The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today, on the Memorial of Saint Thomas Aquinas challenge us to live our kinship with Jesus by following the Will of God as we encounter mystery and wisdom through contemplation.
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| Encounter Mystery and Wisdom in Will of God |
In the passage from the Second Book of Samuel, David brings the Ark to Jerusalem.
* [6:14] Girt with a linen ephod: the ephod was some sort of priestly vestment (probably like an apron); cf. Ex 28:4; Jgs 17:5; 1 Sm 2:18, 28; 14:3; 22:18; 23:6. The cultic procession that accompanies the ark to the holy mountain, Zion, is led by King David, dancing ecstatically and wearing a priestly vestment.1
In Psalm 24, a choir identifies the approaching God and invites the very Temple gates to bow down in obeisance.
* [Psalm 24] The Psalm apparently accompanied a ceremony of the entry of God (invisibly enthroned upon the ark), followed by the people, into the Temple. The Temple commemorated the creation of the world (Ps 24:1–2). The people had to affirm their fidelity before being admitted into the sanctuary (Ps 24:3–6; cf. Ps 15). A choir identifies the approaching God and invites the very Temple gates to bow down in obeisance (Ps 24:7–10).2
The Gospel of Mark declares who are the True Kindred of Jesus.
* [3:20–35] Within the narrative of the coming of Jesus’ relatives (Mk 3:20–21) is inserted the account of the unbelieving scribes from Jerusalem who attributed Jesus’ power over demons to Beelzebul (Mk 3:22–30); see note on Mk 5:21–43. There were those even among the relatives of Jesus who disbelieved and regarded Jesus as out of his mind (Mk 3:21). Against this background, Jesus is informed of the arrival of his mother and brothers [and sisters] (Mk 3:32). He responds by showing that not family ties but doing God’s will (Mk 3:35) is decisive in the kingdom; cf. note on Mt 12:46–50.3
Eileen Burke-Sullivan finds the readings from Second Samuel and the Gospel of Mark fit remarkably well with any meditation on Saint Thomas Aquinas’ life.
While Thomas is often honored for his work with the writings of other brilliant philosophical and theological scholars, true to his Dominican heritage, Thomas was completely enamored of the Scriptural word. Today’s Gospel from Mark places him squarely in the family of Jesus who announces that his mother and brothers and sisters are to be understood to be all those who hear the Will of God and do it with their whole hearts. In the Gospel of John, Jesus says that the Father’s Will is his Bread to eat, so those who live out God’s Will become Bread for the world in multiple ways. Thomas’s memorial neatly ties the readings together because Thomas’ offering of his gifts serves as bread or food for the intellect and the heart as David’s did in his sacrifice before the ark. The Angelic Doctor’s writings feed our understanding and our desire to hear and follow Jesus as Thomas himself did.4
Don Schwager quotes, “The cross of Christ as victory,” by Saint Augustine of Hippo, 430-543 A.D.
"[Mary] did the Father's will. It was this in her that the Lord magnified, not merely that her flesh gave birth to flesh... When he said, 'Blessed are they who hear the Word of God and keep it' (Luke 11:28), he was in effect saying: 'My mother whom you have called blessed is blessed for the reason that she keeps the Word of God, not that the Word was made flesh in her and dwelt among us (John 1:14), but that she keeps the very Word of God through which she was made and which was made flesh in her." (excerpt from TRACTATE ON JOHN 10.3.2)5
The Word Among Us Meditation on Mark 3:31-35 comments that Jesus took the occasion of his family’s interrupting him to show yet again how the kingdom of God changes everything. It even invites us to reconsider the meaning of family!
By his words, Jesus showed us that “family” isn’t restricted any more to relations by blood or adoption or marriage. “Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother,”6
Friar Jude Winkler adds detail to the journey of the Ark to Jerusalem, including the connection to Mary as the New Ark of the Covenant. The Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant traditions about Jesus brothers are different. Friar Jude explains why Matthew and Luke offer softer versions of the encounter of Jesus with his family.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, observes that the contemplative mind got in the way of definable goals for progress, science, and development, which were very good and necessary in their own way—but not for soul knowledge. We lost almost any notion of paradox, mystery, or the wisdom of “unsayability”, which are the open-ended qualities that make biblical faith so dynamic, creative, and nonviolent. Instead, we insisted on “knowing,” and even certain knowing all the time and every step of the way! This is no longer the enlightening path of Abraham, Moses, Mary, or Jesus but a rather late and utterly inadequate form of religion, which is probably why so many individuals, especially in the West, now say they are “spiritual but not religious.” I cannot fault them for that, though it sounds like the dualistic mind speaking.
We must remember that Christianity in its maturity is supremely love-centered, not information– or knowledge-centered. The primacy of love allows our knowing to be much humbler and more patient and helps us to recognize that other traditions—and other people—have much to teach us, and there is also much we can share with them. This stance of honest self-knowledge and deeper interiority, with the head (Scripture), the heart (Experience), and the body (Tradition) operating as one, is helping many to be more integrated and truthful about their own actual experience of God. 7
The contemplative non-dualistic mind opens us to the deep wisdom and mystery of the plan of God for our lives.
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