The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to assess the path we are travelling in comparison to the Way of Jesus.
Assess the Road
The reading from the Book of Genesis describes the separation of Abram and Lot.
* [13:2–18] In this story of Abraham and Lot going their separate ways, Abraham resolves a family dispute by an act that shows both trust in God and generosity toward his nephew. The story suggests Lot rather than Abraham is the natural choice to be the ancestor of a great family; he is young and he takes the most fertile land (outside the land of Canaan). In contrast to Lot, who lifts his eyes to choose for himself (vv. 10–11), Abraham waits for God to tell him to lift his eyes and see the land he will receive (v. 14). Chaps. 18–19 continue the story of Abraham and Lot. Abraham’s visionary possession of the land foreshadows that of Moses (Dt 3:27; 34:4).1
Psalm 15 asks Who Shall Abide in God’s Sanctuary?
* [Psalm 15] The Psalm records a liturgical scrutiny at the entrance to the Temple court (cf. Ps 24:3–6; Is 33:14b–16). The Israelite wishing to be admitted had to ask the Temple official what conduct was appropriate to God’s precincts. Note the emphasis on virtues relating to one’s neighbor.2
In the Sermon of the Mount from the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus shares wisdom about profaning the Holy, the Golden Rule and the Narrow Gate.
* [7:6] Dogs and swine were Jewish terms of contempt for Gentiles. This saying may originally have derived from a Jewish Christian community opposed to preaching the gospel (what is holy, pearls) to Gentiles. In the light of Mt 28:19 that can hardly be Matthew’s meaning. He may have taken the saying as applying to a Christian dealing with an obstinately impenitent fellow Christian (Mt 18:17). * [7:12] See Lk 6:31. This saying, known since the eighteenth century as the “Golden Rule,” is found in both positive and negative form in pagan and Jewish sources, both earlier and later than the gospel. This is the law and the prophets is an addition probably due to the evangelist.3
Eileen Wirth meditates on Jesus’ admonition to do to others what we would have them do to us. She thinks the contrary also applies. We need to let others do for us what we would happily do for them. Jesus is telling us to mutually support each other. And that’s harder than it seems.
Ironically, when we deprive others of the joy of giving, we risk falling into the traps of martyrdom and victimhood that lead to resentment and guilt feelings. You can tell that I speak from experience! Above all, Jesus wants us to form healthy relationships with others. We need to play the roles of giver and receiver with equal comfort and ease. We believe that when we give, we receive, but in receiving, we give others the chance to give.4
Don Schwager quotes “Unreadiness to receive Godly teaching,” by Augustine of Hippo, 430-543 A.D.
"Now in this precept we are forbidden to give a holy thing to dogs or to cast pearls before swine. We must diligently seek to determine the gravity of these words: holy, pearls, dogs and swine. A holy thing is whatever it would be impious to profane or tear apart. Even a fruitless attempt to do so makes one already guilty of such impiety, though the holy thing may by its very nature remain inviolable and indestructible. Pearls signify all spiritual things that are worthy of being highly prized. Because these things lie hidden in secret, it is as though they were being drawn up from the deep. Because they are found in the wrappings of allegories, it is as though they were contained within shells that have been opened.(1) It is clear therefore that one and the same thing can be called both a holy thing and a pearl. It can be called a holy thing because it ought not to be destroyed and a pearl because it ought not to be despised. One tries to destroy what one does not wish to leave intact. One despises what is deemed worthless, as if beneath him. Hence, whatever is despised is said to be trampled under foot... Thus we may rightly understand that these words (dogs and swine) are now used to designate respectively those who assail the truth and those who resist it." (excerpt from SERMON ON THE MOUNT 2.20.68-69)5
The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 7:6, 12-14 comments on the narrow gate! It’s tighter than the gap between the do’s and don’ts of the Ten Commandments.
The Holy Spirit is no magician who waves a wand and gets you through the gate automatically. Neither does the Spirit instantaneously infuse you with all the wisdom, knowledge, and willingness you need to navigate the narrow passages of life. No, he wants to form your mind as you ponder the word of God and the teachings of the Church. He wants to soften your heart as you sit with him in prayer and worship him in the sacraments. He wants to teach you how to hear him, through thoughts or ideas he plants in your mind or through the word and examples of trusted friends. He wants to show you the way of humble obedience—the way through the narrow gate!6
Friar Jude Winkler notes the contrast between Abram and Lot in generosity and respect for tradition. Generosity will be blessed and selfishness will be punished. The wisdom sayings in Matthew remind us that some people are not capable of hearing without the gift of faith and conversion. Friar Jude remembers Jewish rabbi, Hillel, speaking of the entire Law of Israel.
A post from Franciscan Media relates Saint Thomas More’s story and his belief that no lay ruler has jurisdiction over the Church of Christ. It cost Thomas More his life.
Four hundred years later in 1935, Thomas More was canonized a saint of God. Few saints are more relevant to our time. In the year 2000, in fact, Pope John Paul II named him patron of political leaders. The supreme diplomat and counselor, he did not compromise his own moral values in order to please the king, knowing that true allegiance to authority is not blind acceptance of everything that authority wants. King Henry himself realized this and tried desperately to win his chancellor to his side because he knew More was a man whose approval counted, a man whose personal integrity no one questioned. But when Thomas More resigned as chancellor, unable to approve the two matters that meant most to Henry, the king had to get rid of him.7
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, comments that the Christian tradition of spiritual direction can find its origin in Jesus’ own way of relating to his disciples and the many who sought him out for healing and instruction. Jeannette Bakke emphasizes Jesus’ own intimacy with God as the source of his authority that he encourages others to rely on as well.
When he was speaking to groups, Jesus often told stories—parables—to invite people to listen to and respond to God. He used parables to catch people’s attention and to illustrate and clarify the nature of the kingdom of God. His audiences would have been startled by stories of a Samaritan hero (Luke 10:25–37), a justified tax collector (Luke 18:9–14), or a father running to welcome his prodigal son (Luke 15:20). These stories said, “Look, this is what God is like.” Jesus used these stories to offer spiritual direction by challenging people to look more closely at what they believed and why, what their own experience of God was and how they interpreted their experiences with God. This is the essence of spiritual direction—encouraging people to listen to and follow God.8
The Holy Spirit prompts us to choose the narrow road to joy and peace.
References
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