From Lebanon Matthew and Merton to the Spirit of conversion

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today point to sources of hope in the triumph of beauty and truth through living in the Spirit.

Beauty and truth

The Prophet Hosea uses images from Lebanon to inspire the people of Israel to sincere conversion and new life.

* [14:4] These good intentions promise a reversal of Israel’s sins: no more reliance on “Assyria,” i.e., on foreign alliances (see notes on 8:9 and 12:2), on “horses,” i.e., on human power (10:13), and on idolatry (8:4–6; 13:2). Israel will trust in the Lord alone.

In the Gospel from Matthew, Jesus recognizes the persecution that comes from those who reject the message of New Life and he promises the Holy Spirit as our strength.

* [10:17] The persecutions attendant upon the post-resurrection mission now begin to be spoken of. Here Matthew brings into the discourse sayings found in Mk 13 which deals with events preceding the parousia.

Eli Rosencruft offers some background to the prominent role of Lebanon in the glorious beauty described in the Hosea text today.

The Holy Spirit in Matthew 10 is discussed by John Piper, founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary.

If you think you can know the Bible well enough, and know the world well enough, to take away your anxiety, you nullify this promise. The whole point is that what is needed in this moment is beyond you. You need the Holy Spirit. Jesus promises he will be there. So live with him day by day. And when the hour of trial comes, he will be there to give you what you need. It is an amazing and precious experience. Come, enjoy it.

John Shea, S.J. often wishes for a script as the perfect reply to a difficult scenario or the comforting response to an impossible situation.

I will never have an adequate response to the profound tragedies life brings. So I find solace in the words of Jesus: “do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say. You will be given at that moment what you are to say. For it will not be you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.”

Don Schwager quotes Augustine of Hippo (354-430 AD) on the Spirit of our heavenly Father speaking through us in every age.

"To be sure, we heard in that reading, 'But when they deliver you up, do not be anxious how or what you are to speak... for it is not you who are speaking but the Spirit of your Father who speaks through you.' And he says in another place: 'Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the world' (Matthew 28:20). Does this mean that the people who heard those words of the Lord would be here until the end of the world? The Lord was referring, rather, not only to those about to depart from this life but also to the others, including us and those who would come after us in this life. He saw everyone in his single body, and the words he spoke, 'I am with you even to the end of the world,' were heard by them and by us too. And if we did not hear them then in our knowledge, we heard them in his foreknowledge. Therefore, safe as sheep among the wolves, let us keep the commandments of him who directs us. And let us be 'innocent as doves but cautious as snakes' (Matthew 10:16). Innocent as doves that we may not harm anyone; cautious as snakes that we may be careful of letting anyone harm us." (excerpt from the  Sermon 44a.2)

Gregory Hillis reviews Thomas Merton's understanding of nonviolence that comes with extraordinary demands.

"Christ brought to His disciples a vocation and a task," Merton writes, "to struggle in the world of violence to establish His peace not only in their own hearts but in society itself." Merton insists that, not only must nonviolent resisters be unwilling to use power in any way to vanquish the adversary given his dignity and worth, and given our call to unity with him, but the nonviolent resister must enter into the kind of dialogue with the adversary in such a way as to be open to learning from and being transformed by him.

The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 10:16-23 suggests that we try to look at “being sent” from a different angle.

So keep on speaking words of hope and performing deeds of kindness. But also rest in the knowledge that it’s not only about you. It’s also about the One who sends you, the God who has sealed you with his grace. He knows about your smudges and bent corners, and he’s sending you anyway because he trusts in the power of the stamp he has affixed to your life.

Friar Jude Winkler considers the message of Hosea to the vassal state of the northern kingdom to return to the Lord and He will restore you. The problem of sin is that we turn our back on God’s mercy. The political situation for Matthew was that a council of rabbis expelled the Christians from synagogues a decade before the Gospel was written. If they persecute you  they cannot stop the message.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, refers to work of Wes Granberg-Michaelson on “From Mysticism to Politics,”and “Politics and Religion,” for a glimpse of creation’s purpose and a glimmering of the Spirit’s movement amid the world’s present pain, brokenness, and despair.

Transformative change in politics depends so much on having a clear view of the desired end. Where does that vision come from? Possibilities may be offered by various ideologies, or party platforms, or political candidates. But, for the person of faith, that vision finds its roots in God’s intended and preferred future for the world. It comes not as a dogmatic blueprint but as an experiential encounter with God’s love, flowing like a river from God’s throne, nourishing trees with leaves for the healing of the nations (see Revelation 22:1-2). This biblically infused vision, resonant from Genesis to Revelation, pictures a world made whole, with people living in a beloved community, where no one is despised or forgotten, peace reigns, and the goodness of God’s creation is treasured and protected as a gift.

The necessary detachment from this ugly and injurious present political climate depends upon our inner attachment to the mystery of God’s unbounded grace and divine, creative love. That is the foundation from which we can witness to truth, nurture community, and build essential bonds of solidarity with those who suffer. More than ever, politics which offers redemptive hope will begin with mysticism.

References


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