Joshua tells the story

The psalmist today in the texts from the RomanCatholic Lectionary proclaims that God works in history with steadfast Love that endures forever. The passage from the Book of Joshua, today, concludes this sixth volume of the Jewish and Christian Bible. PROPHET JOSHUA (YUSHA^) (blessings and peace be upon him) is also a part of Islamic tradition. Joshua delivers an impressive address, reviewing the past, and makes the people vow to remain faithful. The past reviewed by the psalmist and Joshua tells of the mighty handand outstretched arm whereby God led the Israelites out of Egypt. This journey to the Promised Land is marked by the replacement of the people living in the cities of Palestine with the Israelites. The Bible texts give the impression that this change of land control was rapid and with a great deal of force. The psalmist declares that God stuck down, killed and saved them from their foes. Some scholars place the authorship of the Book of Joshua at the time of Solomon and note that the change in control of the land in Palestine probably took decades to be realized. Jesus addresses the desire of God that steadfast Love be the mark of those who accept marriage and religious life as a vocation in the passage from the Gospel of Matthew on the question of divorce. Living to celebrate steadfast Love is the Way for a life vocation to praise God. In the life journey, the steadfast Presence causes transformation so that the walls of our “personal Jerichos” yield to the mighty hand of our relationship with God.

Mary leads the Way

The Roman Catholic Lectionary offers texts to celebrate the Feast of the Assumption of Mary into heaven.  The confrontation between the woman and great red dragon in the passage from the Book of Revelation invokes many images. The Church has been described as being Marian before it was Petrine or Pauline. This observation is supported by the Incarnation as the Divine being present in human form in our community as a consequence of the “yes” of Mary. The Church born in Mary and reborn in believers today lives the resurrection promise that Paul presents to the Corinthians. The battle continues today between Church and rulers, authorities and powers, both within and outside the person. The victory of Christ over these agents of death is the message of the Book of Revelation. In the text from the Gospel of Luke, Mary declares her praise of God for the life which she lives in harmony with His will to show mercy, scatter the proud and lift up the lowly. The Roman Catholic Church celebrates the lifting up of the Most Faithful Mother of the Church to heaven in the liturgy today.

Present to us

How do we celebrate the Presence of God in our lives? The psalmist in the texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today calls for a joyful noise to announce the great deeds of God in delivering the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt to life in the Promised Land. The last chapter of the Book of Deuteronomy describes the death of Moses who was led by God to MountNebo where he is shown the Promised Land and where he dies at age 120 in full vigour and is mysteriously buried by God. Friar Jude Winkler notes that the biblical personages, Enoch, Elijah and Moses have special places in apocalyptic literature because of the manner of their death in the Presence of God. We understand and hopefully celebrate the Presence at the moment of death. The Gospel of Matthew points to the understanding of Christians today that Christ is Present in the gathering of two or three in His Name. Friar Jude notes the use of the word “Church” for the second time in this Gospel. Matthew who wrote as a Jew to Jewish followers of Jesus about 80 AD expresses the idea that believers gathered in the Name of God experience wisdom, insight and the grace to make decisions on direction and policy. This is a scriptural incentive to join with Believers and pray to understand the direction we need to take to be the One Body making joyful noise in praise of the Present.

Raise questions for us

The passages from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today may raise questions for us. The nature of these questions may be to wonder about the forceful immigration of the Israelites to Canaan, our God living among other gods and a curious behaviour of a shepherd. The passing of leadership to Joshua from Moses is considered an example to us of how to surrender authority according to the Will of God to others by Friar Jude Winkler. Jewish midrash and tradition about Joshua shows him to be an apprentice of Moses throughout the journey from Egypt to Canaan. The Jewish tradition which may help us with the apparently violent nature of this invasion is that the residents of the cities which the Israelites occupied were given the option to leave in peace before the battles which would decide the matter violently. The psalmist seems to see the God of Israel standing among many gods. Jewish people, at the time of the writing of Deuteronomy, were moving from belief which was henotheist, there are many gods but Israel has chosen the True God, to monotheism, there is One God. Friar Jude notes that the Gospel of Matthew today reminds us of the attitude of simple faith and trust in Providence which we too often lose because of our overly analytical approach or our dismissal of those who are not “with us” in social, economic and intellectual space. The kingdom opens to us when we welcome the little ones who bring Christ. The teaching of Jesus in this text from Matthew, a Jew writing to a Jewish audience, has the form of rabbinical instruction of the time as He proposes the completely impractical idea that the shepherd would leave 99 sheep to find the lost one as the common practice. The effect of this approach is that we appreciate the radical difference of the approach of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, to seek out the lost who would be ignored by practical people. This approach is the Way for those disciples of Jesus who apprentice with Him and are prepared to be His servant-leader today.

What do we read?

The tendency we have to read things into texts that support our point of view and our theories of how things are or should be can be uncovered as we meditate on the texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today. The Book of Deuteronomy is described by Jewish scholars as presenting God’s choice of Israel, and the love and faithfulness which He has manifested toward it; from which are deduced the great practical duties of loyal and loving devotion to Him, an absolute and uncompromising repudiation of all false gods, a warm and spontaneous obedience to His will, and a large-hearted and generous attitude toward men. We often read privilege and distance into the concept of being chosen. This is not the “chosen” of Deuteronomy. Friar JudeWinkler picks up the chosen nature of the people of Israel who went down to Egypt and restates the obligation which Moses speaks to them to bring their experience of the Love of God to all people. The psalmist joins the chorus of praise of God for the great things which have been experience by Israel as a consequence of the choice of God. The Gospel of Matthew offers an understanding of Jesus as God who is embracing human life, showing it as the great gift of the Father, which He will surrender as testimony to the depth of His Love for humanity. The Temple tax which, according to some commentators, was imposed as an annual tax on all Jews from age 20 to 50 for the upkeep of the Temple, is identified in a rabbinical dialog as not applying to Jesus, Son of God, and Peter, his brother in the Kingdom, as the children of the king do not pay tax. However, the law must be respected and the fish from the Sea of Galilee, likely atilapia, serves to deliver the required money. What else do we read into this episode in Matthew? Some base the age of Jesus disciples on this passage. Friar Jude offers us the insight to understand Peter better as the leader in the group of disciples. Perhaps our appreciation of the need to respect civil and religious law is changed?

What to do and say today

The texts today from the Roman Catholic Lectionary bring to mind two related and essential aspects of life, faith and the end time. The Book of Wisdom was one of the last parts of the Hebrew testament to be written. The book, written in Greek, is included in the Roman Catholic and Orthodox canon. The passage today recounts some of the fruits which Israel experienced in their journey to be a faithful partner with God in the Covenant. The Letter to the Hebrews gives a definition of faith as the realization of what is hoped for. We require faith in our daily lives so that the plans we make will unfold as each person contributes his or her part of the 5000 piece puzzle which can make up a day, a week, or a year. We think about the parable of the Master in the Gospel of Luke today who has instructed His servants that they will need to keep his house until He returns. Faith guides us to trust others, and as FriarJude Winkler comments, treat them with more dignity than they think they deserve. This maintenance of the Kingdom of the Master is our way to plan for His return. Father Larry Gillick SJ considers the investment God has made in humanity through Jesus. The disciple of Jesus is mandated through the action of having been given much understanding of the Master to be found doing the work of the Master when He returns. The end times remind Friar Jude of the advice that we should consider “Nothing left undone, nothing left unsaid” in our actions today.

Sow the seed generously

The Texts of the Roman Catholic Lectionary today are chosen for the celebration of the feast of the third century deacon, St Lawrence. According to legend, he was charged with the responsibility for the material goods of the Church in Rome and with the distribution of alms to the poor. The climate of persecution, at the time, and Lawrence stubborn support of the poor instead of turning over money to support the Empire brought him a martyr’s death. FriarJude Winkler reflects that the texts today call us to be generous in our giving. The appeal to the Corinthians by Paul in the passage today was to support the poor and desolate in Jerusalem. We need to be generous with our material goods to help others. Friar Jude notes that one benefit which generous people realize is that they live better without the material and wealth which can come to own us. The giving heart experiences the ever deepening capacity of the Lover to give. The practice of giving by putting to death our desires and passions in favour of the needs of the other will be the realization of the advice in the Gospel of John that the seed must die to bring forth the harvest of life in the wheat.