The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to examine the path of our journey for the truth of the extent of our faithfulness to our vocation and the grace of God that calls us to deeper commitment.
The reading from the Prophet Ezekiel is a narrative about God’s Faithless Bride.
* [16:4–5] In this chapter, Ezekiel represents Jerusalem and Samaria as unwanted, abandoned sisters whom the Lord rescues and cares for. Here the prophet depicts Jerusalem as a newborn female, abandoned and left to die, an accepted practice in antiquity for females, who were considered financial liabilities by their families. That the infant has no one, not even her mother, to tie off her umbilical cord, wash her clean, and wrap her in swaddling clothes emphasizes Jerusalem’s death-like isolation and accentuates the Lord’s gracious action in her behalf. The practice of rubbing the skin of newborns with salt is an attested Palestinian custom that survived into the twentieth century. (Ezekiel, CHAPTER 16, n.d.)
The response from Isaiah is a hymn of thanksgiving and praise.
* [12:1–6] Israel’s thanksgiving to the Lord, expressed in language like that of the Psalms. (Isaiah, CHAPTER 12, n.d.)
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus teaches about marriage and divorce.
* [19:9] Moses’ concession to human sinfulness (the hardness of your hearts, Mt 19:8) is repudiated by Jesus, and the original will of the Creator is reaffirmed against that concession. (Unless the marriage is unlawful): see note on Mt 5:31–32. There is some evidence suggesting that Jesus’ absolute prohibition of divorce was paralleled in the Qumran community (see 11QTemple 57:17–19; CD 4:12b–5:14). Matthew removes Mark’s setting of this verse as spoken to the disciples alone “in the house” (Mk 10:10) and also his extension of the divorce prohibition to the case of a woman’s divorcing her husband (Mk 10:12), probably because in Palestine, unlike the places where Roman and Greek law prevailed, the woman was not allowed to initiate the divorce. (Matthew, CHAPTER 19, n.d.)
Nancy Shirley shares that at a recent church service, her thoughts about truth and grace came together. There was a discussion of the real vs ideal. We DO strive for the ideal but the real often/mostly falls short of the ideal. Jesus set the bar high (in many ways even higher than the Old Testament) yet was always there with grace. This passage from John helped to clarify. John 1:17: For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
This is an essential balance of both grace and truth. Jesus sees the real and still loves us and our love for Him propels us to strive for that ideal. As the discussion continued, it was emphasized grace without truth would lead us to live completely permissive lives. There would be no regard or need to move toward the ideal. Yet, truth without grace would end in hypocrisy and lies – we would be separated from God. Jesus provides the opportunity for the balance to make it possible in this broken world for us still to be connected to God. He is the epitome of grace – something that is given even when not deserved. Remember when some businesses used to provide a “grace period” for payment. An extra period of time, not because it was earned or deserved, just given. Not unlike the Grace we receive, not because it is our entitlement, rather it is a gift – the best gift we could ever receive. (Shirley, 2022)
Don Schwager quotes “Don't separate what God has joined together,” by John Chrysostom (347-407 AD).
"Then he showed that it is a fearful thing to tamper with this law. When establishing this law, he did not say, 'Therefore, do not sever or separate' but 'What God has joined together, let man not separate.' If you quote Moses, I will quote the God of Moses, and with him I am always strong. For God from the beginning made them male and female. This law is very old, even if it appears human beings have recently discovered it. It is firmly fixed. And God did not simply bring the woman to her husband but ordered her also to leave her father and mother. And he not only ordered the man to go to the woman but also to cling to her, showing by his way of speaking that they could not be separated. And not even with this was God satisfied, but he sought also for another greater union: 'for the two shall be one flesh.'" (excerpt from THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 62.1) (Schwager, n.d.)
The Word Among Us Meditation on Ezekiel 16:1-15, 60, 63 comments that God can see beyond our sin better than we can ourselves. Our failures and neediness don’t surprise him; they call forth his compassion and mercy. We’re the ones who rarely want to see and admit to the ways we’re not all that we know we can be. We’re the ones who don’t want to confess those times when we don’t live up to our external façade of goodness—whatever our secret sin may be. But as we see ourselves the way God sees us, we can have more confidence in the mercy he’s ready to lavish on us.
So don’t be afraid to take an honest look at yourself. Don’t be afraid to see some ugliness, or some “grossness,” there. Because God isn’t put off by any of that. He is always ready to come alongside you, heal you, and restore you. Let him spread the cloak of his mercy over you today.
“Lord God, help me know that I am seen and loved by you. Let that knowledge lead me back to your loving embrace.” (Meditation on Ezekiel 16:1-15, 60, 63, n.d.)
Friar Jude Winkler discusses that Israel had adopted customs that were not a part of the Covenant. The appeal of Ezekiel resonates with texts in Hosea, Isaiah, and the Song of Songs that point to Jesus coming to marry Israel. Friar Jude alludes to what Hillel thought about divorce. Friar Jude suggests that celibacy for the sake of the Kingdom is connected to this passage in Matthew.
Cynthia Bourgeault comments that our bodies and their natural movements can offer us spiritual insights in a way that the intellectual mind simply cannot.
It’s amazing how those learning experiences invariably wind up among our most vivid childhood memories. From learning to ride a bicycle when I was seven, I came to know something about interior balance, getting the hang of something from the inside out. From learning to float, I discovered that trust means relaxing and letting something else hold you up. From ecstatic lovemaking, I learned not to fear dissolving into oneness. The language of spiritual transformation is already written deeply within our bodies. . . .
In terms of the spiritual journey, trying to find faith with the intellectual center is something like trying to play a violin with a saw: it’s simply the wrong tool for the job. This is one reason why all religious traditions have universally insisted that religious life cannot be done with the mind alone; that is the biggest single impediment to spiritual becoming. (Bourgeault, n.d.)
We are prompted by the Spirit to surrender to the grace of God that invites us to live more fully in love.
References
Bourgeault, C. (n.d.). Daily Meditations — Center for Action and Contemplation. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved August 12, 2022, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/embodied-faith-2022-08-12/
Ezekiel, CHAPTER 16. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved August 12, 2022, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/ezekiel/16?1
Isaiah, CHAPTER 12. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved August 12, 2022, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/isaiah/12?2
Matthew, CHAPTER 19. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved August 12, 2022, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/19?3
Meditation on Ezekiel 16:1-15, 60, 63. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved August 12, 2022, from https://wau.org/meditations/2022/08/12/466920/
Schwager, D. (n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved August 12, 2022, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2022&date=aug12
Shirley, N. (2022, August 11). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Online Ministries. Retrieved August 12, 2022, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/081222.html
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