Ordinary Time, Week 4

ANTIPHON

Save us O Lord our God! And gather us from the nations, to give thanks to Your holy name, and make it our glory to praise You. (Psalm 106:47).

COLLECT

Grant us, Lord our God,
that we may honor You with all our mind,
and love everyone in truth of heart.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God for ever and ever. Amen.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM

If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts. (Psalm 95:8).

SCRIPTURE EXCERPT

“Then they came to Capernaum, and on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught. The people were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority (ἐξουσίαν, exousian) and not as the scribes. In their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit; he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are - the Holy One of God!” Jesus rebuked (ἐπετίμησεν, epetimesen) him and said (λέγων legon), “Quiet (φιμώθητι, phimotheti)! Come out of him!” The unclean spirit convulsed him and with a loud cry came out of him. All were amazed and asked one another, “What is this? A new teaching with authority (ἐξουσίαν, exousian). He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey (ὑπακούουσιν, hupakouousin) him.” His fame spread everywhere throughout the whole region of Galilee (Mark 1:21-28).”

Ordinary Time, Week 3

ANTIPHON

O sing a new song to the Lord; sing to the Lord, all the earth. In His presence are majesty and splendor, strength and honor in his holy place. (Cf. Psalm 96:1, 5).

COLLECT

Almighty ever-living God,
direct our actions according to Your good pleasure,
that in the Name of Your beloved Son
we may abound in good works.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God for ever and ever. Amen.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM

Teach me your ways, O Lord. (Psalm 25:4).

SCRIPTURE EXCERPT

“After John had been arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming (κηρύσσων) the gospel of God (τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τοῦ θεοῦ): “This is the time (ὁ καιρὸς) of fulfillment (πεπλήρωται). The kingdom of God (ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ) is at hand (ἤγγικεν). Repent (μετανοεῖτε), and believe (πιστεύετε) in the gospel (ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ).” (Mark 1:14-15).”

REFLECTION

What is the “Kingdom of God (ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ, hē basileia tou Theou)?” Where is the “Kingdom of God?” Is the “Kingdom of God” just another word or synonym in the Gospels for Heaven? “The Kingdom of God” sparks many questions and rightly so. When searching the Gospels for “Kingdom of God” or “Kingdom of Heaven (which appears more often in the Gospel according to Saint Matthew),” one is amazed by the numerous references. Throughout the centuries, believers have pondered the meaning and implications of “the Kingdom of God” and scholars certainly have grappled with the phrase and filled library shelves with volumes of thought-provoking commentaries.

What can and must we do with the reality of “the Kingdom” in our day? In 1975, Pope Paul VI penned the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi (On Evangelizing in our Day). Early in the Exhortation, the Bishop of Rome states: “As an evangelizer, Christ first of all proclaims a kingdom, the kingdom of God; and this is so important that, by comparison, everything else becomes “the rest,” which is “given in addition.” Only the kingdom therefore is absolute and it makes everything else relative. The Lord will delight in describing in many ways the happiness of belonging to this kingdom (a paradoxical happiness which is made up of things that the world rejects), the demands of the kingdom and its Magna Charta, the heralds of the kingdom, its mysteries, its children, the vigilance and fidelity demanded of whoever awaits its definitive coming (Evangelii Nuntiandi, 8).” Clearly, Pope Paul VI sees “the Kingdom of God” has the central experience of Jesus’ Public Ministry; so central that everything in His ministry is grounded in “the Kingdom.” Similarly, the Catechism of the Catholic Church (paragraphs 541 through 556) examines the manifold depth of “the Kingdom” in Jesus’ Public Ministry. Based on these texts as well as other Catechetical Documents, the Roman Missal and the Sacred Scriptures, I have compiled a working description (note: not a definition) of “the Kingdom of God” that has been helpful to undergraduates, deacon candidates, seminarians and believers. There is certainly much room for discussion and I invite readers of this blog to further this discussion and description.

1. ‘The “Kingdom of God” is God the Father doing a definitive intervention.’ The Kingdom is not necessarily or strictly a specific place, although ‘place’ will be a dimension of the Kingdom as a way of living. The Kingdom is a way of living, an ongoing activity initiated by God the Father in loving concern for beings that have been created in His image and likeness. We have become addicted to sin in such a way that we cannot break free from its grip by our own power. We have come to enjoy sin too much. Sin’s tentacles have woven deeply into our lives that often we cannot see or think clearly. We may from time-to-time have great desires to rid ourselves of sin, desires that are marvelous but desires that do not contain within themselves the power to effect what is desired. More often than not, however, sin has dulled our senses to Divine Love. Sin has numbed us into complacency and entitlement to the point that we even approach the things of God and Church from a selfish point of view with no regard to the life of faith as engagement with the Divine Persons who call me as an individual and as a community to ongoing conversion manifesting charity and service to the Body of Christ. So powerless over sin, so addicted to the false self we have become that an intervention is needed: the “Kingdom of God.”

2. This intervention is a work of power, a power that transforms and surpasses the power of Creation. God the Father’s work is quintessentially a work of restoration, not annihilation. Ask anyone in construction and he or she will tell you that it is often easier to raze a building and start over than to renovate or restore. Renovating an existing structure that does not have a level, plumb or square line in it makes restoration tedious and time consuming, not to mention the ‘surprises’ lurking behind old plaster and lathe. Yet ask any restorer when the project is complete and most likely she or he will tell you that in spite of its challenges and frustrations, it was and continues to be a labor of love. Such is the Kingdom. Neither Creation nor humanity is destroyed. The Creator does not raze the created order and begin anew. Even though humanity makes continuous choices reinforcing the addiction to sin, the Father – with eyes of loves – gazes upon each human person in such a way that each of us are declared “precious.” So precious are we in the sight of God the Father, that none of us are disposable, expendable or useless. Each of us has a particular vocation in the Father’s plan of salvation and our very being is so precious to the Father that the loving, transforming power of His Kingdom calls us from the addiction to our false selves to our true selves as icons of the Father’s love.

3. This transforming power becomes a way of living, hence not a specific ‘place’ that one can absolutely pinpoint. You cannot use Google Maps or a GPS device to find the Kingdom. The Kingdom is God the Father’s way of living. It is a way of living that is the Son, Jesus. He lives each moment of His life attentive to His Father’s word and will. Spending nights in communion with His Father, Jesus teaches with His life that Kingdom living is living joined, connected, related – whatever words you wish to use – to God the Father. As a way of living, the Kingdom is a radical embrace of the First Commandment: no one nor no thing nor anything we deem important comes before the Father or interferes with our relationship with Him. Kingdom living is life that provides the essentials to a sister or brother in need (Matthew 25) and celebrates, praise and thanks the Father for all that He is doing in life (cf. Luke 1, the Magnificat). It is in this sense that one can speak of the Kingdom as ‘a place.’ Wherever one is when living as the Father commands, there is the Kingdom.

4. The Kingdom, as a way of living, has been prepared by the prophets of Old. Many of the prophets called Israel to authentic worship, a message that is still quite valid despite present, misguided and weak arguments that attempt – erroneously – at a division between religion and spirituality. For the prophets, the spiritual relationship formed by the covenant necessarily bound one (religion) freely to observe and practice a continuous, ongoing change-of-heart. The prophets knew that the ‘energy’ required to live justly as a covenant person did not come from within a person by himself or herself. Such living depended upon the mercy of God celebrated and experienced in authentic worship. Such worship then propelled one to be an instrument of charitable service in the world acting, not on one’s own initiative and power, in the name of God.

5. The Kingdom, as a way of living, is now definitely revealed and embodied in Jesus. Here, all ambiguity concerning the Kingdom is erased. The Kingdom is essentially a Person, the Person Jesus: “only He can lead us to the love of the Father in the Spirit and make us share in the life of the Holy Trinity (Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 426).” The Incarnation makes the Kingdom a reality in the created order to effect the Father’s loving transformation of everything, most especially the human heart. Responding and living the love revealed to us in Christ Jesus is the essential work and live of the “Kingdom of God.”

Is there more to be said about the Kingdom? Certainly – but more importantly the Kingdom is not intended for study but for living. While some of these reflections (as well as other aspects of Mark 1:14-15 will be discussed in time) may give us some insight, such insight is always directed to charitable service in the name of Jesus Christ.

ORDINARY TIME Week 2: Sunday

ANTIPHON

All the earth shall bow down before You, O God, and shall sing to You, shall sing to Your Name, O Most High! (Psalm 66:4).

COLLECT

Almighty ever-living God,
Who govern all things,
both in heaven and on earth,
mercifully hear the pleading of Your people
and bestow Your peace on our times.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
Who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM

Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will. (Psalm 40:8a and 9a).

SCRIPTURE EXCERPT

“John was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched (ἐμβλέψας, emblepsas) Jesus walk by, he said, “Behold (ἴδε), the Lamb of God.” The two disciples heard (ἤκουσαν, ekousan) what he said and followed (ἠκολούθησαν, ekolouthesan) Jesus. Jesus turned and saw them following him and said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” – which translated means Teacher – , “where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come, and you will see (ὄψεσθε, opsesthe).”” (John 1:35-39).”

REFLECTION

The episode proclaimed this Sunday requires the context of the preceding verses. Following the Prologue (1:1-18), the Gospel presents John the Baptist responding to questions concerning his identity. Religious leaders certainly know his name, but the questions indicate that many people are beginning to think that there is more to John than what they see. John clearly knows who he is: a voice that prepares and baptizes with water. He clearly and confidently knows he is not a prophet, Elijah nor the Messiah. Yet in addition to the actions of “crying out” and ‘baptizing with water,’ John does something else: he recognizes Jesus (“Behold, ἴδε, ide”) and proclaims Him “Lamb of God (verses 29 and 36).” In verse 29, “Lamb of God” is equated with ‘taking away [literally, ‘lifting above and away from the ground’]’ the “sin of the world.” Prior to both proclamations that Jesus is “Lamb of God,” the biblical text says that John “sees (βλέπει) Jesus (29)” and “watched (ἐμβλέψας) Jesus (36).”

What does it mean “to see (βλέπω, blepo)” the way John the Baptist sees? The text is clear, John sees Jesus and sees Him as “Lamb of God.” To see (βλέπω, blepo) in this case means more than just visual correspondence. In fact, the Gospels often employ βλέπω (blepo) when “seeing” goes deeper than surface appearance and engages a gaze onto and into the deepest dimensions of life. This way of seeing then involves more than just human biology and the physics of optics. Gospel seeing, βλέπω (blepo), is a gazing that essentially is a gift and work of Grace. It is a seeing that can be expressed, ‘understanding as God sees.’ Interestingly, the Gospels do not employ βλέπω (blepo) prior to faith; βλέπω (blepo) appears as a way of acting following or building on faith. For John, this graced way of seeing or understanding is placed in the service of faith. John’s ability to see is not rooted in himself nor in his own skills. As a grace received, John is able “to see” Jesus in a particular way for the purpose of giving voice and announcing Who Jesus is that others may come to faith.

For a person ‘coming to faith,’ seeing is neither the principle activity nor the means of faith. If we take faith to mean ‘a relationship between and among persons sparked by an encounter,’ then “hearing” is the essential biblical activity that leads to and sparks faith. This is the pattern in the account proclaimed this Sunday. John, who is blessed “to see,” gives voice to Who he sees in such a way that the other disciples “hear.” When they “hear,” they follow. Jesus then promises to those who follow, “you will see (ὄψεσθε, opsesthe).” ὄψεσθε, from the Greek verb ὁράω (orao), is another of the many Greek verbs often translated "seeing." ὁράω (orao), similar to βλέπω (blepo) is a ‘seeing’ that involves far more than a physical deciphering of light's properties to form an image in the mind. ὁράω (orao) expresses a deep perception that ‘sees‘ not only life‘s big questions, but attempts to make connections on a level beyond mere human logical and practicality. Like βλέπω (blepo), ὁράω (orao) is not grounded in human initiative, technique or skill. ὁράω (orao) is a graced activity that comes only by “hearing” a Person Who does not give all the answers up front but simply invites all to “come and you will see.”

Epiphany of the Lord

ANTIPHON

Behold, the Lord, the Mighty One, has come; and kingship is in His grasp, and power and dominion. (cf Malachi 3:1, 1 Chronicles 29:12).

COLLECT

O God, Who on this day
revealed Your Only Begotten Son to the nations
by the guidance of a star,
grant in Your mercy
that we, who know You already by faith,
may be brought to behold the beauty of
Your sublime glory.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
Who lives and reigns with You in the
unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen

RESPONSORIAL PSALM

Lord, every nation on earth will adore you. (Psalm 72:11).

SCRIPTURE EXCERPT

“They were over joyed at seeing the star, and on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated (πεσόντες [pesontes], to fall or to prostrate) themselves and did him homage (προσεκύνησαν [prosekunēsan], to fall down to worship). Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their country by another way.” (Matthew 2:10-12).”

REFLECTION

A week ago, we travelled with the shepherds of Bethlehem to behold the sign: “an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. (Luke 2:12).” As the radiant Word of God illumines life this Sunday we meet another group of people, albeit quite different from Bethlehem shepherds, “magi (μάγοι [magoi]) from the East (Matthew 2:1).” μάγοι (magoi), particularly with their treasures for the Newborn, stand in lavish contrast to the shepherds of Bethlehem. Yet pinning down exactly who these people are is somewhat difficult. A number of popular sources tend to equate these μάγοι (magoi) with practitioners of magic. Some ancient sources spoke of them ‘dabbling in dark knowledge,’ a knowledge that is more speculative and esoteric removed from the common day-to-day knowledge of life and commerce, hence the popular moniker ‘the wise men.’ Other data associate the μάγοι (magoi) with a priestly-kingly caste in Persia (present day Iran) who spent their time in pursuit of learning that would inform and enhance society by elevating the bar of ethical living. Closely connected to this point is a scholarly discussion that links the μάγοι (magoi) with some (accent on ‘some’) of the monotheistic struggles in ancient Persia and a Zoroastrian reform movement emphasizing a priority of proper behavior towards one another in society.

At this point, one might be tempted to ask the question, “So what?” How does this historic and geographic data serve the message of salvation? Good questions and good responses that help minimize treating the μάγοι (magoi) as ‘just a story.’ I am sure many readers have heard that pronouncement applied to so many episodes in Sacred Scripture. It is dangerous because in the present culture ‘just a story’ translates to ‘not real’ and if ‘not real’ creeps into the perception of Sacred Scripture, the potential for a loss of direction in this life is great. As we saw last week, while many of the people we meet in the Infancy Narratives of Saints Matthew and Luke are important for many reasons, one significant role that all play is that they are teachers of discipleship. The ‘characters’ of the Infancy Narratives teach us how to follow Jesus Christ. No matter what we confidently know or do not know about the μάγοι (magoi) one aspect is certain: the μάγοι (magoi) teach us how to follow Jesus Christ. So:

μάγοι (magoi) and discipleship lesson #1: Allow yourself to be led by the Lord. The μάγοι (magoi) followed the star because the star “preceded them (προῆγεν, proēgen). Here the rich imagery of the Exodus and the pillar of fire by night and the cloud by day. The Biblical journey is always following the Lord’s lead and never one’s own. This is why the image of the shepherd is vital in Christian spirituality and ecclesiology. Sheep individually or as a herd simply do not have the ‘smarts’ for their individual or collective survival let alone knowing where to go for water, food and safety. Sheep need help for their very existence and that assistance is given by the shepherd. So the μάγοι (magoi) - despite their ‘elevated’ social status and wealth which normally gives rise to ‘being in charge,’ the μάγοι (magoi) follow Another.

μάγοι (magoi) and discipleship lesson #2: Adore the Lord. We often hear at this time of year, “O come let us adore Him.” More than ‘nice words of a Christmas carol,’ the command to adore is living the First Commandment: ‘I am the Lord Your God, you will not have strange gods before Me.’ Adoration is the expression of single-mindedness, single heartedness and purity of heart that are treasured virtues throughout the pages of Scripture that speak of the authentic life of the disciple. When the μάγοι (magoi) entered the house, “They prostrated (πεσόντες [pesontes], to fall or to prostrate) themselves and did him homage (προσεκύνησαν [prosekunēsan], to fall down to worship).” The gesture and posture of prostration express humanity’s identity: a creature dependent on the Creator for all aspects of life. Pope Benedict XVI, in his year-end address to Vatican officials, said: “we can do no other than say, with Saint Thomas: my Lord and my God! Adoration is primarily an act of faith – the act of faith as such. God is not just some possible or impossible hypothesis concerning the origin of all things. He is present. And if he is present, then I bow down before him. Then my intellect and will and heart open up towards him and from him. In the risen Christ, the incarnate God is present, who suffered for us because he loves us. We enter this certainty of God’s tangible love for us with love in our own hearts. This is adoration, and this then determines my life.”

μάγοι (magoi) and discipleship lesson #3: Go home by a different route. There can be no other way for a disciple to traverse life than to do it differently. Because one is led by the Lord, because one falls down and worships the Lord in adoration life logically must be different for the disciple. This is the Hebrew experience of qadosh or qedesh. When Isaiah sang, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts,” he was recognizing a fundamental difference between himself and God. In western culture we tend to be somewhat skittish about holiness thinking improperly that one might appear better than someone else. Holiness is not about ‘better.’ It is a grace-enabled act of the will whereby one accepts the difference that life must be when one says “yes” to the Father’s will. The journey home – ultimately the eternal experience of salvation – cannot be a route “I” plan and execute as if I were obtaining directions from Google Maps. It can only be a route whose directions have been planned by Another for the good of everyone’s salvation.

PS Happy Feast Day, Gappy!