The texts of the Roman Catholic Lectionary today present peace and prosperity as gifts of the Lord to His people. Friar Jude Winkler comments on the text from the Prophet Amos which tells of a restoration of fertility to the remnant of the Chosen People as they return to living in accord with the Will of God. This theme is an old and enduring message. The kind of full life which Amos pictures as the one crop being harvested at the same time as another is being planted prepares our imagination to understand the the praise of the psalmist for God Who speaks of peace to His people. Craig Zimmer is inspired by the dualism of old and new in the Gospel from Matthew to see that peace is certainly not the quality we can attribute to life for the oppressed and marginalized in all parts of the world. He asks about what individual Christians can do. Dr Ralph F Wilson explains the dialog between Jesus and the Pharisees in this Gospel as pointing to the tension between a radical message of support of God for sinners, disenfranchised, and the poor and the “externals” of religiosity which tend to concentrate on our adherence to rules of ritual observance. Friar Jude reminds us that we need to strain out some truth in the practices which might be too quickly dismissed. The use of fasting to accompany mourning and solidarity with suffering is particularly apt for Christians who communion with Jesus Passion. The traditional avoidance of mixing of foods, planted seeds and Gentile marriages in Jewish culture is a flag for us to seek to purify our actions in prayer or for peace by recollection of the Hebrew guideline, as Dr Wilson notes, to do mercy and love justice and walk humbly with our God.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment