The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite meditation on rejection that we may have pronounced or received perhaps through revisiting the situation with “Ignatian imagination.”
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| Persevere in rejection |
The reading from the Prophet Jeremiah describes his prophecies in the Temple.
* [26:1] The beginning of the reign: a technical expression for the time between a king’s accession to the throne and the beginning of his first official (calendar) year as king. Jehoiakim’s first regnal year was 608 B.C.1
Psalm 69 is a prayer for deliverance from persecution.
* [69:10] Zeal for your house has consumed me: the psalmist’s commitment to God’s cause brings only opposition, cf. Jn 2:17. I am scorned by those who scorn you: Rom 15:3 uses the verse as an example of Jesus’ unselfishness.2
In the Gospel of Matthew we learn of the rejection of Jesus at Nazareth.
* [13:54–58] After the Sermon on the Mount the crowds are in admiring astonishment at Jesus’ teaching (Mt 7:28); here the astonishment is of those who take offense at him. Familiarity with his background and family leads them to regard him as pretentious. Matthew modifies his Marcan source (Mt 6:1–6). Jesus is not the carpenter but the carpenter’s son (Mt 13:55), “and among his own kin” is omitted (Mt 13:57), he did not work many mighty deeds in face of such unbelief (Mt 13:58) rather than the Marcan “…he was not able to perform any mighty deed there” (Mt 6:5), and there is no mention of his amazement at his townspeople’s lack of faith.3
Nicky Santos, S.J. reflects that they (the people of Nazareth) were stuck, as we can be often, in preconceived notions of the ordinary. Today, we celebrate the feast of Saint Ignatius of Loyola ... At the core of Ignatian Spirituality is the idea of finding God in all things.
What this implies is that even the most mundane and ordinary of things can be infused with the presence and activity of God. As we celebrate the feast of Saint Ignatius, let us seek to find God in the ordinary moments of our lives, in the routine chores that we do, the relationships we have etc.4
Don Schwager quotes “Few miracles done because of their unbelief,” by Origen of Alexandria (185-254 AD).
"It seems to me that the production of miracles is similar in some ways to the case of physical things. Cultivation is not sufficient to produce a harvest of fruits unless the soil, or rather the atmosphere, cooperates to this end. And the atmosphere of itself is not sufficient to produce a harvest without cultivation. The one who providentially orders creation did not design things to spring up from the earth without cultivation. Only in the first instance did he do so when he said, 'Let the earth bring forth vegetation, with the seed sowing according to its kind and according to its likeness' (Genesis 1:11). It is just this way in regard to the production of miracles. The complete work resulting in a healing is not displayed without those being healed exercising faith. Faith, of whatever quality it might be, does not produce a healing without divine power.' (excerpt from the COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 10.19)5
The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 13:54-58 comments that we may struggle with disappointment or weariness as we try to follow the Lord. Or we may forget that we need him when things are going smoothly. In both situations, we miss the power and peace that Jesus wants to give us. But how can we tap into the source of Jesus’ perseverance and follow in his footsteps?
One thing is for certain: Jesus didn’t just push through on his own strength. Even he had to rely on his Father. He said it himself: “A son cannot do anything on his own, but only what he sees his father doing” (John 5:19). So our first step is to learn to rely on the strength and wisdom that come from God. This means turning to him in daily prayer and in the course of our day. It means being real with God and telling him when we are tempted to give up or when we don’t understand situations in our lives. It means asking for help and guidance when we need it—and even when we think we don’t.6
Friar Jude Winkler connects the prophecy of Jeremiah concerning the Temple to the life experience of the prophet. Three views, Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant, are given of Jesus ' brothers and sisters. Friar Jude reminds us to see the awe and wonder of God in the people around us.
A post by Franciscan Media on Saint Ignatius of Loyola comments Ignatius was a true mystic. He centered his spiritual life on the essential foundations of Christianity—the Trinity, Christ, the Eucharist. His spirituality is expressed in the Jesuit motto, Ad majorem Dei gloriam—“for the greater glory of God.”
Luther nailed his theses to the church door at Wittenberg in 1517. Seventeen years later, Ignatius of Loyola founded the Society that was to play so prominent a part in the Catholic Reformation. He was an implacable foe of Protestantism. Yet the seeds of ecumenism may be found in his words: “Great care must be taken to show forth orthodox truth in such a way that if any heretics happen to be present they may have an example of charity and Christian moderation. No hard words should be used nor any sort of contempt for their errors be shown.” One of the greatest ecumenists was the 20th-century German Jesuit, Cardinal Augustin Bea.7
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, reflects that today many think we can achieve peace through violence. The myth that violence solves problems is part of the way we think and is in direct opposition to all great religious teachings. Our need for immediate control leads us to disconnect the consistency, connection, and unity between means and ends. We even named a missile created for the destruction of humanity a “peacekeeper.” But such peace is a false peace, the Pax Romana of mutually assured destruction (MAD). We must wait and work for the Pax Christi of mutually assured forgiveness. In his 1967 address to the anti-war group Clergy and Laity Concerned, Martin Luther King, Jr. said:
When I speak of love I am not speaking of some sentimental and weak response. I am speaking of that force which all of the great religions have seen as the supreme unifying principle of life. Love is somehow the key that unlocks the door which leads to ultimate reality. This Hindu-Moslem-Christian-Jewish-Buddhist belief about ultimate reality is beautifully summed up in the first epistle of Saint John: “Let us love one another; for love is God and everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God” [1 John 4:7].8
The lives of Ignatius of Loyola and Martin Luther King, Jr. remind us that perseverance in rejection is Jesus' experience and our heritage as His disciples.
References
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