The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to invite the enlightenment of the Spirit as we contemplate the nature of righteousness in our journey.
The reading from the Second Letter of Paul to Corinthians shares God’s indescribable Gift and the harvest of our righteousness.
* [9:8–10] The behavior to which he exhorts them is grounded in God’s own pattern of behavior. God is capable of overwhelming generosity, as scripture itself attests (2 Cor 9:9), so that they need not fear being short. He will provide in abundance, both supplying their natural needs and increasing their righteousness. Paul challenges them to godlike generosity and reminds them of the fundamental motive for encouragement: God himself cannot be outdone. (2 Corinthians, CHAPTER 9, n.d.)
Psalm 112 praises the blessings of the righteous.
* [Psalm 112] An acrostic poem detailing the blessings received by those who remain close to God by obedience to the commandments. Among their blessings are children (Ps 112:2), wealth that enables them to be magnanimous (Ps 112:3, 5, 9), and virtue by which they encourage others (Ps 112:4). The just person is an affront to the wicked, whose hopes remain unfulfilled (Ps 112:10). The logic resembles Ps 1; 111. (Psalms, PSALM 112, n.d.)
In the Sermon on the Mount, in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus teaches concerning Almsgiving, Prayer, and Fasting.
* [6:1–18] The sermon continues with a warning against doing good in order to be seen and gives three examples, almsgiving (Mt 6:2–4), prayer (Mt 6:5–15), and fasting (Mt 6:16–18). In each, the conduct of the hypocrites (Mt 6:2) is contrasted with that demanded of the disciples. The sayings about reward found here and elsewhere (Mt 5:12, 46; 10:41–42) show that this is a genuine element of Christian moral exhortation. Possibly to underline the difference between the Christian idea of reward and that of the hypocrites, the evangelist uses two different Greek verbs to express the rewarding of the disciples and that of the hypocrites; in the latter case it is the verb apechÅ, a commercial term for giving a receipt for what has been paid in full (Mt 6:2, 5, 16). (Matthew, CHAPTER 6, n.d.)
David Crawford likes the Message translation’s treatment of our Gospel reading, which repeatedly emphasizes the importance of “quietly and unobtrusively” engaging in charity, prayer and fasting, all the while resisting the temptation to “make a production” out of what we do.
When I stop to think about it – and I too often have to stop and think about it – all of these practices are very, very good for us individually. Charity, as our first reading from the Apostle Paul points out, enriches us “in every way for all generosity, which through us produces thanksgiving to God.” When we “practice some appetite-denying discipline” (as the Message describes fasting), we can “better concentrate on God.” Prayer I saved for last. Think how wonderful is the type of private, secluded, intimate encounter with God that Jesus directed. No one else is listening, so you can reveal your deepest fears, your most unpleasant thoughts, your most embarrassing actions. You don’t have to say anything because the Holy Spirit already knows what you ought to pray and intercedes for you (Romans 8:26-27). Then, and this is my favorite part (from the Message), “the focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense His grace.” How great is that?
May all you do be filled with love and be done for the greater glory of God. (Crawford, 2023)
Don Schwager quotes “Pray with the angels,” by John Chrysostom, 547-407 A.D.
"When you pray, it is as if you were entering into a palace - not a palace on earth, but far more awesome, a palace in heaven. When you enter there, you do so with complete attentiveness and fitting respect. For in the houses of kings all turmoil is set aside, and silence reigns. Yet here you are being joined by choirs of angels. You are in communion with archangels and singing with the seraphim, who sing with great awe their spiritual hymns and sacred songs to God, the Lord of all. So when you are praying, mingle with these voices, patterning yourself according to their mystical order. It is not to human beings that you are praying but to God, who is present everywhere, who hears even before you speak and who knows already the secrets of the heart. If you pray to this One, you shall receive a great reward. 'For your Father who sees in secret shall reward you openly.' He did not merely say he would give it to you but reward you, as if he himself had made a pledge to you and so honored you with a great honor. Because God himself is hidden, your prayer should be hidden." (excerpt from THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 19.3) (Schwager, n.d.)
The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18 comments that Jesus promised his disciples that God would “repay” them for their acts of faith (Matthew 6:4, 6, 18). But he wasn’t describing a worldly transaction.
The next time you turn to the Lord in prayer, pass up a dessert, or donate to your favorite charity, remember why you are doing these things. It’s not to make yourself more worthy of God’s love. Neither is it to make people think more highly of you. You are doing these things because you are a child of your heavenly Father. Today in prayer, thank your heavenly Father for inviting you into a relationship with him. Then let him “repay” you with his love, mercy, and grace.
“Jesus, thank you for revealing that God is my Father.” (Meditation on Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18, n.d.)
Fr Jack Mahoney SJ, Emeritus Professor of Moral and Social Theology in London University and a former Principal of Heythrop College, University of London, asks what value we might find in historical and more modern attempts to interpret and live up to the values set forth in this important passage in Matthew’s Gospel.
A final observation is worth making about living the Sermon on the Mount. Aquinas, and many moralists following him, held that the Ten Commandments given to Israel through Moses by divine revelation are equally attainable to human reason as any other moral framework.[11] Similarly, it can be argued that Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount is eminently reasonable – that is, like the Decalogue it can be divested of its ‘supernatural’ context to still be presented as human ethics with some plausibility and attractiveness. However, ‘secularising’ the Ten Commandments tears them out of their supernatural context as ‘the book of the covenant’ (Ex 24:7) which God offered his chosen people and results in an enormous impoverishment of their purpose and role in the lives of believers. Likewise, ‘rationalising’ the Sermon on the Mount divorces it from its theological context in Matthew’s Gospel, which we saw earlier, and disregards its purpose as being the demanding yet grace-bearing code of life for the followers of Jesus as they enter into God’s kingdom and live his new covenant with his new chosen people. Christian morality must be understood as part of an embracing love of God as well as of neighbour. Both the Decalogue and Sermon on the Mount begin with the gift of God and his covenant, and sketch the response of members of the chosen people, the ancient and then the new Israel, as they attempt to live with God’s gift and grace in their lives. (Mahoney, 2011)
Friar Jude Winkler comments on the exhortation of Paul that we should give as much as we can with a sense of joy and the generosity and gratitude we find in God. After the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE, rabbis advised prayer, fasting, and almsgiving to replace Temple sacrifice to reconcile sin. Friar Jude reflects that we respond “yes” to the question of prayer in private or in public as witness to others.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, comments that the Hebrew prophets do not hesitate to criticize their religious tradition, even while loving it. Father Richard shows how they help us to incorporate the shadow side of reality.
The presumption for most people is that if we criticize something, then it means we don’t love it. Wise people like the prophets would say the opposite. The Church’s sanctification of the status quo reveals that we have not been formed by the prophets, who were radical precisely because they were traditionalists. Institutions always want loyalists and “company men”; we don’t want prophets. We don’t want people who point out our shadow side. It is no accident that the prophets and the priests are usually in opposition to one another (see Amos 5:21–6:7, 7:10–17). I think it is fair to say that the prophetic charism was repressed in almost all Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant Christianity. None of us have been known for criticizing ourselves. We only criticize one another, sinners, and heretics—who were always elsewhere! Yet Paul says the prophetic gift is the second most important charism for building up of the Gospel (1 Corinthians 12:28; Ephesians 4:11). [1] (Rohr, 2023)
We are invited by the Spirit to discover our relationship with the Father and Jesus in our daily practice of generosity and love.
References
Crawford, D. (2023, June 21). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Online Ministries. Retrieved June 21, 2023, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/062123.html
Mahoney, J. (2011, July 20). Living the Sermon on the Mount. Thinking Faith. Retrieved June 21, 2023, from https://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20110720_1.htm
Matthew, CHAPTER 6. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved June 21, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/6?1
Meditation on Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved June 21, 2023, from https://wau.org/meditations/2023/06/21/712606/
Psalms, PSALM 112. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved June 21, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/112?1
Rohr, R. (2023, June 21). Self-Critical Thinking — Center for Action and Contemplation. Daily Meditations Archive: 2023. Retrieved June 21, 2023, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/self-critical-thinking-2023-06-21/
Schwager, D. (n.d.). When You Pray, Fast, and Give Alms. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved June 21, 2023, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2023&date=jun21
2 Corinthians, CHAPTER 9. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved June 21, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/2corinthians/9?6
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