The Roman Catholic Lectionary draws from the Book of Ezekiel
today. The text relates the how Ezekiel followed the instructions of God to use
the death of his beloved wife as sign to Judah that the will of God for them is
going to bring punishment for the chaos which they have chosen to embrace in
their political, social and spiritual lives. The mourning rituals and
traditions which Ezekiel omits after the death of his wife are instructions to
the people about how to accept the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians.
Attention to the will of God is the path of life. The canticle from Deuteronomy
reminds the Israelites that they had forgotten the God who has given them
birth. The episode from the Gospel of Mark reminds us that we know, at least in
broad strokes, the will of God for all people. God delights in our growth in
holiness in a manner similar to parents and grandparents delight in the growth
of children. The grandparent perspective may provide richer insight to the
Divine delight because of the perspective which sees the bigger picture of
today’s events with a background of a life timeline which played out when they
were parents. The ease with which grandparents see the love, joy and life in grandchildren
is the bias in the view of God for His children. Friar Jude Winkler notes that
Jesus dialogues with the rich young man to test his understanding of Jesus
Divine nature as the “only one who is good”. From this understanding Matthew
uses the seeking of the rich young man for eternal life as the model for our
self examination. Friar Jude presents the challenge that we explore the
physical, psychological, attitudinal and spiritual obstacles that are keeping
us from moving toward greater intimacy with God. He suggests that this movement
will be evidence by our growth from the minimal affiliation of “keeping the
Commandments” to the model of Jesus as people who live the humility, poverty,
peace-making, mercy, forgiveness, patient and trust in Providence of the
Beatitudes. (Matthew 5:3-10).
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