The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite contemplation of humility to helpreveal our place in life.
Humble Service
The reading from the Prophet Ezekiel is a vision of the Divine Glory returning to the Temple.
* [43:8] They placed their threshold against my threshold: in preexilic Jerusalem, the Temple and the palace belonged to the same complex of buildings; kings like Ahaz and Manasseh treated it as their private chapel for the religious practices Ezekiel condemns. In the new Israel the Temple is free, even spatially, from civil jurisdiction; cf. 45:7–8. This is an instance of Ezekiel’s broader program to separate the sacred from the secular.1
Psalm 85 is a prayer for the restoration of God’s favour.
* [Psalm 85] A national lament reminding God of past favors and forgiveness (Ps 85:2–4) and begging for forgiveness and grace now (Ps 85:5–8). A speaker represents the people who wait humbly with open hearts (Ps 85:9–10): God will be active on their behalf (Ps 85:11–13). The situation suggests the conditions of Judea during the early postexilic period, the fifth century B.C.; the thoughts are similar to those of postexilic prophets (Hg 1:5–11; 2:6–9).2
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus denounces the practices of Scribes and Pharisees.
* [23:5] To the charge of preaching but not practicing (Mt 23:3), Jesus adds that of acting in order to earn praise. The disciples have already been warned against this same fault (see note on Mt 6:1–18). Phylacteries: the Mosaic law required that during prayer small boxes containing parchments on which verses of scripture were written be worn on the left forearm and the forehead (see Ex 13:9, 16; Dt 6:8; 11:18). Tassels: see note on Mt 9:20. The widening of phylacteries and the lengthening of tassels were for the purpose of making these evidences of piety more noticeable.3
Larry Gillick, S.J. notes that Pope Pious XII, in 1954, dedicated a liturgical day to Mary being Queen of Heaven in recognition of her being Mother of Christ the King. We know from the Gospels that Mary was not much of a queen on earth. He reflects on the Gospel from today’s Memorial of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
So if you are kneeling, sit down. This is difficult to let in, to rearrange Mary’s place in our lives. Simply, yet again, dramatically, Mary, Assumed into Heaven, is believed to be the “Dispenser” of all graces! Mary then is the ever-living ever-giving of the lively activity of God’s presence, also known as Grace, to her motherly-loved family.
So Heaven, of which Mary is Queen, has to be the fullest experience of Grace, or the Divine Presence. Mary mothers us with the birth and milk and comfort of that Grace which her Son freed for us by His obedient death.
That is quite heavy, I know, and we pray to Our Father and to His Son and for the Holy Spirit, but Mary is not the decider, but dispenser, the fountain of the eternal abiding Presence which we call Grace. Why, you ask? For the answer, smile at your own why do you want to know! It might not be the way you would do it, but why not! Mary, who gave birth to the human race by giving flesh to the Infinite, now gives our human flesh the very participation in that same Infinite love. Her “yes” in today’s Gospel is the very center of her queenship. As Jesus was the Infinite “Yes!” to Who He was on earth, so Mary’s “yes” is who she is as Queen of Heaven.4
Don Schwager quotes “God is our father and teacher,” by Jerome (347-420 AD).
"No one should be called teacher or father except God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. He alone is the Father, because all things are from him. He alone is the teacher, because through him are made all things and through him all things are reconciled to God. But one might ask, 'Is it against this precept when the apostle calls himself the teacher of the Gentiles? Or when, as in colloquial speech widely found in the monasteries of Egypt and Palestine, they call each other Father?' Remember this distinction. It is one thing to be a father or a teacher by nature, another to be so by generosity. For when we call a man father and reserve the honor of his age, we may thereby be failing to honor the Author of our own lives. One is rightly called a teacher only from his association with the true Teacher. I repeat: The fact that we have one God and one Son of God through nature does not prevent others from being understood as sons of God by adoption. Similarly this does not make the terms father and teacher useless or prevent others from being called father."(excerpt from COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW)5
The Word Among Us Meditation on Ezekiel 43:1-7 notes that a few decades after Ezekiel uttered this prophecy, God did indeed return to his Temple. He didn’t abandon his people forever, nor was his heart ever far from them. As the Israelites repented of their sins and began to long for him, he answered them with his presence and blessing.
The same is true for you. You are a temple of the Holy Spirit. He will never abandon you. Even if you have sinned in a serious way and fear you have lost the grace of his presence, he is waiting to hear just your first words of repentance. He longs to come in glory into your heart. And his glory—his very life at the core of your life—has the power to purify you from idolatry, adultery, and defilement of every kind.
Oh, ask him in!
“Lord, come into my life today! Forgive me and cleanse me from everything that defiles me.”6
Friar Jude Winkler comments on Ezekiel’s prediction that the Temple would be rebuilt. The over scrupulous application of the Law laid heavy burdens on the people. Friar Jude suggests Jewish exaggeration is part of Jesus' context in discussing use of titles.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, comments that while we may not be able to control if or when we are taken into a period of Disorder, we can prepare ourselves for it—not by tightening up our mental security system, but by releasing our need for control. We can, in the words of James Finley, adopt “an inner stance that offers the least resistance to being overtaken by the God-given, godly nature of myself just the way I am.” Consider these suggestions from spiritual teacher Dr. Carolyn Baker.
During chaos,being present means that one is paying attention to what is happening in the moment. This does not mean forgetting about the past or future, but rather in the moment, fully attending to what is taking place right now. Being present also means being observant, listening carefully, not judging the situation or people in it, and being less occupied with thinking and more engaged in consciously being with whatever is occurring. It also means being embodied which does not mean that one must be aware of every body sensation at the time, but simply conscious of inhabiting one’s body. What is most useful in supporting that awareness is the breath. . . .
Breathing deeply assists us in centering ourselves in the physical body and staying in the moment as opposed to becoming lost in the mind, thereby disconnecting from our physicality.7
The humble “yes” of Mary (Luke 1:26-38) resonates with the humility Jesus teaches for His disciples as essential for our journey to full life and service of others.
References
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