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/

Hard of Heart and Hearing

 

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to contemplate the choices we make that are based on our arrogance about the superiority of our way of thinking and acting.

harden not your hearts

 

The reading from the Letter to the Hebrews is a warning against unbelief.

* [3:7–4:13] The author appeals for steadfastness of faith in Jesus, basing his warning on the experience of Israel during the Exodus. In the Old Testament the Exodus had been invoked as a symbol of the return of Israel from the Babylonian exile (Is 42:9; 43:16–21; 51:9–11). In the New Testament the redemption was similarly understood as a new exodus, both in the experience of Jesus himself (Lk 9:31) and in that of his followers (1 Cor 10:1–4). The author cites Ps 95:7–11, a salutary example of hardness of heart, as a warning against the danger of growing weary and giving up the journey. To call God living (Heb 3:12) means that he reveals himself in his works (cf. Jos 3:10; Jer 10:11). The rest (Heb 3:11) into which Israel was to enter was only a foreshadowing of that rest to which Christians are called. They are to remember the example of Israel’s revolt in the desert that cost a whole generation the loss of the promised land (Heb 3:15–19; cf. Nm 14:20–29)... The author attempts to read this meaning of God’s rest into Ps 95:7–11 (Heb 3:6–9). The Greek form of the name of Joshua, who led Israel into the promised land, is Jesus (Heb 3:8). The author plays upon the name but stresses the superiority of Jesus, who leads his followers into heavenly rest. Heb 3:12, 13 are meant as a continuation of the warning, for the word of God brings judgment as well as salvation. Some would capitalize the word of God and see it as a personal title of Jesus, comparable to that of Jn 1:1–18.1

 

Psalm 95 is a call to worship and obedience.

* [Psalm 95] Twice the Psalm calls the people to praise and worship God (Ps 95:1–2, 6), the king of all creatures (Ps 95:3–5) and shepherd of the flock (Ps 95:7a, 7b). The last strophe warns the people to be more faithful than were their ancestors in the journey to the promised land (Ps 95:7c–11). This invitation to praise God regularly opens the Church’s official prayer, the Liturgy of the Hours.2

 

In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus cleanses a leper who does not follow Jesus' subsequent advice.

* [1:40] A leper: for the various forms of skin disease, see Lv 13:1–50 and the note on Lv 13:2–4. There are only two instances in the Old Testament in which God is shown to have cured a leper (Nm 12:10–15; 2 Kgs 5:1–14). The law of Moses provided for the ritual purification of a leper. In curing the leper, Jesus assumes that the priests will reinstate the cured man into the religious community. See also note on Lk 5:14.3 

Tamora Whitney comments that the leper heard his voice. He recognized that Jesus could change his life. Even though Jesus told him to go straight to the priest, the leper was so excited at his cure that he told everyone. He could now be among society again.

“Today is the day, and now the proper hour, to forsake our sinful lives and turn to the Lord.”  Every day we should listen for his voice. “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.”4 

Peter Edmonds SJ celebrates the text of the Letter to the Hebrews as a 'fine sermon'.

We appreciate a good sermon. In our Sunday lectionary, we only have the opportunity to enjoy the highlights of the sermon that is the Letter to the Hebrews. One can debate how far the editors have selected the best parts by reading the whole for oneself. Certainly the texts provided can lead to a richer understanding of special days in the Church’s year, of the person of Christ who is ‘the same yesterday and today and forever’ (13:8), and of the way of Christian life, because here, ‘we have no lasting city, but we are looking for the city that is to come’ (13:14). The person who wrote the Letter to the Hebrews remains unknown to us, but he asks for our prayers (13:18) and we in our turn ask for his.5 

  Don Schwager quotes “Why did Jesus touch the leper,” by Origen of Alexandria (185-254 AD).

And why did [Jesus] touch him, since the law forbade the touching of a leper? He touched him to show that 'all things are clean to the clean' (Titus 1:15). Because the filth that is in one person does not adhere to others, nor does external uncleanness defile the clean of heart. So he touches him in his untouchability, that he might instruct us in humility; that he might teach us that we should despise no one, or abhor them, or regard them as pitiable, because of some wound of their body or some blemish for which they might be called to render an account... So, stretching forth his hand to touch, the leprosy immediately departs. The hand of the Lord is found to have touched not a leper, but a body made clean! Let us consider here, beloved, if there be anyone here that has the taint of leprosy in his soul, or the contamination of guilt in his heart? If he has, instantly adoring God, let him say: 'Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.' (excerpt from FRAGMENTS ON MATTHEW 2.2-3)6

 

The Word Among Us Meditation on Hebrews 3:7-14 comments that the Letter to the Hebrews gives refreshingly direct advice: “Encourage yourselves daily while it is still ‘today’” (3:13). As a warning to Jewish Christians tempted to grow weary of their discipleship or to be indifferent to Jesus, the author uses the example of the ancient Israelites. During their journey from slavery in Egypt to the Promised Land, they cried out against God in the desert (Numbers 14). Rather than encouraging each other to remember their destiny, they focused their attention on all the current hardships.

We may not be wandering in a desert like the Israelites or facing persecution like the early Christians, but we can certainly be tempted by indifference and procrastination. What we put off until tomorrow can reveal our priorities and the state of our hearts. We may need to get so many things done today that the things God wants of us—whether praying, going to Confession, or looking in on a neighbor—those can always wait for tomorrow. These upside-down priorities can be a sign that we need to choose for the Lord today.7 

Friar Jude Winkler notes that the author of Hebrews quotes Psalm 95 to underline that we have to turn to the Lord and avoid rebellion. We have to live with and like Jesus in our everyday life. Friar Jude suggests that as Mark received testimony from Peter about Jesus' life, he was not certain of the time frame of all of the events.

 

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM comments that in this time of unveiling, new stories need to be told about everything from ecology and faith to money and power, and they need to be told from many different perspectives. Only as we contemplate and engage new paradigms and visions can we discern where and how God is calling us to act. Author and educator Michael Nagler shares his version of a new story based on his decades-long commitment to the practice of nonviolence. Fr. Richard notes that the currently prevailing story, that we live in a material, random universe, so that we, too, are primarily physical objects that need material things to be fulfilled, is really only as old as the Enlightenment.

Take, for example, the acute inequality that has polarized our society (and, to a lesser extent, societies in other lands). What drives it is greed. The same greed that drives some to profit from war and armaments—the greed that is a nearly ubiquitous source of suffering for the many (and even for the few who seem to benefit financially). Is not greed, in turn, a function of the belief that we are primarily physical entities in competition with others? . . . Greed is behind so many destructive processes; greed that’s reached unheard-of proportions today, creating an inequality that makes meaningful democracy impossible. But what is behind greed itself? It could not exist without the idea that a human being is material and separate from others, including the environment we live in.8 

The hardness of heart that draws us off the best route for our journey may be softened by contemplation of Jesus' example of seeking healing for all in need.

 

References

1	(n.d.). Hebrews, CHAPTER 3 | USCCB. Retrieved January 14, 2021, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/hebrews/3
2	(n.d.). Psalms, PSALM 95 | USCCB. Retrieved January 14, 2021, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/95
3	(n.d.). Mark, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB. Retrieved January 14, 2021, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/mark/1
4	(n.d.). Daily Reflections - Online Ministries .... Retrieved January 14, 2021, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/011421.html
5	(2013, August 9). The Letter to the Hebrews | Thinking Faith: The online journal .... Retrieved January 13, 2021, from https://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20130809_1.htm
6	(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved January 14, 2021, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2021&date=jan14
7	(n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved January 14, 2021, from https://wau.org/meditations/2021/01/14/180563/
8	(n.d.). Theme: A New Story - Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved January 14, 2021, from https://cac.org/themes/a-new-story/