The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today resonate with our sense in these Covid days of a desire for restoration of our “normal” life.
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| Gathering as family |
The reading from the Prophet Hosea declares God’s compassion despite Israel’s ingratitude.
* [11:4] I drew them…with bands of love: perhaps a reversal of the yoke imagery of the previous chapter, i.e., not forcing them like draft animals, but drawing them with kindness and affection.1
Psalm 80 is a prayer for Israel’s restoration calling on God; “let your face shine, that we may be saved.”
* [Psalm 80] A community lament in time of military defeat. Using the familiar image of Israel as a vineyard, the people complain that God has broken down the wall protecting the once splendid vine brought from Egypt (Ps 80:9–14). They pray that God will again turn to them and use the Davidic king to lead them to victory (Ps 80:15–19).2
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus directs the Apostles to depend on Providence as they give what they have received.
* [10:8–11] The Twelve have received their own call and mission through God’s gift, and the benefits they confer are likewise to be given freely. They are not to take with them money, provisions, or unnecessary clothing; their lodging and food will be provided by those who receive them.3
Ronald Fussell notes, in today’s passage, Jesus makes it clear that the point of our journey is one of service. Jesus’s charge was no small task – curing the sick, raising the dead, cleansing lepers, and driving out demons must have appeared to the Apostles to be monumental tasks. What is required of this journey? Well, it is not material possessions and wealth, as Jesus states. Rather, it is a servant’s heart.
When I reflected on Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel passage, it led me to consider that which is important for this greater journey. After all, in a society and culture that is inclined toward the acquisition of things, it can be difficult to sharpen our focus on this much deeper purpose. Jesus charged his Apostles with the task of bringing their gifts to the service of others. In response, I invite us to consider – what talents do we have to share? And how will we bring our gifts to the service of the poor, marginalized, and those who need them most?4
Don Schwager quotes “The gift of power to reign with the Lord,” by Hilary of Poitiers (315-367 AD).
"All the power possessed by the Lord is bestowed upon the apostles! Those who were prefigured in the image and likeness of God in Adam have now received the perfect image and likeness of Christ. They have been given powers in no way different from those of the Lord. Those once earthbound now become heaven-centered. They will proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is at hand, that the image and likeness of God are now appropriated in the company of truth, so that all the holy ones who have been made heirs of heaven may reign with the Lord. Let them cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers and cast out devils. Whatever impairment Adam's body had incurred from being goaded on by Satan, let the apostles wipe away through their sharing in the Lord's power. And that they may fully obtain the likeness of God according to the prophecy in Genesis, they are ordered to give freely what they freely have received (Matthew 10:8). Thus a gift freely bestowed should be freely dispensed." (excerpt from commentary ON MATTHEW 10.4)5
Friar Jude Winkler shows how the familial relationship with Gomer, his unfaithful wife, is extended to the image of God treating Israel as a child. God seeks to destroy the poison of sin as He invites us to healing. Friar Jude underlines the role of Providence in the mission of peace of the Apostles.
Brian McLaren, a member of the CAC Living School faculty, reminds us why it matters that we pay attention to our health, not only physically but spiritually and ethically as well. This is an opportunity for us to become enlightened about some other viruses that have been spreading and causing even greater damage, without being acknowledged: social and spiritual viruses that spread among us from individual to individual, from generation to generation, and are not named. We don’t organize against them, and so they continue to spread and cause all kinds of sickness [and death]. Social and spiritual viruses like racism, white supremacy, human supremacy, Christian supremacy, any kind of hostility that is spread, based on prejudice and fear.
What would happen if we said, as passionate as we are about being tested for coronavirus, we all wanted to test ourselves for these social and spiritual viruses that could be lurking inside of us? And then, when I come into your presence, I, in some way, inflict this virus on you. I make you suffer. What an awesome opportunity for us to say and begin to pray that we would be healed and cleansed, not just of a physical virus, but of these other invisible viruses that are such a huge and devastating part of human history. . . .6
Times of widespread action to sustain life in a pandemic are opportunities to seek restoration of the relationship of love and generosity between humans that is in accord with the Will of God.
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