The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today resonate with a tone of regret that is linked to our rejection of the path that God is calling us to follow.
Staying on the path
The reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah contains exhortations to the Exiles: “O that you had paid attention to my commandments!”
* [48:22] No peace: while the good news proclaimed by the prophet is directed to the people as a whole, “peace,” which can represent the fullness of God’s blessings and which would here include deliverance from exile, is not extended to all regardless of disposition.1
Psalm 1 presents the Two Ways as a preface to the Book of Psalms.
* [Psalm 1] A preface to the whole Book of Psalms, contrasting with striking similes the destiny of the good and the wicked. The Psalm views life as activity, as choosing either the good or the bad. Each “way” brings its inevitable consequences. The wise through their good actions will experience rootedness and life, and the wicked, rootlessness and death.2
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus asks” But to what will I compare this generation?”
* [11:16–19] See Lk 7:31–35. The meaning of the parable (Mt 11:16–17) and its explanation (Mt 11:18–19b) is much disputed. A plausible view is that the children of the parable are two groups, one of which proposes different entertainments to the other that will not agree with either proposal. The first represents John, Jesus, and their disciples; the second those who reject John for his asceticism and Jesus for his table association with those despised by the religiously observant. Mt 11:19c (her works) forms an inclusion with Mt 11:2 (“the works of the Messiah”). The original form of the saying is better preserved in Lk 7:35 “…wisdom is vindicated by all her children.” There John and Jesus are the children of Wisdom; here the works of Jesus the Messiah are those of divine Wisdom, of which he is the embodiment. Some important textual witnesses, however, have essentially the same reading as in Luke.3
Tamora Whitney is grading student work and she observes that they make their own choices about whether to attend class, how much to study, whether to do their homework.
If we follow God we will be like the tall healthy tree, but if we don’t we will be like the chaff. In the Gospel Jesus reiterates that the foundation is given us, but we have to accept it. We are given the joyful music, but we have to dance. My students are given the syllabus, but they have to do their homework. We have to follow God’s teaching. But he can’t physically make us. If we do follow God’s teaching we will have the spiritual life we should, and we will have our reward in heaven.4
Don Schwager quotes “The river of forgiveness washes us clean,” by Ambrose of Milan, 339-397 A.D.
"This water is good, then. I mean here the grace of the Spirit. Who will give this Fountain to my heart? Let it spring up in me, let that which gives eternal life flow on me. Let that Fountain overflow on us and not flow away. For Wisdom says, 'Drink water out of your own vessels and from the fountains of your own wells, and let [not] your waters flow abroad in your streets' (Proverbs 5:15-16). How shall I keep this water so that it does not seep out or glide away? How shall I preserve my vessel, lest any crack of sin penetrating it should let the water of eternal life exude? Teach us, Lord Jesus, teach us as you taught your apostles, saying, 'Lay not up for yourselves treasures on the earth, where rust and moth destroy and where thieves break through and steal (Matthew 6:19)... "If you seek Jesus, forsake the broken cisterns, for Christ did not make it his custom to sit by a pool but by a well. There that Samaritan woman (John 4:6) found him, she who believed, she who wished to draw water. Although you ought to have come in early morning, nevertheless if you come later, even at the sixth hour, you will find Jesus wearied with his journey. He is weary, but it is because of you, because he has long looked for you, your unbelief has long wearied him. Yet he is not offended if you only come now. He asks to drink who is about to give. But he drinks not the water of a stream flowing by, but your salvation. He drinks your good dispositions. He drinks the cup, that is, the passion that atoned for your sins, that you, drinking of his sacred blood, might quench the thirst of this world." (excerpt from ON THE HOLY SPIRIT 1.16.182-84)5
The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 11:16-19 comments that Jesus himself did not follow along; in fact, he told the crowd, “Wisdom is vindicated by her works” (11:19). In other words, accept or reject something based on the fruit it bears, not on whether it is in step with current opinion.
For some of us, it could mean being willing to serve side by side with fellow believers who might disagree with us on some points of doctrine or politics. Or maybe we will sense Jesus nudging us to put aside a judgmental thought about that neighbor who always seems to look down her nose on us. We might try to understand the viewpoint of people from a different social or economic background so that we see them in a new way. Or perhaps the Spirit is asking us to distance ourselves from conversations that aren’t all that upbuilding.6
Friar Jude Winkler discusses how God presents as goel in the text from Second Isaiah. Rejection blocks our return to the heart of God. Friar Jude cites Biblical persons who show God is full of surprise and mystery.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, shares the work of Catherine de Hueck Doherty, author of “The Gospel without Compromise” from Madonna House Publications.
Christians are called to become icons of Christ, to reflect him. But we are called to even more than that. Ikon is the Greek word for “image of God.” We are called to incarnate Christ in our lives, to clothe our lives with him, so that people can see him in us, touch him in us, recognize him in us. . . . [3]7
Our contemplation of action to reflect Christ to others may be the fruit of our recognition of regret.
References
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