Judgement and Gratitude

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today warn us of human motives that cloud our judgement and delay our surrender in gratitude to the Way of Jesus.

Judgement and Gratitude

In the reading from the Prophet Isaiah, arrogant Assyria is also judged.

* [10:5–34] These verses contain a series of oracles directed against Assyria. Verses 5–15 portray Assyria as simply the rod God uses to punish Israel, though Assyria does not realize this. The original conclusion to this unit may be the judgment found in vv. 24–27a, which continues the imagery and motifs found in vv. 5–15. Verses 16–23, because of the quite different imagery and motifs, may originally have been an insertion directed against Aram and Israel at the time of the Syro-Ephraimite War.

* [10:6] Impious nation: Judah. It was God’s intention to use Assyria merely to punish, not to destroy, the nation.

* [10:9–10] The cities mentioned were all cities captured, some more than once, by the Assyrians in the eighth century B.C. Verse 9 suggests a certain historical order in the fall of these cities, and v. 10 suggests that all of them had fallen before Samaria (cf. Am 6:2). That implies that one should think primarily of events during the reign of Tiglath-pileser III (745–727).

* [10:16] His fat ones: the strong men of the enemy army. (Isaiah, CHAPTER 10 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 94 praises God, the Avenger of the Righteous.

* [Psalm 94] A lament of an individual who is threatened by wicked people. The danger affects the whole community. Calling upon God as judge (Ps 94:1–2), the Psalm complains about oppression of the holy community by people within (Ps 94:3–7). Bold declarations of faith follow: denunciation of evildoers (Ps 94:8–11) and assurance to the just (Ps 94:12–15). The Psalm continues with further lament (Ps 94:16–19) and ends with strong confidence in God’s response (Ps 94:20–23). (Psalms, PSALM 94 | USCCB, n.d.)

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus thanks His Father.

* [11:25–27] This Q saying, identical with Lk 10:21–22 except for minor variations, introduces a joyous note into this section, so dominated by the theme of unbelief. While the wise and the learned, the scribes and Pharisees, have rejected Jesus’ preaching and the significance of his mighty deeds, the childlike have accepted them. Acceptance depends upon the Father’s revelation, but this is granted to those who are open to receive it and refused to the arrogant. Jesus can speak of all mysteries because he is the Son and there is perfect reciprocity of knowledge between him and the Father; what has been handed over to him is revealed only to those whom he wishes. (Matthew, CHAPTER 11 | USCCB, n.d.)

Rashmi Fernando, S.J. comments that when human beings boast of their successes and attribute them to their own strength and wisdom, rather than to their Creator, Ignatian spirituality sees it as an act of vain glory.

Reflecting on these readings through the Ignatian lens, the juxtaposition between the arrogance of the Assyrians and the humility of the childlike highlights a key spiritual principle: humility opens us to God's wisdom, grace, and ultimate exultation, while pride blinds us and leads to our downfall. Do we attribute our successes to our own efforts, or do we acknowledge God's hand in our lives? Are we open to the childlike simplicity that Jesus praises, allowing God's wisdom to guide us? By embracing humility and trusting in God's justice, do we take refuge in the promise that "the Lord will not abandon his people". (Fernando, 2024)

Don Schwager quotes “Revealed to babes,” by Epiphanius the Latin (late 5th century)

"And he revealed these things to children. To which children? Not those who are children in age but to those who are children in respect to sin and wickedness. To them Jesus revealed how to seek the blessings of paradise and the things to come in the kingdom of heaven, because thus it was well pleasing before God that 'they should come from the east and the west and that they should lie down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; but that the sons of this worldly kingdom should be cast into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 8:11-12).'" (excerpt from INTERPRETATION OF THE GOSPELS 26) (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 11:25-27 comments that St. John Vianney readily admitted that he was an inferior scholar and public speaker with no real talent for evangelization. But he had a humble heart and a willingness to listen to God. And because of his childlike humility, he helped to renew the Church one person at a time.

You may find it hard to understand Scripture or explain your faith. You may think other people are more gifted than you are. But remember John Vianney! God reveals himself to simple humble men and women. He delights to work through ordinary people. You don’t have to be an expert. Just be open to his revelation! Seek him with a teachable heart, and you will find him.

“Father, help me to know you more. Teach me, Lord. I’m ready to listen.” (Meditation on Matthew 11:25-27, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler comments on the change of direction presented by Isaiah when Assyria, originally called to punish Israel, is rejected by God for pride and exercise of the prerogatives of God. Jesus declares the secrets of God are revealed to the childlike. Friar Jude reminds us that the childlike celebrate what we can filled with awe.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, shares that surrendering our lives to God is the very essence of a spiritual life. Our inner blockage to turning over our will is only overcome by a decision. It will not usually happen with a feeling, a mere idea, or a verse from religious Scripture. It is the will itself, our stubborn and self-defeating willfulness, that must first be converted and handed over. It doesn’t surrender easily, and usually only when it’s demanded of us by partners, parents, children, health, or circumstances. 

From the time we were young and according to our ability, we have all taken control and tried to engineer our own lives in every way possible. In fact, our culture doesn’t respect people who do not “take control.” [1] Bill W. was wise enough to make surrender a clear Step 3 in the program. Jesus made it step one: “If any want to follow me, let them renounce themselves” (Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23; Matthew 16:24). I’m pretty sure that Jesus meant exactly what Bill W. meant: a radical surrendering of our will to Another, whom we trust more than ourselves. [3] (Rohr, n.d.)

We seek the guidance of the Spirit in our judgements and express our gratitude for the life we have found in our surrender to His Will in our difficult times.

References

Fernando, R. (2024, July 17). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Online Ministries. Retrieved July 17, 2024, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/071724.html 

Isaiah, CHAPTER 10 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved July 17, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/isaiah/10?5 

Matthew, CHAPTER 11 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved July 17, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/11?25 

Meditation on Matthew 11:25-27. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved July 17, 2024, from https://wau.org/meditations/2024/07/17/1024254/ 

Psalms, PSALM 94 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved July 17, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/94?5 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). Daily Meditations — Center for Action and Contemplation. Surrender and Acceptance. Retrieved July 17, 2024, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/surrender-and-acceptance/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Heavenly Things Revealed to Infants. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved July 17, 2024, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2024&date=jul17 

Faithful and Prepared

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite thanksgiving and praise for the fullness of life that we are invited to share as faithful stewards of Christ in our environment.

Preparing for Life

The reading from the First Letter of Paul to the Thessalonians is a concluding Thanksgiving and Prayer.

* [3:9–10] The tension between Paul’s optimism concerning the Thessalonians’ faith and his worries about their perseverance remains unresolved. Perhaps this is accounted for not only by the continuing harassment but also by the shortness of his own stay in Thessalonica (even if that were over twice as long as the conventional three weeks that Luke assigns to it, Acts 17:2). (1 Thessalonians, CHAPTER 3, n.d.)

Psalm 90 praises God’s Eternity and Human Frailty.

* [Psalm 90] A communal lament that describes only in general terms the cause of the community’s distress. After confidently invoking God (Ps 90:1), the Psalm turns to a complaint contrasting God’s eternity with the brevity of human life (Ps 90:2–6) and sees in human suffering the punishment for sin (Ps 90:7–12). The Psalm concludes with a plea for God’s intervention (Ps 90:13–17). (Psalms, PSALM 90, n.d.)

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus compares the Faithful or the Unfaithful Slave.

* [24:42–44] Cf. Lk 12:39–40. The theme of vigilance and readiness is continued with the bold comparison of the Son of Man to a thief who comes to break into a house.

* [24:45–51] The second part of the discourse (see note on Mt 24:1–25:46) begins with this parable of the faithful or unfaithful servant; cf. Lk 12:41–46. It is addressed to the leaders of Matthew’s church; the servant has been put in charge of his master’s household (Mt 24:45) even though that household is composed of those who are his fellow servants (Mt 24:49).

* [24:45] To distribute…proper time: readiness for the master’s return means a vigilance that is accompanied by faithful performance of the duty assigned.

* [24:48] My master…delayed: the note of delay is found also in the other parables of this section; cf. Mt 25:5, 19.

* [24:51] Punish him severely: the Greek verb, found in the New Testament only here and in the Lucan parallel (Lk 12:46), means, literally, “cut in two.” With the hypocrites: see note on Mt 6:2. Matthew classes the unfaithful Christian leader with the unbelieving leaders of Judaism. Wailing and grinding of teeth: see note on Mt 8:11–12. (Matthew, CHAPTER 24, n.d.)

Michael Kavan (from 2017) invites us to tune into Jesus’ real message – one that focuses on the importance of not staying awake, literally, but instead, staying on guard in order to ready ourselves for the coming of the Son of Man.

“If I were to die today, would I be leaving earth on terms I am comfortable with and am I ready to meet face to face with God?” Am I comfortable with what I have accomplished to date or would I ask Him for a chance to return for a “just a bit,” to tie up loose ends  or maybe longer in order to be the person I always wanted and knew I could become. “God, could you send me back to earth since I’ve been wanting to say ‘I love you’ to my wife and kids, or ‘I’m sorry’” to someone I have hurt.” Or maybe I need more time to be a nicer boss or to give an extra hour or dollar to a cause meaningful to me – after all, I have been meaning to do those things for, well, a long time…. Being born in God’s grace causes me to believe that despite my many shortcomings that I have the potential to be and do a lot of good. Matthew’s reading allows me the opportunity to reflect on whether I am living in God’s grace to its fullest or am I falling short and, in essence, allowing the thief to rob my home or for me to be the unfaithful servant. (Kavan, 2023)

Don Schwager comments on “You do not know the day,” by John Chrysostom (347-407 AD).

"But his meaning is like this: If ordinary persons knew when they were going to die, they would surely be striving earnestly at that hour. In order therefore that they may strive, not at that hour only, he does not tell them the hour or day. He wants to keep them on their toes looking for it, that they may be always striving. This is why he made the end of each person's life so uncertain. In this passage he openly implies that he himself is Lord. Nowhere before has he spoken of this so distinctly. But here he seems to me also to be putting to shame those who remain careless about his lordship. They take much more care about a thief taking their money than about their own soul. Those who care about their house and do not want their possessions stolen take measures against the thief. They watch; they are prepared for the thief. So it is with you. You do not know when he will come. But you know assuredly that he will come. If you do not continue to watch, you will not be ready on that day. You will be unprepared. Destruction will come in your sleep. If the person had known when the thief was coming, he would have been prepared. So be like the one who is prepared at all times, so you will escape free. Having then mentioned the judgment, he directs his thoughts next to teachers, speaking of honorable and dishonorable actions. His discourse closes with that which is alarming, for he speaks first of those who do right, then of those who continue in sin." (excerpt from the THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 77.2-3) (Schwager, 2022)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 24:42-51 comments that like this faithful and prudent servant, we are all servants of the Lord. We don’t really own anything—it has all come to us from the hand of God. And in that sense, we are not just God’s servants; we are also his stewards, which is how Luke describes the servant in his version of this parable (12:42). God has entrusted everything to us, and our job as stewards is to use and manage our possessions, our time, and our talents for his purposes and glory. That requires us to be both faithful and prudent.

Today, consider everything that God has entrusted to you. Thank him for his confidence in you, and then ask him if there are any ways you could be a better steward of his gifts. Every step you take, no matter how small, will make you ever more ready for the Master’s return!

“Jesus, show me how to be faithful and prudent in all things.” (Meditation on Matthew 24:42-51, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler comments on the conclusion of three chapters of thanksgiving for the faith of the Thessalonians. The passages have the characteristics of a parenesis that is usually found at the end of a letter. Friar Jude notes that the Gospel of Matthew is rich in themes of being prepared for the time of accounting.

James Finley comments that the critical factor is not so much what the practice is in its externals as the extent to which the practice incarnates an utterly sincere stance of awakening and surrendering to the Godly nature of the present moment. Finley stresses the importance of prioritizing intentional presence on a daily basis, while encouraging us to do what we can within the limitations of our lives. 

Remaining faithful to our contemplative practices calls for the integrity of remaining faithful to a commitment that nobody sees; it consists of giving ourselves over with all our heart to simple acts which, on the surface, seem to be but the incidental passage of time. But if we are faithful to this unassuming path of fidelity to our daily contemplative practices, the subtle awareness of the depths to which they grant access begins to permeate the very texture of our daily experience of living. Slowly, almost imperceptibly at first, fidelity to our contemplative practices evolves into an habitual awareness that does not miss the surprise appearance of God showing up in something as immediate and simple as the sunlight that suddenly fills a room on a cloudy day. (Finley, 2023)

We have experiences of awareness of the temporal limits to our earthly journey and we are invited by the Spirit to contemplate the connection with the Divine that reassures our faith in eternal truth, beauty, and love.

References

Finley, J. (2023, August 31). Find Your Practice and Practice It — Center for Action and Contemplation. CAC Daily Meditations 2023. Retrieved August 31, 2023, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/find-your-practice-and-practice-it-2023-08-31/ 

Kavan, M. (2023, August 31). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Online Ministries. Retrieved August 31, 2023, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/083123.html 

Matthew, CHAPTER 24. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved August 31, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/24?42 

Meditation on Matthew 24:42-51. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved August 31, 2023, from https://wau.org/meditations/2023/08/31/770223/ 

1 Thessalonians, CHAPTER 3. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved August 31, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/1thessalonians/3?7 

Psalms, PSALM 90. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved August 31, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/90?3 

Schwager, D. (2022, October 2). Are You Ready to Meet the Lord? Daily Scripture net. Retrieved August 31, 2023, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2023&date=aug31