Reason knows not

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to surrender to the invitation to experience our relationship with God and others in childlike humility and wonder.

Follow the child

The Prophet Isaiah declares the judgement of God on Assyria that is in opposition to the role Assyria claims for itself.

* [10:5–34] These verses contain a series of oracles directed against Assyria. Verses 5–15 portray Assyria as simply the rod God uses to punish Israel, though Assyria does not realize this. The original conclusion to this unit may be the judgment found in vv. 24–27a, which continues the imagery and motifs found in vv. 5–15. Verses 16–23, because of the quite different imagery and motifs, may originally have been an insertion directed against Aram and Israel at the time of the Syro-Ephraimite War.

In the Gospel from Matthew, Jesus praises the Father and acknowledges the openness of the childlike to His message.

* [11:25–27] This Q saying, identical with Lk 10:21–22 except for minor variations, introduces a joyous note into this section, so dominated by the theme of unbelief. While the wise and the learned, the scribes and Pharisees, have rejected Jesus’ preaching and the significance of his mighty deeds, the childlike have accepted them. Acceptance depends upon the Father’s revelation, but this is granted to those who are open to receive it and refused to the arrogant. Jesus can speak of all mysteries because he is the Son and there is perfect reciprocity of knowledge between him and the Father; what has been handed over to him is revealed only to those whom he wishes.

Luis Rodriguez, S.J. comments that Knowing about another is an intellectual process, while knowing another is more of an existential process. It is the way we know our parents and friends without studying them, but by living with them and interacting with them.

Pascal wrote that the heart has reasons reason knows not of. We know others through heart reasons and this is how Jesus challenges us to know him in a childlike way. Christology helps us to know about Jesus. Christianity helps us to know Jesus. Christology is for the experts. Christianity is for all, perhaps especially for those with childlike receptivity.

Don Schwager quotes Epiphanius the Latin (late 5th century) on truth revealed to babes.

"And he revealed these things to children. To which children? Not those who are children in age but to those who are children in respect to sin and wickedness. To them Jesus revealed how to seek the blessings of paradise and the things to come in the kingdom of heaven, because thus it was well pleasing before God that 'they should come from the east and the west and that they should lie down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; but that the sons of this worldly kingdom should be cast into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 8:11-12).'" (excerpt from INTERPRETATION OF THE GOSPELS 26)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Psalm 94:5-10, 14-15 is connected to the Psalm Response for today “The Lord will not abandon his people.”

“When I look back at my life and those times of crisis, I see that you have always been with me. When a sudden new medical condition made me feel vulnerable, you were with me. When I experienced a financial setback, you helped me through it. When I was grieving for a loved one, you wept with me. You were with me through it all. You carried me when I could not walk on my own. As I recount these times, I am filled with joy. You are an awesome God!

Friar Jude Winkler discusses Assyria as an instrument of God’s plan brought down by arrogance. The childlike are willing to learn be simple and to strip away bad habits and resentments to celebrate the small things. The praise of Jesus for the Father connects to our thanksgiving for the gift of children in our lives.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, chooses words of poet, peacemaker, minister, and scholar John Philip Newell to encourage us to think of the hubris of our lives.

Think of the hubris of our lives. Think of our individual arrogance, the way we pursue our own well-being at the neglect and even expense of [others]. . . . Think of the hubris of our nationhood, pretending that we could look after the safety of our homeland by ignoring and even violating the sovereignty of other lands. Think of the hubris of our religion, raising ourselves up over other wisdom traditions and even trying to force our ways on them. Think of the hubris of the human species, pretending that we could look after our own health while exploiting and endangering the life of other species. . . .

Jesus, who taught the strength of humility, referred to by Don Schwager as the the queen of virtues and by John Philip Newell as a quality of being close to the humus, (the Ground from which we and all things come). Following Jesus’ path of humility is not straightforward. Our experience is tension with the rationality of self serving arguments.

References

(n.d.). Isaiah, chapter 10 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved July 18, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/isaiah/10

(n.d.). Matthew 11:25. Retrieved July 18, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/matthew/matthew11.htm

(n.d.). Online Ministries Home Page - Creighton University. Retrieved July 18, 2018, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/preparing.html 

(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved July 18, 2018, from http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/ 

(n.d.). 15th Week in Ordinary Time - Mass Readings and Catholic Daily .... Retrieved July 18, 2018, from https://wau.org/meditations/

(2017, December 30). 2018 Daily Meditations - Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved July 18, 2018, from https://cac.org/2018-daily-meditations/