Seeds for the future

The text in the Roman Catholic Lectionarytoday from the Book of Samuel tells of the adultery of King David with Bathsheba and the plan executed at David’s command to kill Uriah the Hittite, husband of Bathsheba, in an attempt to cover up the pregnancy which resulted from his transgression. The psalm today is a portion of Psalm 51, which is a deep and moving prayer for forgiveness and reconciliation. Bob Deffinbaugh writes a teaching on the events in 2 Samuel 11 and he suggests that our contemplation of great sin and the forgiveness of God should include the understanding of the likelihood that there was a relationship of friends between David and Uriah and that Uriah knew about the indiscretion of David with Bathsheba. Friar Jude Winkler comments that Uriah the Hittite is more observant of Jewish law and certainly more loyal than the one anointed by God to be King. Certainly believers are capable of great sin. The seed of sin can be more sin. When we are able to form the attitude expressed by the sinner in Psalm 51, we have begun our path to being able to accept mercy, forgiveness and reconciliation with God.  The Gospel from Mark today looks at the growth that comes from the seed of mercy, love, trust and forgiveness which we can extend to others. We sow this seed without guarantees that we will see or understand the fruits of our efforts. Maryanne Rouse of Creighton University tells of the some of the fruit which is present today in the ongoing work of the Salesian Society, founded by 19^th century Father Don Bosco, who is remembered as Saint Don Bosco in the liturgy today.

Light Love and Legacy

The texts from the Roman CatholicLectionary today link together thoughts of legacy, love and light. The king of Israel, David, is giving praise and thanksgiving to God as a response to prophesy proclaimed by Nathan of the promise of God that the kingship of the family of David would become a dynasty and it would extend beyond David’s life. Friar JudeWinkler notes the deep and typically Middle East expression of the gratitude of David. The question of legacy is certainly associated with political leaders, dictators and presidents when the press asks about the nature of their legacy. Psychologists have indicated that legacy is both a concern and perhaps even a motivation technique for people to build a bigger pie. Alex Roedlach of Creighton University considers the danger that we may attribute more of our success in achieving goals for our legacy to our selves than is true or wise. The humility of David and his profession to God that the blessing on his house is for the people of God reminds us of how grace, circumstance and the people whom God brings into our lives are so important in the success we may feel we have. Our motivation is identified by Friar Jude as the key component which decides whether we work, pray and give in secret or we let our light shine before others as Jesus declares in the wisdom statement in the Gospel from Mark today. When we are trying to increase the Love in which we act with others, our self aggrandizement will not be our concern. Friar Jude reminds us that God is not an accountant but that the wisdom of this passage reveals to us that the more we love the greater is our capacity for Love. Psychologists, life coaches and motivational experts may grab on legacy as a rung on our ladder to personal satisfaction. Jesus legacy as Love with no limit for humanity is that eternal light which we are blessed to know and encouraged to set on our lamppost.

Hear and Act

A theme in the texts today from the Roman Catholic Lectionary is the consequence of hearing the Word of God. The Gospel passage from Mark today concludes with “they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty and sixty and a hundredfold”. (Mark 4.20) This describes the situation of the Seed from the Sower landing in fertile soil. Earlier verses in this passage (Mark 4.10-12) have raised questions about the intended audience for the parables of Jesus. Is the truth of the teaching of Jesus meant to be revealed to a remnant of the people as in the time of Isaiah or as some commentators have noted the realization of the teaching of Jesus in Mark’s Gospel is action. Don Schwager emphasizes that an open mind and a hunger for truth prepare the soil for reception of the message to act in Love. The soil must be worked for it to work at fruitful yields. The text from the second book of Samuel is presented by David Moster as a key passage in the Hebrew Bible which firmly establishes a Covenant with David which is the seed of the messianic promise of the Presence of God with Israel. In the case of David, the Prophet Nathan was able to convey to the king that God had a plan for David which was not what the king wanted. The acceptance of the Will of God by David is a model for us to seek open and active understanding of how we can hear the Word and be fertile soil for the growth of the Kingdom.

Good things bad ways

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today are proclaimed on the memorial day of St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church. The second Book of Samuel tells of the great procession of the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem under the leadership of King David. This marked a change of approach of the people of Israel to the sign of Presence. David brings the Ark to his capital Jerusalem and focuses the spiritual, religious and political life of the people in a positive way to the central place which God should have in their lives. FriarJude Winkler explains that the priestly functions performed by David in this passage are actions in the line of the priesthood of Melchizedek. The difficulties encountered in the transport of the Ark to Jerusalem are linked to neglect of attention to the sacred traditions concerning how God is recognized among us. The intimacy of the relationship with God though Jesus is explained today in the Gospel from Mark as one of brothers, sister and mother. We honour and live that relationship through action in accord with the Will of God. AndyAlexander, S.J. of Creighton University, recalls words of Pope Francis on the primary place of mercy as the virtue which God is to humanity. Our relationship with people is in accord with the Will of God when it shows mercy and forgiveness. The Joy of the Gospel, Pope Francis apostolic exhortation, comments on Thomas Aquinas understanding of mercy as the greatest of all virtues. The brilliant scholarship of many theologians is a great gift to the Church as we struggle through exegesis and study to perceive how we need to evolve toward the complete life as brothers, sisters and mother of Jesus. The controversy and conflict which sometimes accompany our David-like journey in His Presence remind us that good things are often hidden in bad ways or procedures. 

Unity and division

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today contain themes of unity and division. The passage from the Second Book of Samuel tells of the petition to David to unite the northern and southern tribes of Israel under his rule as king who FriarJude Winkler notes as shepherd of my people Israel (2 Samuel 5:2). The attributes of rule by a king in ancient times were too often oppression and submission of the people. David acts to make Jerusalem the political and religious capital of the united Israel. He maintains a standing army and needto impose taxes on the people to support the kingdom. The role of shepherd to guide, protect and encourage the growth of the flock is expressed in Psalm 23. The focus on the Lord who is the source of our sustenance, peace and security is in tension with attending to the political and temporal decisions of human leaders who share with all people some division of their attention between Love, service and self aggrandizement. Patrick Borchers of Creighton University identifies the compartmentalization of our lives into time for God and time for other action. The danger in not attending to the ways in which we are moved away from God is the capture of the our lives by the rule of Satan under an oppression and submission which may lead to, an end suggested by Don Schwager, of falling into apostasy (giving up the faith) out of cowardice or disbelief. We pray with the psalmist to petition God “You are my Father, my God, and the Rock of my salvation!”(Psalm 89:26)

Fishing with joy

The experience of going to the lake, river or seaside to fish with simple equipment is peaceful and joyful for many people. Small boats on the big ocean at dawn are in tension between the peace of working in nature and the awesome power which is demonstrated when that sea is disturbed by storms. The texts today from the Roman Catholic Lectionary present peace, joy and storms. The Gospel from Matthew, which Friar Jude Winkler reminds us is written as a very Jewish Gospel to Christians with a Jewish heritage, draws attention to the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, pagan areas where the Prophet Isaiah proclaims that people in darkness will see a great light. This apologia of Matthew is in harmony with a purpose of his writing to tell of Jesus as the Messiah Who fulfills Hebrew prophesy as He brings about the transformation to the Kingdom of Heaven. The first disciples called to follow Jesus are fishing. Simon and Andrew, James and John leave their nets but not the life talent which has been given them by God. They are being transformed through their relationship with Jesus to fishers of men. Several commentators on the work in Christianity today note that we may have been distracted by desires or assumptions that our vocation will involve a road to Damascus event which will radically change us from the dark side to the side of those in light.  Maybe, as Keith Krell, writes we tend to focus on the "purely indifferent things" listed by CS Lewis rather than our unity as Christians in relationship with Jesus. The joy we have now is the root of the joy we are called to bring to others through our relationship with Jesus. PopeFrancis apostolic exhortation on the Joy of the Gospel is recalled by DennisHamm, S.J. of Creighton University with the caution that we sometimes see divisions, within our own faith communities, where some of us consider ourselves more “orthodox” or better informed than others because of our training, education, or sources of information. The Letter to the Corinthians today tells us that this trouble was one which Paul needed to address in the Church he established in that community. David Lose of the Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN discusses our real vocation and the nature of being joyful witnesses in the same sense as Pope Francis and Friar Jude. Our relationship with joy in using our God given talents is transformed though our relationship with Jesus to be the basis of the loving actions and service we are for others. We continue to fish but we know that our joy in our work is baptized to bring Love to others.

Conversion for all

A surprising part of the story of the conversion of Saint Paul which is celebrated in the texts of the Roman Catholic Lectionary today as noted by Andy Alexander, S.J of Creighton University is how Jesus identifies himself to Paul. He says that he is the one Paul is persecuting. He completely identifies with his people. Andy Alexander details some of Pope Francis teaching about this in a talk he gave on the Body of Christ. Friar Jude Winkler reviews the key points of the conversion of Paul from the three accounts in theActs of the Apostles. The appearances of Jesus after His resurrection are presented in the longer ending of the Gospel of Mark (Mark 16.9-18) from which the text for today is taken. This ending was likely added by a disciple of Mark. The Gospel ends proclaiming the experience of the risen Christ to Mary Magdalene and two disciples and commissioning the Apostles to proclaim the Good News to all creation. The intimacy with which Jesus makes Himself known to us in daily life is described by Andy Alexander. In most cases these encounters are not as momentous as the conversion narrative of Paul but they are intended to open our eyes to the invitation to be “as his body those brothers of his who are called together from every nation'" (Lumen Gentium, n. 7)” The great rabbi Gamaliel, a teacher of St Paul, who is also mentioned in Acts, where he takes an open-minded view of Christianity, urging that it not be persecuted (Acts 5:34-42), establishes Paul’s status as a learned and observant Jew. The ending of the Gospel of Mark is explained by Friar Jude as a summary of the protection of God for those, Paul in particular, who are acting to bring the Good News to Jew and Gentile alike.