, the Son of God, in chapters 9-16.
We as readers of Mark have to enter into his rhetorical theology
which gives us many questions through the mouth of Jesus. Who is Jesus
for us today? We have a good approach to the answers to Mark's questioning
Jesus by always reading the passages within their context and within the
framework of the whole Gospel of Mark. We know that text without a context
is only our pretext for thinking our way not Mark's! In the twenty-first
century with all the advance in techological knowledge and the explosion of
all fields of knowledge, many readers of the Bible and of the Gospels are
pure fundamentalists and that doesn't fit in with the signs of the times.
We are challenged to answer Mark's probing and testing of our faith by
going deeper than fundamentalism---the food for children in the area of
faith growth, but for adults who are to grow in their baptismal commitment,
a deeper love for the Scriptures is needed. We need to know the individual
Christologies of the Gospels for to be ignorant of what the Scriptures are
saying is to be ignorant of Christ (Messiah). The secret is given by Jesus
himself but he enjoins Peter and the rest of his followers, including us,
to realize that he is the Messiah not in the expected sense of a liberator
from the oppression of foreign armies but as a suffering servant who is
concerned about our redemption. The secret is given several times within
three chapters and today we hear it for the first time in Mark :"Then he
began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and
be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, the scribes, and be killed,
and after three days rise again. He said this quite openly." (Mark 8:31).
Peter does not want this known. He rejects the secret to the kingdom and
thus becomes an adversary of Jesus who will eventually deny him three
times. Jesus gives the answer to who he is three times to offset those who
refuse to accept the Gospel of the Cross, that of Mark. The Messianic
Secret is the Paschal Mystery of Jesus which we have lived through during
Lent and Easter. It is good for us to read the whole Gospel of Mark in
order to understand the Paschal Mystery which starts with Peter's first
faith affirmation of who Jesus is for him. Now we need to ask ourselves
this question each day and realize that through our faith and our baptism
we have the answer and the call to follow Jesus more closely. Perhaps, the
fact that the lion has been chosen as the symbol for St. Mark's Gospel is a
daunting challenge for us for to accept. Its message is a lion's job!
Amen.

Scripture reflection for May 14, 2008

Wednesday May 14, 2008. Scripture for Wed. of Ordinary time, sixth week.
James 1:19-27. Psalm 15:2-5. Mark 8:22-26. Lectionary # 337:

Wednesday was traditionally dedicated to St. Joseph before Vatican
II. He is the righteous and holy person, the spouse of Mary, the mother of
Jesus. The reading from James fits him well for he seems to be an ideal
role model for fulfilling what James is encouraging his listeners to do.
The Psalm also points out what is expected of a good and wholesome person,
a devout follower of the God of Abaham, Isaac, and Jacob. The great
patriarch Joseph in the Hebrew Scriptures lives out these prescriptions and
so,too, does St. Joseph, the foster-father of Jesus and husband of Mary of
Nazareth. According to James we can say that both Josephs lived out and
practiced "freedom's ideal law" and continued to live by it throughout
their lives. We have their complete stories in Genesis chapter 39-50 for
the Patriarch Joseph and chapters 1 and 2 of Matthew for Joseph, the
husband of Mary. St. Joseph listened carefully to the signs God gave him
both in dreams and through his own care and concerns for Mary and her
child. He protected them from Herod and from Roman oppression. He lived out
the epistle of James in a remarkable manner. We have him implicitly saying
only one word in the Scriptures, the holy name of Jesus. He controlled his
tongue as James suggests and never sinned with it.
In today's Gospel scene, Jesus heals a blind man and enables him to
see clearly. In our own lives we need spiritual healing for all kinds of
blindness so that we may see clealy the paths the Lord calls us to follow.
Joseph can be our model in this clear manner of seeing what God wants of
us. He is the just and holy model for us and it is good that we keep the
tradition of calling him to mind on a Wednesday. As it was said of the
Patriarch Joseph who helped Israel and his sons, "Ite ad Joseph" so we take
up the same encouragement and we go to Joseph. Amen.

Feast of St. Matthias, Apostle and Martyr, May 14, 2008. Scripture: Acts
1:15-17, 20-26. Psalm 113:1-8. John 15:9-17. Lectionary #564:

The Upper Room is a sacred location for many of the important events
that happen in the founding of the Church on Pentecost. Prayer, union of
minds and hearts, gathering of the apostles and the women, and the symbolic
number 120 for the renewing of the concept of the Sanhedrin for the Jewish
Christians. The person to take the place of Judas Iscariot is also present
there and it is he whom we commemorate this day as the chosen "apostle" to
make the number correspond to the twelve tribes of Israel in Jesus' choice
of twelve during his lifetime. This is to continue according to Luke's
criteria for the choice of an apostle: first, he had to know Jesus as a
follower or disciple during his active ministry from his baptism by the
Baptist; secondly, he had to witness to the resurrection. Then he had to
be chosen through prayer and inspiration from the Holy Spirit to be an
apostle taking the place of the betrayer. Two qualified for this call, but
Matthias was chosen by lot. His name means " Gift of God" and is based on
the name Mattathias, the priest of Modin, and the father of Judas Maccabee.
It is possible that Matthias had been a disciple of John the Baptist, but
then started following Jesus after he received baptism from John. There
are legends about him and even apocryphal writings that are attributed to
him. He is said to have worked in southern Cappadocia (Turkey). Many of
the stories we have about the missionary journeys of the apostles and their
martyrdom come from the apocryphal writings. An entry from J.L.McKenzie on
Matthias helps us not to take these writings as historially accurate. He
writes, " Matthias, chosen by lot to take the place of Judas Iscariot as
one of the Twelve (Acts 1:23-26). He is not mentioned elsewhere in the New
Testament, and the traditions about him found in the apocryphal books and
in the Fathers are historically worthless." (Dictionary of the Bible,
p.556).
The reading from the Gospel from John for today's feast is
appropriate for the call of Matthias. He lived out the commandment of love
and gave his life for the Gospel. He was a true and faithful friend of
Jesus and merited to be numbered among the twelve who personally walked
and talked with the Lord. He most likely did die as a martyr. This line
from today's Gospel sums up who he is, "There is no greater love than this;
to lay down one's life for one's friends." (John 15:13). Amen.