Foundation for the Worker

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to explore the foundation for our work as disciples of Jesus as we ponder our path to kinship with all people.

Kinship

The reading from the Second Letter to Timothy urges us to be a worker approved by God.

 * [2:8–13] The section begins with a sloganlike summary of Paul’s gospel about Christ (2 Tm 2:8) and concludes with what may be part of an early Christian hymn (2 Tm 2:11b–12a; most exegetes include the rest of 2 Tm 2:12 and all of 2 Tm 2:13 as part of the quotation). The poetic lines suggest that through baptism Christians die spiritually with Christ and hope to live with him and reign with him forever, but the Christian life includes endurance, witness, and even suffering, as the final judgment will show and as Paul’s own case makes clear; while he is imprisoned for preaching the gospel (2 Tm 2:9), his sufferings are helpful to the elect for obtaining the salvation and glory available in Christ (2 Tm 2:10), who will be true to those who are faithful and will disown those who deny him (2 Tm 2:12–13).1

The Psalmist prays that God will make us to know Your ways, O Lord.

 * [Psalm 25] A lament. Each verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Such acrostic Psalms are often a series of statements only loosely connected. The psalmist mixes ardent pleas (Ps 25:1–2, 16–22) with expressions of confidence in God who forgives and guides.2

In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus declares the First Commandment in a context familiar to the Scribes.

 * [12:13–34] In the ensuing conflicts (cf. also Mk 2:1–3:6) Jesus vanquishes his adversaries by his responses to their questions and reduces them to silence (Mk 12:34). See note on Mt 22:34–40.3

Luis Rodriguez, S.J. notes the words quoted by Jesus in today’s gospel reading are those of the Shemá Israel (hear, Israel) [Dt. 6: 4-5] engraved in the heart of every faithful Israelite. Those words were recited every morning upon waking up and Jesus must have also recited them. The core message was one of wholeheartedness: with all your heart... Those words were addressed to all Israelites, but they remain valid for any believer. There is no such thing as a call to half-heartedness.

 Surely, there is a diversity of vocations among the baptized. However that diversity lies not on the side of the expected response, but on the side of the calling itself, on the side of what we already desire to respond to wholeheartedly. Baptism is a calling to the wholeheartedness of the Shemá. But through prayerful reflection on our life experience we try to recognize the path the Lord is inviting us to follow and then our response, which we already desired to be wholehearted, leads us to marriage, priesthood, religious life... medicine, law, nursing, teaching...
The difference among vocations lies not on the side of the expected response, but the side of the diverse calling we are expected to respond to wholeheartedly.4

Don Schwager quotes “Love God with one's whole self,” by Gregory of Nyssa, 330-395 AD.

 "Human life consists in a threefold unity. We are taught similarly by the apostle in what he says to the Ephesians, praying for them that the complete grace of their 'body and soul and spirit' may be preserved at the coming of the Lord. We use the word 'body,' for the nutritive part, the word for the vital, 'soul,' and the word 'spirit' for the intellective dimension. In just this way the Lord instructs the writer of the Gospel that he should set before every commandment that love to God which is exercised with all the heart and soul and mind (Mark 12:30; Matthew 22:37; Luke 10:27). This single phrase embraces the human whole: the corporeal heart, the mind as the higher intellectual and mental nature, and the soul as their mediator." (excerpt from ON THE MAKING OF MAN 8.5.10)5

The Word Among Us Meditation on 2 Timothy 2:8-15 comments that Paul trusted that even if he never got out of prison, the message of the gospel would still go forth because it is a living message. He believed that this message wouldn’t die with him. Truths like these gave him great hope, along with the freedom to keep preaching the word of God.

 A word of caution: the message of the gospel may be powerful, but it’s a power that we need to take hold of. It won’t just come upon us on its own. When you hold fast to the truth of Jesus’ resurrection and all that his resurrection promises, you become more secure in him and his love, not in your circumstances. Suffering, anxiety, guilt over past sins, fear for the future—none of these have the final word. Jesus has the final word, and it is a word of freedom from sin and the promise of eternal life for all who believe.
So lean on the Lord and trust in his gospel. Believe that this “word of God” can flow from you just as it did from Paul (2 Timothy 2:9). Even when you are not openly sharing your faith, the word can still go out through the witness of your life. Whatever might be “chaining” you—even if it is a real prison—you can trust the word of God will not be chained. That word is alive in you, and it has the power to change lives.
“Yes, Lord, may the word of God go forth from me.”6

Friar Jude Winkler underlines the choice to deny Jesus in ours and we experience the consequence of separation. The Shema Israel is a credo formula giving our heart or intellect, our soul or life in persecution, our mind or clear conscience, and our strength or physical possessions wholeheartedly to God. Friar Jude reminds us that love of neighbour adds the horizontal dimension of our faith to the vertical dimension of Love of God.

StAnthonyCompanions · June 4, 2020

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, comments that often we strike the high moral distance that separates “us” from “them,” and yet it is God’s dream come true when we recognize that there exists no daylight between us. Serving others is good. It’s a start. But it’s just the hallway that leads to the Grand Ballroom.

 Kinship—not serving the other, but being one with the other. Jesus was not “a man for others”; he was one with them. There is a world of difference in that. . . .
No daylight to separate us.
Only kinship. Inching ourselves closer to creating a community of kinship such that God might recognize it. Soon we imagine, with God, this circle of compassion. Then we imagine no one standing outside of that circle, moving ourselves closer to the margins so that the margins themselves will be erased. We stand there with those whose dignity has been denied. We locate ourselves with the poor and the powerless and the voiceless. At the edges, we join the easily despised and the readily left out. We stand with the demonized so that the demonizing will stop. We situate ourselves right next to the disposable so that the day will come when we stop throwing people away. The prophet Habakkuk writes, “The vision still has its time, presses onto fulfillment and it will not disappoint . . . and if it delays, wait for it [2:3].”
Kinship is what God presses us on to, always hopeful that its time has come.7

The work of the disciple of Jesus is to share wholehearted Love, experienced in relationship with God, to build kinship among the community of people in our lives.

References

1	(n.d.). 2 Timothy, chapter 2 - United States Conference of Catholic .... Retrieved June 4, 2020, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/2timothy/2
2	(n.d.). Psalms, chapter 25. Retrieved June 4, 2020, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/psalms/25
3	(n.d.). Mark, chapter 12 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved June 4, 2020, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/mark/12
4	(n.d.). Daily Reflections - OnlineMinistries .... Retrieved June 4, 2020, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
5	(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved June 4, 2020, from https://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/
6	(n.d.). 9th Week in Ordinary Time - Mass Readings and Catholic .... Retrieved June 4, 2020, from https://wau.org/meditations/2020/06/04/
7	(n.d.). Being One with the Other - Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved June 4, 2020, from https://cac.org/being-one-with-the-other-2020-06-04/

Trust building experience

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to contemplate our experiences of trust in God and the gifts we receive from that trust.

Power, love, and self-control

The reading from the Second Letter to Timothy expresses thanksgiving for the mission and encouragement to continue.

 * [1:12] He is able to guard…until that day: the intervening words can also be translated “what I have entrusted to him” (i.e., the fruit of his ministry) as well as “what has been entrusted to me” (i.e., the faith). The same difficult term occurs in 2 Tm 1:14, where it is modified by the adjective “rich” and used without a possessive.1

Psalm 123 is a supplication for Mercy from God.

 * [Psalm 123] A lament that begins as a prayer of an individual (Ps 123:1), who expresses by a touching comparison exemplary confidence in God (Ps 123:2). The Psalm ends in prayer that God relieve the people’s humiliation at the hands of the arrogant (Ps 123:3–4).2

In the Gospel of Mark, the Sadducees question Jesus about the Resurrection.

 * [12:13–34] In the ensuing conflicts (cf. also Mk 2:1–3:6) Jesus vanquishes his adversaries by his responses to their questions and reduces them to silence (Mk 12:34). See note on Mt 22:23–33.3

Ronald Fussell comments it is important to know that the Sadducees, who were the high-ranking priests of the day, did not ascribe to the idea of resurrection or the afterlife. They are essentially trying to position Jesus to either deny the law of Moses or deny the afterlife.

 When I read passages such as this, I find it helpful to put myself in the position of others present in the Gospel reading – the Sadducees in this case.  But the most notable take-away for me from today’s reading is the mental gymnastics in which we tend to engage to avoid the truth of the Gospel.  The truth is easy to read but difficult to commit to.  So, as we reflect on today’s readings, let us focus our lived faith on accepting these truths, so that we too may achieve the eternal reward that is revealed to us in scripture and in Jesus’ words today4

Don Schwager quotes “No marriage in the resurrection,” by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.

 "What did the Lord say to the Sadducees? He said, 'You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures or the power of God. For in the resurrection they marry neither husbands nor wives; for neither do they start dying again, but they will be equal to the angels of God' (Mark 12:24-25; Matthew 22:29-30). The power of God is great. Why do they not marry husbands or wives? They will not start dying again. When one generation departs, another is required to succeed it. There will not be such liability to decay in that place. The Lord passed through the usual stages of growth, from infancy to adult manhood, because he was bearing the substance of flesh that still was mortal. After he had risen again at the age at which he was buried, are we to imagine that he is growing old in heaven? He says, 'They will be equal to the angels of God.' He eliminated the assumption of the Jews and refuted the objection of the Sadducees, because the Jews did indeed believe the dead would rise again, but they had crude, fleshly ideas about the state of humanity after resurrection. He said, 'They will be equal to the angels of God.' ... It has already been stated that we are to rise again. We have heard from the Lord that we rise again to the life of the angels. In his own resurrection, he has shown us in what specific form we are to rise again." (excerpt from SERMON 362.18–19.30)5

The Word Among Us Meditation on 2 Timothy 1:1-3, 6-12 recalls power, love, and self-control. These are gifts from the Spirit. This is our heritage. We step out in faith and try them out!

 And because it comes from God, this power can make us brave and unashamed: brave enough to offer to pray with a friend who is hurting. Brave enough to share our faith with a family member who is struggling. Brave enough to turn away from gossip and to change the tone of a negative conversation. The Spirit also helps us to love. He helps us to lift up each child of God, not just the ones we find attractive, but also the ones who try our patience or who rub us the wrong way... the self-control that comes from the Holy Spirit enables us to rise above our fears and to harness our inner drives. It helps us turn aside from harmful thoughts and overcome old habits that threaten to trip us up.6

Friar Jude Winkler notes the “pastoral letters” show a development of hierarchy that occurred after the death of Paul. When we join our suffering to Jesus today, we make His suffering present and, in Paul’s words, make up what was lacking in Jesus' suffering. Friar Jude reminds us that Jesus showed the Pentatuch, normative text for the Sadducees, shows a God of the living.

StAnthonyCompanions · June 3, 2020

The Franciscan media post on Saint Charles Lwanga and Companions, Saints of the Day for June 3, reflects that we are all teachers and witnesses to Christian living by the examples of our own lives. We are all called upon to spread the word of God, whether by word or deed. By remaining courageous and unshakable in our faith during times of great moral and physical temptation, we live as Christ lived.

 On the night of Mukaso’s martyrdom for encouraging the African youths to resist Mwanga, Charles requested and received baptism. Imprisoned with his friends, Charles’s courage and belief in God inspired them to remain chaste and faithful.
For his own unwillingness to submit to the immoral acts and his efforts to safeguard the faith of his friends, Charles was burned to death at Namugongo on June 3, 1886, by Mwanga’s order.
When Pope Paul VI canonized these 22 martyrs on October 18, 1964, he also made reference to the Anglican pages martyred for the same reason.7

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, notes that as Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) observed, one of the most segregated hours in the United States still occurs on Sunday mornings when we attend church services. [1] Yet as early as the 1940s, African-American writer and mystic Howard Thurman (1899–1981) was seeking to build a worshipping community across racial differences. In 1944, along with his white co-pastor Alfred Fisk (1905–1959), Thurman co-founded the Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples, the country’s first interracial, interfaith congregation. Reverend Thurman describes how the collective experience of God became the center of the community’s life, unifying people from many different backgrounds and cultural expressions.

 Fellowship Church was a unique idea, fresh, untried. There were no precedents and no traditions to aid in structuring the present or gauging the future. Yet [my wife] Sue and I knew that all our accumulated experiences of the past had given us two crucial gifts for this undertaking: a profound conviction that meaningful and creative experiences between peoples can be more compelling than all the ideas, concepts, faiths, fears, ideologies, and prejudices that divide them; and absolute faith that if such experiences can be multiplied and sustained over a time interval of sufficient duration any barrier that separates one person from another can be undermined and eliminated. We were sure that the ground of such meaningful experiences could be provided by the widest possible associations around common interest and common concerns.8

Power, love, and self-control are gifts from the Spirit that we are called to use to build trust that in our relationship with Jesus, we will draw people together in a loving community.

References

1	(n.d.). 2 Timothy, chapter 1 - United States Conference of Catholic .... Retrieved June 3, 2020, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/2timothy/1
2	(n.d.). Psalms, chapter 123 - United States Conference of Catholic .... Retrieved June 3, 2020, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/psalms/123
3	(n.d.). Mark, chapter 12 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved June 3, 2020, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/mark/12
4	(n.d.). Daily Reflections - OnlineMinistries .... Retrieved June 3, 2020, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
5	(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved June 3, 2020, from https://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/
6	(n.d.). (Memorial) - Mass Readings and Catholic Daily Meditations .... Retrieved June 3, 2020, from http://wau.org/meditations/2020/06/03/
7	(n.d.). Saint Charles Lwanga and Companions - Franciscan Media. Retrieved June 3, 2020, from https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saints-charles-lwanga-and-companions/
8	(n.d.). Daily Meditations Archive: May 2020 - Center for Action and .... Retrieved June 3, 2020, from https://cac.org/category/daily-meditations/

Eternal and Temporal

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today nudge us to contemplate our mortality even as we find grace and meaning in the eternal Presence of God.

Community action

The reading from the Second Letter of Peter is an exhortation to preparedness.

 * [3:17–18] To avoid the dangers of error and loss of stability Christians are forewarned to be on guard and to grow in grace and knowledge (2 Pt 1:2) of Christ. The doxology (2 Pt 3:18) recalls 1 Pt 4:11. Some manuscripts add Amen.1

Psalm 90 contrasts 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).2

In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus addresses the question about paying taxes.

 * [12:13–34] In the ensuing conflicts (cf. also Mk 2:1–3:6) Jesus vanquishes his adversaries by his responses to their questions and reduces them to silence (Mk 12:34).3

Kyle Lierk comments “As I read today’s Gospel and consider this theological lens, I can’t help but wonder, “What can I look to in my life, like Jesus asked the leaders to do with that coin, and see the ‘image and inscription’ of God?” And then, once I have taken this inventory, face the harder question: “Am I repaying ‘to God what belongs to God’?””

 As my wife and I lean into the grand “Yes!” of our vocation to marriage with the multiple, smaller, daily “yeses,” we are embracing the stance that Fr. Anthony deMello, S.J. recommends we take with God:  “Behold the One beholding you, smiling.”  As our dog pursues us with unapologetic love, affection and acceptance, I witness Thompson’s depiction of the Divine as a “hound of heaven.”  As I watch the four locust trees planted by the original owner of this home standing like sturdy sentinels through multiple human lifespans, the cardinals and bluejays flit and flurry in feathery exuberance, and the seasons break through on the heels of one another in some sacred square dance, I am humbled by God’s creative composition.  And as I gaze with gentle eyes at the ways in which I live out this human adventure (some days better than others), I see the Divine author continuing to pen the story of my life.  
After all of this embracing, witnessing, watching and gazing, it is then time to do what Jesus asks:  repay to God what is God’s!  But how?  I have found that the greatest way to provide God the “return on investment” for this abundance of gift is through the ways in which I choose to share and engage these wonderful treasures for “the greater glory of God” and in an effort to bring reconciliation to our world.4

Don Schwager quotes “Put off the earthly image and put on the heavenly one,” by Origen of Alexandria (185-254 AD).

 "Some people think that the Savior spoke on a single level when he said, 'Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar' - that is, 'pay the tax that you owe.' Who among us disagrees about paying taxes to Caesar? The passage therefore has a mystical and secret meaning. There are two images in humanity. One he received from God when he was made, in the beginning, as Scripture says in the book of Genesis, 'according to the image and likeness of God' (Genesis 1:27). The other image is of the earth (1 Corinthians 15:49). Man received this second image later. He was expelled from Paradise because of disobedience and sin after the 'prince of this world' (John 12:31) had tempted him with his enticements. Just as the coin, or denarius, has an image of the emperor of this world, so he who does the works of 'the ruler of the darkness' (Ephesians 6:12) bears the image of him whose works he does. Jesus commanded that that image should be handed over and thrown away from our face. He wills us to take on that image, according to which we were made from the beginning, according to God's likeness. It then happens that we give 'to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what is God's.' Jesus said, 'Show me a coin.' For 'coin,' Matthew wrote 'denarius' ( Matthew 22:19). When Jesus had taken it, he said, 'Whose inscription does it have?' They answered and said, 'Caesar's.' And he said to them in turn, 'Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's.'" (excerpt from HOMILY ON THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 39.4-6)5

The Word Among Us Meditation on 2 Peter 3:12-15, 17-18 urges, “on a spiritual level, consider evaluating your “spiritual diet” every now and then. Think about the media you consume or the leisure activities that you participate in. Do they lead to peace, or do they leave you agitated or anxious? Do they help you become the person God created you to be, or do they take you down hurtful or self-centered paths? It can be hard to change our viewing habits or our leisure activities, of course, but anyone who has tried and succeeded will tell you that it is well worth the effort.”

 One word of caution: as you make it your goal to “be eager” to avoid marring your soul, don’t let the past weigh you down and don’t let the future discourage you. That’s not the point! Instead, “consider the patience of our Lord” (2 Peter 3:15). Remember that he didn’t come to condemn you for your blemishes, but to save you from them and wash you clean. Through his Spirit, his divine grace is always available to help protect you and set you free.
“Jesus, teach me how to rely on you as I try to steer clear of anything that could mar my soul or damage my spirit.”6

Friar Jude Winkler shares the sense of the author of 2 Peter that a merciful God has given first century Christians time to convert. The people trying to trap Jesus were carrying a Roman coin. Friar Jude reminds us that Christians have supported the Roman Emperor and also condemned civil authority as Satan on earth.

StAnthonyCompanions · June 2, 2020

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, comments that an important element of this new power (among the poor, the oppressed, and the marginalized) is that it is not power for the sake of personal gain, but power for the sake of all the oppressed, ignored, forgotten, and exploited members of society. The powerless are recouping power . . . the power of the gospel, which works for the betterment and liberation of all, especially those in greatest need.

 In all this, prophecy is not just being spoken about; it is being lived out in ongoing confrontations by the previously powerless of society who now dare to go to the Jerusalems of today’s society: city hall, transnational corporations, boards of education, ecclesiastical offices. Those who had before simply accepted their state of exclusion and exploitation are now coming out of their tombs of substandard housing, disease-infected neighborhoods, economically enslaving jobs, schools that strengthened illiteracy, and churches that perpetuated segregation. Those who had been dead are now coming back to life.
In this awakening . . . renewed Christians are called to exercise a prophetic role. True prophecy is based upon a prophetic lifestyle, which of itself—wordlessly—confronts an ungodly society. It is this new lifestyle—this new way of relating with persons, goods, institutions, and God—that is itself an arresting alternative to the ways of the world.7

We are creatures in the image of God who make visible by our selfless action the power of the Gospel to transform communities.

References

1	(n.d.). 2 Peter, chapter 3 - United States Conference of Catholic .... Retrieved June 2, 2020, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/2peter/3
2	(n.d.). Psalms, chapter 90 - United States Conference of Catholic .... Retrieved June 2, 2020, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/psalms/90
3	(n.d.). Mark, chapter 12 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved June 2, 2020, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/mark/12
4	(n.d.). Daily Reflections - OnlineMinistries .... Retrieved June 2, 2020, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
5	(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved June 2, 2020, from https://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/
6	(n.d.). Meditations - The Word Among Us. Retrieved June 2, 2020, from https://wau.org/meditations/2020/06/02/
7	(2020, June 2). A New Power — Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved June 2, 2020, from https://cac.org/a-new-power-2020-06-02/

Mother of the Church

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to contemplate our mission to witness to the world as members of the Church community.

Witness to the world

The reading from the Book of Genesis invites us to ponder the context of “I will put enmity between you and the woman.”

 * [3:15] They will strike…at their heel: the antecedent for “they” and “their” is the collective noun “offspring,” i.e., all the descendants of the woman. Christian tradition has seen in this passage, however, more than unending hostility between snakes and human beings. The snake was identified with the devil (Wis 2:24; Jn 8:44; Rev 12:9; 20:2), whose eventual defeat seemed implied in the verse. Because “the Son of God was revealed to destroy the works of the devil” (1 Jn 3:8), the passage was understood as the first promise of a redeemer for fallen humankind, the protoevangelium. Irenaeus of Lyons (ca. A.D. 130–200), in his Against Heresies 5.21.1, followed by several other Fathers of the Church, interpreted the verse as referring to Christ, and cited Gal 3:19 and 4:4 to support the reference. Another interpretive translation is ipsa, “she,” and is reflected in Jerome’s Vulgate. “She” was thought to refer to Mary, the mother of the messiah. In Christian art Mary is sometimes depicted with her foot on the head of the serpent.1

Psalm 87 declares the joy of living in Zion.

 * [87:5–6] The bond between the exile and the holy city was so strong as to override the exile’s citizenship of lesser cities.2

From the Gospel of John we ponder Jesus' statement ‘Woman, here is your son.’

 * [19:26–27] This scene has been interpreted literally, of Jesus’ concern for his mother; and symbolically, e.g., in the light of the Cana story in Jn 2 (the presence of the mother of Jesus, the address woman, and the mention of the hour) and of the upper room in Jn 13 (the presence of the beloved disciple; the hour). Now that the hour has come (Jn 19:28), Mary (a symbol of the church?) is given a role as the mother of Christians (personified by the beloved disciple); or, as a representative of those seeking salvation, she is supported by the disciple who interprets Jesus’ revelation; or Jewish and Gentile Christianity (or Israel and the Christian community) are reconciled.3

George Butterfield reflecting on “Woman, behold, your son… Behold, your mother.” quotes St. Jerome.

 For we judge people’s virtue not by their sex but by their character, and we hold those to be worthy of the highest glory who have renounced both rank and wealth. It was for this reason that Jesus loved the Evangelist John more than the other disciples. For John was of noble birth and known to the high priest, yet he was so little intimidated by the plotting of the Jews that he introduced Peter into his court and was the only one of the apostles bold enough to take his stand before the cross. For it was he who took the Savior’s parent to his own home. It was the virgin son who received the virgin mother as a legacy from the Lord (St. Jerome).4

Don Schwager quotes “God borrows Mary's flesh to lead humanity to glory,” by an anonymous early author from the Greek church.

 "The virgin mother, when wine was lacking, wanted Jesus to do a miracle. She was at once answered, 'Woman, what have I to do with you?' as if to say plainly, The fact that I can do a miracle comes to me from my Father, not my mother. For it was from the nature of his Father that he could do miracles but from the nature of his mother that he could die. When he was on the cross, then, in dying he acknowledged his mother whom he commended to the disciple, saying, 'Behold your mother.' And so, when he says, 'Woman, what have I to do with you? My hour is not yet come" (John 2:4). he is in effect saying, In the miracle, which I did not from your nature, I do not acknowledge you. When the hour of death shall come, however, I shall acknowledge you as my mother, since it is from you that I can die." (excerpt from LETTER 10.39.27)5

The Word Among Us Meditation on Genesis 3:9-15, 20 comments the second-century bishop St. Irenaeus wrote that the knot of Eve’s disobedience was loosed by the obedience of Mary. Yes, Eve became mother of all the living, but by welcoming Jesus into her womb, Mary has become mother to all those born into eternal life through him. And that makes her mother of the entire Church.

 As a good mother, Mary supports and guides us—both individually and as a Church—with tenderness and compassion. She is committed to teaching us and helping us grow into kind, faithful people who love the Lord and each other. So she urges us to obey and trust in God. And she doesn’t just tell us what to do; she sets the example for us as well. By her actions, she shows us how to “hear the word of God and act on it,” and she shows us how to do it in humility and surrender (Luke 8:21).6

Friar Jude Winkler explores levels of interpretation of the text from Genesis. Use of titles in the Gospel of John is an indication that the character may be in a symbolic role. Friar Jude connects the symbolism of Mary as Mother of the Church to our role to raise Christians for Jesus.

StAnthonyCompanions · June 1, 2020

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, comments that the goal of the spiritual journey is to discover and move toward connectedness on ever new levels. We may begin by making little connections with other people, with nature and animals, then grow into deeper connectedness with people. Finally, we can experience full connectedness as union with God. Remember, how you do anything is how you do everything. Without connectedness and communion, we don’t exist fully as our truest selves. Becoming who we really are is a matter of learning how to become more and more deeply connected.

 Foundational love gives us hope and allows us to trust “what is” as the jumping-off point, no matter how unsteady it feels. It allows us to work together toward “what can be.” The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus shows us what’s fully possible. God will always bring yet more life and wholeness out of seeming chaos and death. In the words of Timothy Gorringe and Rosie Beckham, “Faith in the resurrection is the ground on which Christians hope for a different future, a transition to a society less destructive, more peaceful and more whole. Living in this hope . . . calls ekklesia [the assembly of Christians] to live as a ‘contrast community’ to society.” [1]
Building such “contrast” communities was precisely Paul’s missionary strategy. You can see it throughout the New Testament. Paul believed that small communities of Jesus’ followers would make the Gospel message believable: Jesus is Lord (rather than Caesar is Lord); sharing abundance and living in simplicity (rather than hoarding wealth); nonviolence and chosen suffering (rather than aligning with power). Paul was very practical. He taught that our faith must take actual form in a living, loving group of people. Otherwise, love is just a theory.7

The Memorial to the Mother of the Church recognizes the role of the continued submission of Mary to the Will of God building a Church community.

References

1	(n.d.). Genesis, chapter 3 - United States Conference of Catholic .... Retrieved June 1, 2020, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/genesis/3
2	(n.d.). Psalms, chapter 87 - United States Conference of Catholic .... Retrieved June 1, 2020, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/psalms/87
3	(n.d.). John, chapter 19 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved June 1, 2020, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/john/19
4	(n.d.). Daily Reflections - OnlineMinistries .... Retrieved June 1, 2020, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
5	(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved June 1, 2020, from https://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/
6	(n.d.). (Memorial) - Mass Readings and Catholic Daily Meditations .... Retrieved June 1, 2020, from https://wau.org/meditations/2020/06/01/
7	(n.d.). Community as Alternative Consciousness — Center for Action .... Retrieved June 1, 2020, from https://cac.org/community-as-alternative-consciousness-2020-06-01/