The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today remind us that the celebrations of our community that mark milestones in our journey are occasions to witness with gratitude, the Presence of God in our stories.
The reading from Leviticus identifies appointed festivals and offering of First Fruits to God.
Psalm 81 is God’s appeal to stubborn Israel.
The Gospel of Matthew describes 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 (Mk 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. (Matthew, CHAPTER 13, n.d.)
Larry Gillick, S.J., at Creighton University, finds something similar to Jesus' experience at His home town of Nazareth.
In our class wherein the students are guided as they experience the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, these students are invited to allow Jesus, God, prayer, virtue and faith to be something different, something less controllable. Faith can be for them frightening, because faith is not confining, but relational and unpredictable. As with the town folk, they want authority to tell them. Jesus desires a relationship with these Senior students and us as well, to be available to mystery, uncertainty and doubt, not to be clung to, but a stance from which to be invited, assured and guided. Jesus was inviting His former neighbors to be trusting in faith and they just couldn’t do it, so He just couldn’t do the “Mighty Deeds” about which they had heard. He was just too different, too personal and too new. (Gillick, 2023)
Don Schwager presents a meditation on “They Took Offense at Jesus.” Few miracles were 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) (Schwager, n.d.)
The Word Among Us Meditation on Leviticus 23:1, 4-11, 15-16, 27, 34-37 comments that celebrations encourage us to keep our attention fixed on what truly matters. Just look at this month, for instance. We celebrate the Transfiguration of the Lord on August 6 and the Assumption of Mary on August 15. We have the feasts of St. Lawrence, St. Bartholomew, and the Passion of John the Baptist (August 10, 24, and 29). And there are memorials of other saints on almost every other day of the month!
We have plenty to commemorate. So let’s pay a little more attention to these dates. If there are children in your life, talk to them about what makes these feasts special. Maybe even read a scriptural account of the event or a short biography of the saint. Set aside some extra time for prayer or make a fancy dessert. Celebrate! And remember God’s goodness and faithfulness to you and to the whole Church.
“Heavenly Father, thank you for giving me the chance to recall and celebrate your faithfulness throughout the year!” (Meditation on Leviticus 23:1, 4-11, 15-16, 27, 34-37, n.d.)
Franciscan Media comments that his work as a confessor is John Vianney’s most remarkable accomplishment. In the winter months he was to spend 11 to 12 hours daily reconciling people with God. In the summer months this time was increased to 16 hours. Unless a man was dedicated to his vision of a priestly vocation, he could not have endured this giving of self day after day.
Indifference toward religion, coupled with a love for material comfort, seem to be common signs of our times. A person from another planet observing us would not likely judge us to be pilgrim people, on our way to somewhere else. John Vianney on the other hand, was a man on a journey, with his goal before him at all times. (Saint John Vianney, n.d.)
Friar Jude Winkler reviews the Feasts and Festivals in the Jewish calendar as described in Leviticus. “Who does He think He is?” was the accusation applied to Jesus by the people of his hometown. Friar Jude observes the different interpretations of the brothers and sisters of Jesus among Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant believers.
James Finley comments on our questions: “How can I learn, Lord? How can I learn to be free from the tyranny of fear in the midst of my fears? How can I learn to be free from the tyranny of my brokenness in the midst of my brokenness?”
God is the presence that spares us from nothing, even as God unexplainably sustains us in all things. God depends on us to protect ourselves and each other, to be nurturing, loving, protective people. When suffering is there, God depends on us to reach out and touch the suffering with love that it might dissolve in love.
But here’s the thing: To be present to suffering and to touch the suffering with love, that it might dissolve in love, means to be grounded in the peace that is not dependent on the outcome of the effort because, regardless of how it turns out, God is unexplainably taking us to God, breath by breath, moment by moment. That’s mystical nonviolence. (Finley, 2023)
We may tend to look beyond today and the people we encounter in the present as vehicles of faith, hope, and love in our community and relationship with God.
References
Finley, J. (2023, June 13). Mystical Nonviolence. CAC Daily Meditations 2023. Retrieved August 4, 2023, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/mystical-nonviolence-2023-08-04/
Gillick, L. (2023, August 4). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Online Ministries. Retrieved August 4, 2023, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/080423.html
Matthew, CHAPTER 13. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved August 4, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/13?
Meditation on Leviticus 23:1, 4-11, 15-16, 27, 34-37. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved August 4, 2023, from https://wau.org/meditations/2023/08/04/749094/
Saint John Vianney. (n.d.). Franciscan Media. Retrieved August 4, 2023, from https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-john-vianney/
Schwager, D. (n.d.). They Took Offense at Jesus. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved August 4, 2023, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2023&date=aug4
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