Domestic Blessing

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to contemplate the fullness of life and blessings we experience through love of those close to us.

Blessings around the table

The reading from the Book of Genesis declares ‘It is not good that the man should be alone;’

* [2:24] One body: lit., “one flesh.” The covenant of marriage establishes kinship bonds of the first rank between the partners.1

 

Psalm 128 gives thanks for the happy home of the faithful.

* [Psalm 128] A statement that the ever-reliable God will bless the reverent (Ps 128:1). God’s blessing is concrete: satisfaction and prosperity, a fertile spouse and abundant children (Ps 128:2–4). The perspective is that of the adult male, ordinarily the ruler and representative of the household to the community. The last verses extend the blessing to all the people for generations to come (Ps 128:5–6).2 

The reading from the Letter to the Hebrews teaches Jesus Exaltation through Abasement.

* [2:5–18] The humanity and the suffering of Jesus do not constitute a valid reason for relinquishing the Christian faith. Hebrews applies this christologically: Jesus lived a truly human existence, lower than the angels, in the days of his earthly life, particularly in his suffering and death; now, crowned with glory and honor, he is raised above all creation. The author considers all things as already subject to him because of his exaltation (Heb 2:8–9), though we do not see this yet. The reference to Jesus as leader (Heb 2:10) sounds the first note of an important leitmotif in Hebrews: the journey of the people of God to the sabbath rest (Heb 4:9), the heavenly sanctuary, following Jesus, their “forerunner” (Heb 6:20). It was fitting that God should make him perfect through suffering, consecrated by obedient suffering. 3 

In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus teaches about marriage and divorce and He blesses little children.

* [10:2–9] In the dialogue between Jesus and the Pharisees on the subject of divorce, Jesus declares that the law of Moses permitted divorce (Dt 24:1) only because of the hardness of your hearts (Mk 10:4–5). In citing Gn 1:27 and 2:24 Jesus proclaims permanence to be the divine intent from the beginning concerning human marriage (Mk 10:6–8). He reaffirms this with the declaration that what God has joined together, no human being must separate (Mk 10:9). See further the notes on Mt 5:31–32; 19:3–9.4 

Nicky Santos, S.J. comments that at first glance, today’s gospel reading appears to be about marriage, divorce, and adultery. However, when one considers the sections that follow in chapter 10, the focus seems to be on discipleship.

The invitation to the disciples is to move from a legalistic mindset to one that accepts the kingdom of God like a child (verses 13-16). Further, true discipleship entails being detached from all possessions including attachment to self so as to allow God’s grace to flow through (verses 17-31). But the disciple who has given up all for the sake of the gospel will receive a hundred fold in this life and eternal life in the age to come (verses 29-30)... I wonder what it will be like if we have this childlike disposition at every waking moment of our lives, in all our relationships, whether of marriage or of friendship.5 

Don Schwager quotes “Mutual servants, equally serving,” by Tertullian, 160-225 A.D.

"Where are we to find language adequately to express the happiness of that marriage which the church cements, the oblation confirms, the benediction signs and seals, the angels celebrate, and the Father holds as approved? For all around the earth young people do not rightly and lawfully wed without their parents' consent. What kind of yoke is that of two believers who share one hope, one desire, one discipline, one service (Ephesians 4:4)? They enjoy kinship in spirit and in flesh. They are mutual servants with no discrepancy of interests. Truly they are 'two in one flesh' (Genesis 2:24; Matthew 19:5; Ephesians 5:31). Where the flesh is one, the spirit is one as well. Together they pray, together bow down, together perform their fasts, mutually teaching, mutually entreating, mutually upholding. In the church of God they hold an equal place (Romans 12:15; 15:6; Galatians 3:28; 1 Corinthians 12:12). They stand equally at the banquet of God, equally in crises, equally facing persecutions, and equally in refreshments. Neither hides anything from the other. Neither neglects the other. Neither is troublesome to the other (Philippians 1:27). (excerpt from TO HIS WIFE 2.8)8

 

The Word Among Us Meditation on Mark 10:2-16 comments that it’s natural to think small and want specifics: what’s allowed and what isn’t, who’s right and who’s wrong. But Jesus wanted his opponents to think bigger, to see God’s huge, glorious plan—and he wants to do the same thing for us.

It’s about creative, faithful, self-giving love. It’s about God knitting together a man and woman who are both in need of grace. It’s about reflecting the image of God: revealing his perfect love through the everyday, imperfect love of a husband and wife. And it’s a beautiful window into the loving, faithful relationship that God desires to have with every one of his children.7 

Friar Jude Winkler fleshes out the narrative in Genesis in the context of an ancient matriarchal time in Israel. The passage from Hebrews responds to the belief in Jesus' time that the spiritual beings were far superior to material beings. Friar Jude reminds us of the pastoral challenge undertaken by Pope Francis to regularize the situation of divorced and separated Catholics.

 

Suzanne Guthrie reflects in her Soulwork Toward Sunday: Self-Guided Retreat Proper 22 (Year B) on "Against Hardness of Heart."

My worst prejudices are still the ones I don't know I have, still blinding me to truth, still hardening my heart in embarrassing ways for a supposedly open-hearted liberal striving for universal compassion. HA! But broken prejudices, however humiliating, have always opened me to new people and ideas, and a wider sense of compassion, understanding, and wisdom. Kierkegaard said, “To cheat oneself out of love is the most terrible deception. It is an eternal loss for which there is no reparation, either in time or eternity.” Every small hardness of heart cheats me of the love within which I was born to thrive. And surely love is more desirable than temporal security or status.8 

In honor of tomorrow’s feast of St. Francis of Assisi (1182–1226), this week the Daily Meditations team is sharing reflections on Francis’ affinity for the natural world and the animals who inhabit it. Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, reflects on the legacy of his spiritual father.

Living close to nature as he did, Francis could see Christ in every animal he encountered. He is quoted as talking to or about rabbits, bees, larks, falcons, lambs, pigs, fish, cicadas, waterfowl, doves, and the famous wolf of Gubbio, to name just a few. Those of you who love dogs know that each one is uniquely gifted by God and blesses our lives in special ways. Their unconditional love, forgiveness, and loyalty show us what God is like. My successive dogs, Peanut Butter, Gubbio, Venus, and now Opie, have enriched my life in many ways.9

 

Our reflection on our love of those close to us opens our heart to gratitude for our blessings as we share our journey to full life.

 

References

1	(n.d.). Genesis, CHAPTER 2 | USCCB. Retrieved October 3, 2021, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/genesis/2
2	(n.d.). Psalms, PSALM 128 | USCCB. Retrieved October 3, 2021, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/128
3	(n.d.). Hebrews, CHAPTER 2 | USCCB. Retrieved October 3, 2021, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/hebrews/2
4	(n.d.). Mark, CHAPTER 10 | USCCB. Retrieved October 3, 2021, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/mark/10
5	(n.d.). Creighton U Daily Reflections - Online Ministries. Retrieved October 3, 2021, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/100321.html
6	(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved October 3, 2021, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2021&date=oct3
7	(2021, October 3). Meditation: Mark 10:2-16 - The Word Among Us. Retrieved October 3, 2021, from https://wau.org/meditations/2021/10/03/189231/
8	(n.d.). At the Edge of the Enclosure. Retrieved October 3, 2021, from http://www.edgeofenclosure.org/proper22b.html
9	(n.d.). Daily Meditations Archive: 2021 - Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved October 3, 2021, from https://cac.org/every-creature-is-an-epiphany-2021-10-03/

Fill All in All

 

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today explore the connection of the Ascension of Christ to our relationship with the Divine today.

The Good Earth

 

The reading from the Acts of the Apostles shares the promise of the Holy Spirit after the Ascension of Jesus.

 

* [1:3] Appearing to them during forty days: Luke considered especially sacred the interval in which the appearances and instructions of the risen Jesus occurred and expressed it therefore in terms of the sacred number forty (cf. Dt 8:2). In his gospel, however, Luke connects the ascension of Jesus with the resurrection by describing the ascension on Easter Sunday evening (Lk 24:50–53). What should probably be understood as one event (resurrection, glorification, ascension, sending of the Spirit—the paschal mystery) has been historicized by Luke when he writes of a visible ascension of Jesus after forty days and the descent of the Spirit at Pentecost. For Luke, the ascension marks the end of the appearances of Jesus except for the extraordinary appearance to Paul. With regard to Luke’s understanding of salvation history, the ascension also marks the end of the time of Jesus (Lk 24:50–53) and signals the beginning of the time of the church.1

Psalm 47 praises God’s rule over the Nations.

 

* [47:6] God has gone up: Christian liturgical tradition has applied the verse to the Ascension of Christ.2

The reading from the Letter of Paul to the Ephesians declares the fullness of him who fills all in all.

 

* [1:15–23] See note on Rom 1:8 for the thanksgiving form in a letter. Much of the content parallels thoughts in Col 1:3–20. The prayer moves from God and Christ (Eph 1:17, 20–21) to the Ephesians (Eph 1:17–19) and the church (Eph 1:22–23). Paul asks that the blessing imparted by God the Father (Eph 1:3) to the Ephesians will be strengthened in them through the message of the gospel (Eph 1:13, 17–19). Those blessings are seen in the context of God’s might in establishing the sovereignty of Christ over all other creatures (Eph 1:19–21) and in appointing him head of the church (Eph 1:22–23). For the allusion to angelic spirits in Eph 1:21, see Rom 8:38 and Col 1:16. Here, as in 1 Cor 15:24–25 and Col 2:15, every such principality and power is made subject to Christ.3

The Gospel of Mark concludes describing the Ascension of Jesus.

 

* [16:9–20] This passage, termed the Longer Ending to the Marcan gospel by comparison with a much briefer conclusion found in some less important manuscripts, has traditionally been accepted as a canonical part of the gospel and was defined as such by the Council of Trent. Early citations of it by the Fathers indicate that it was composed by the second century, although vocabulary and style indicate that it was written by someone other than Mark. It is a general resume of the material concerning the appearances of the risen Jesus, reflecting, in particular, traditions found in Lk 24 and Jn 20.4

Molly Mattingly reflects on the painting, The Ascension: Pietá, 1958, by Salvador Dali.

https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/051321-Ascension_clip_image002.jpg

 

It speaks clearly of what today’s feast is all about: Christ has brought all of creation into heaven, from the cosmic down to the smallest particles. Christ divinized creation in the Ascension and we are already living as the Body of Christ. We have already been swept up into salvation. This, the divine Body of Christ, is what we experience in the Eucharist. You could also see the circles in the painting as the Blessed Sacrament, and the water at the bottom as the water of baptism.

 

This very exciting truth – our membership in the Body of Christ – is the “hope that belongs to his call,” the unifying expression of “one body and one truth.” If we deeply realize this, as perhaps the apostles did in that moment as they watched Jesus, how can we keep from going “into the whole world to proclaim the Gospel to every creature?” As the angels said to the apostles, “Why are you standing there looking up at the sky?” Don’t you know who you are?! There is still much to be done, much suffering in the world, many people who desperately need good news. Get to work!5

Don Schwager quotes “Jesus ascends to heaven in his body - divine and human nature,” by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.

 

"You heard what came to our ears just now from the Gospel: 'Lifting up his hands, he blessed them. And it happened, while he was blessing them he withdrew from them, and was carried up to heaven.' Who was carried up to heaven? The Lord Christ was. Who is the Lord Christ? He is the Lord Jesus. What is this? Are you going to separate the human from the divine and make one person of God, another of the man, so that there is no longer a trinity of three but a quaternary of four? Just as you, a human being, are soul and body, so the Lord Christ is Word, soul and body. The Word did not depart from the Father. He both came to us and did not forsake the Father. He both took flesh in the womb and continued to govern the universe. What was lifted up into heaven, if not what had been taken from earth? That is to say, the very flesh, the very body, about which he was speaking when he said to the disciples, 'Feel, and see that a spirit does not have bones and flesh, as you can see that I have' (Luke 24:39). Let us believe this, brothers and sisters, and if we have difficulty in meeting the arguments of the philosophers, let us hold on to what was demonstrated in the Lord's case without any difficulty of faith. Let them chatter, but let us believe." (excerpt from Sermon 242,6)6

The Word Among Us Meditation on Acts 1:1-11 comments that the ascension tells us that when Jesus took on our human nature in the Incarnation, he didn’t do it temporarily. The Word became flesh, not just for the thirty-three years Jesus walked the earth, but forever. The Incarnation of Christ was an act of great humility—God stooping down to become a creature. But it was more than God stooping down. He was also lifting us up because Jesus, as much man as he is God, has taken his seat at the right hand of God (Mark 16:19). Now our own human nature is caught up in the life of the Trinity. That’s how much God loves us!

 

Today, spend some time at Mass reflecting on the great wonder of a God who loves us so much that he would become one of us—not just for a short time, but forever! “Father, I thank you with all my heart for Jesus, the Word made flesh.”7

At the Edge of the Enclosure Suzanne Guthrie quotes Columba Marmion OSB about Christ in His Mysteries.

 

The hour of this glorification has not yet struck for us. But while awaiting our eternal union with the choir of the blessed, we should in mind and holy desires dwell in that heaven where Christ, our Head, lives and reigns for ever. We are upon earth only as strangers and pilgrims seeking our country; as members of the city of saints and the household of God, we may, says St. Paul, already dwell in heaven by faith and hope. (Philippians 3:20)8

Friar Jude Winkler suggests the role of Theophilus, to whom Luke dedicated the Acts. Greek philosophy presented that the spiritual was greater than the material. Friar Jude reminds us of the later completion of Mark’s Gospel by a scribe.

 

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, comments that Jesus the Christ, in his crucifixion and resurrection, “recapitulated all things in himself, everything in heaven and everything on earth” (Ephesians 1:10). This one verse is the summary of Franciscan Christology. Jesus agreed to carry the mystery of universal suffering. He allowed it to change him (resurrection) and—it is to be hoped—us, too. Christ frees us from the endless cycle of projecting our pain elsewhere or remaining trapped inside of it. This is the fully resurrected life, the only way to be happy, free, loving, and therefore “saved.” In effect, Jesus was saying, “If I can trust it, you can too.” We are indeed saved by the cross—more than we realize. The people who hold the contradictions and resolve them in themselves are the saviors of the world. They are the only real agents of transformation, reconciliation, and newness.

 

These “saviors” exist in every period of time and in every faith tradition. At times they exist even with no “faith” at all, beyond a consciously held belief that solidarity with all of life is, in fact, the meaning of life. For whatever reason, such people agree to share the fate of God for the life of the world now. These people feel called and agree to not hide from the shadow side of things or the rejected group, but in fact draw close to the pain of the world and allow it to radically change their perspective. They agree to embrace the imperfection and even the injustices of our world, allowing these situations to change them from the inside out, which is the only way things are changed anyway.9

The Ascension reassures believers that Jesus' Incarnation in human flesh is a Divine Choice with eternal consequences.

 

References

1	(n.d.). Acts of the Apostles, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB. Retrieved May 16, 2021, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/acts/1
2	(n.d.). Psalms, PSALM 47 | USCCB. Retrieved May 16, 2021, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/47
3	(n.d.). Ephesians, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB. Retrieved May 16, 2021, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/ephesians/1
4	(n.d.). Mark, CHAPTER 16 | USCCB. Retrieved May 16, 2021, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/mark/16
5	(n.d.). Creighton U Daily Reflections - Online Ministries - Creighton University. Retrieved May 16, 2021, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/051321-Ascension.html
6	(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved May 16, 2021, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/
7	(2021, May 13). The Ascension of the Lord (Solemnity) or Easter Weekday - Mass .... Retrieved May 16, 2021, from https://wau.org/meditations/2021/05/13/188894/
8	(n.d.). At the Edge of the Enclosure. Retrieved May 16, 2021, from http://www.edgeofenclosure.org/ascensionresources.html
9	(n.d.). Daily Meditations Archives — Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved May 16, 2021, from https://cac.org/how-do-we-save-the-world-2021-05-16/