Ordinary Time
1) Opening prayer
Father of everlasting goodness,
our origin and guide,
be close to us
and hear the prayers of all who praise You.
Forgive our sins and restore us to life.
Keep us safe in Your love.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
2) Gospel Reading - Matthew 15:21-28
At that time Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman of that district came and called out, "Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is tormented by a demon." But he did not say a word in answer to her. His disciples came and asked him, "Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us." He said in reply, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." But the woman came and did him homage, saying, "Lord, help me." He said in reply, "It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs." She said, "Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters." Then Jesus said to her in reply, "O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish." And her daughter was healed from that hour.
3) Reflection
Context. The bread of the children and the great faith of a Canaanite woman is the theme presented in the liturgical passage taken from chapter 15 of Matthew, who proposes to the reader of his Gospel a further deepening of faith in Christ. The episode is preceded by an initiative of the Pharisees and scribes, who go down to Jerusalem and cause a dispute to take place with Jesus, but which did not last long, because He, together with His disciples, withdrew to go to the region of Tyre and Sidon. While He is on the way, a woman from the pagan region comes to Him. This woman is presented by Matthew by the name of “a Canaanite woman” who, in the light of the Old Testament, is presented with great harshness. In the Book of Deuteronomy the inhabitants of Canaan were considered people full of sins: evil and idolatrous people.
• The dynamic of the account. While Jesus carries out His activity in Galilee and is on the way toward Tyre and Sidon, a woman comes up to Him and begins to bother Him with a petition for help for her sick daughter. The woman addresses Jesus using the title “Son of David,” a title which sounds strange pronounced by a pagan and that could be justified because of the extreme situation in which the woman finds herself. It could be thought that this woman already believes in some way, in the person of Jesus as final Savior, but this is excluded because it is only in v. 28 that her act of faith is recognized precisely by Jesus. In the dialogue with the woman Jesus seems to show that distance and diffidence which reigned between the people of Israel and the pagans. On one side Jesus confirms to the woman the priority for Israel to have access to salvation, and before the insistent prayer of His interlocutor Jesus seems to withdraw, to be at a distance; an incomprehensible attitude for the reader, but in the intention of Jesus it expresses an act of pedagogical value. To the first invocation “Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David” (v. 22) Jesus does not respond. To the second intervention, this time on the part of the disciples, who invite Him to listen to the woman’s prayer, He only expresses rejection that stresses that secular distance between the chosen people and the pagan people (vv. 23b-24). But at the insistence of the prayer of the woman who bows before Jesus, a harsh and mysterious response follows: “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to little dogs” (v. 26). The woman goes beyond the harsh response of Jesus’ words and gets a small sign of hope: the woman recognizes that God’s plan being carried out by Jesus initially concerns the chosen people, and Jesus asks the woman to recognize that priority; the woman takes advantage of that priority to present a strong reason to obtain the miracle: “Ah yes, Lord, but even little dogs eat the scraps that fall from their masters’ table” (v. 27). The woman has exceeded the test of faith: “Woman, you have great faith” (v. 28); in fact, to the humble insistence of her faith corresponds a salvific gesture.
This episode addresses an invitation to every reader of the Gospel to have that interior attitude of “openness” toward everyone, believers or not, that is to say, availability and acceptance without distinction toward all people.
4) Personal questions
• The disturbing word of God invites you to break open your smugness and all of your small plans. Are you capable of accepting all the brothers and sisters who come to you?
• Are you aware of your poverty to be able, like the Canaanite woman, to entrust yourself to Jesus’ word of salvation?
5) Concluding Prayer
Lord, do not thrust me away from Your presence;
do not take away from me Your spirit of holiness.
Give me back the joy of Your salvation,
sustain in me a generous spirit. (Ps 51:11-12)
Ordinary Time
1. Ordinary Time
Father,
You call Your children
to walk in the light of Christ.
Free us from darkness
and keep us in the radiance of Your truth.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
2) Gospel Reading - Matthew 8:28-34
When Jesus came to the territory of the Gadarenes, two demoniacs who were coming from the tombs met him. They were so savage that no one could travel by that road. They cried out, "What have you to do with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the appointed time?" Some distance away a herd of many swine was feeding. The demons pleaded with him, "If you drive us out, send us into the herd of swine." And he said to them, "Go then!" They came out and entered the swine, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea where they drowned. The swineherds ran away, and when they came to the town they reported everything, including what had happened to the demoniacs. Thereupon the whole town came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him they begged him to leave their district.
3) Reflection
• Today’s Gospel stresses the power of Jesus over the devil. In our text, the devil and the power of evil is associated with three things: 1) the cemetery, the place of the dead. The death which kills life! 2) The pig, which was considered an impure animal. The impurity which separates from God! 3) The sea, which was considered the symbol of chaos before creation. The chaos which destroys nature. The Gospel of Mark, from which Matthew takes his information, associates the power of evil with a fourth element which is the word Legion (Mk 5:9), the name of the army of the Roman Empire. The Empire oppressed and exploited the people. Thus, it is understood that the victory of Jesus over the Devil had an enormous importance for the life of the communities of the years 70’s, the time when Matthew wrote his Gospel. The communities lived oppressed and marginalized, because of the official ideology of the Roman Empire and of the Pharisees, which was renewed. The same significance and the same importance continue to be valid today.
• Matthew 8:28: The force of evil oppresses, ill-treats and alienates people. This first verse describes the situation of the people before the coming of Jesus. In describing the behavior of the two demoniacs, the Evangelist associates the force of evil with the cemetery and with death. It is a deadly power, without a goal, without direction, without control and a destructive power, which causes everyone to fear. It deprives people of their conscience, self-control, and autonomy.
• Matthew 8:29: Before the simple presence of Jesus the force of evil breaks up and disintegrates. Here is described the first contact between Jesus and the two possessed men. We see that there is total disproportion. The power, that at first seemed to be so strong, melts and disintegrates before Jesus. They shouted, “What do you want with us, Son of God? Have you come to torture us before the time?” They become aware that they are losing their power.
• Matthew 8:30-32: The power of evil is impure and has no autonomy, nor consistency. The Devil does not have power over his movements. It only gets the power to enter into the pigs with the permission of Jesus! Once they entered into the pigs, the whole herd charged down the cliff into the sea and perished in the water. In the opinion of the people, the pig was a symbol of impurity, which prevented the human being from relating with God and from feeling accepted by Him. The sea was the symbol of the existing chaos before creation and which, according to the belief of that time, continued to threaten life. This episode of the pigs which threw themselves into the sea is strange and difficult to understand. But the message is very clear: before Jesus, the power of evil has no autonomy, no consistency. Anyone who believes in Jesus has already conquered the power of evil and should not fear!
• Matthew 8:33-34: The reaction of the people of that place. The herdsmen of the pigs went to the city and told the story to the people, and they all set out to meet Jesus. Mark says that they saw the “possessed” man sitting down, dressed and in his right mind” (Mk 5:15). But the pigs were still gone! This is why they asked Jesus to leave their neighborhood. For them, the pigs were more important than the person who recovered his senses.
• The expulsion of the demons. At the time of Jesus, the words Devil or Satan were used to indicate the power of evil which drew persons away from the right path. For example, when Peter tried to divert Jesus from His mission, he was Satan for Jesus (Mk 8:33). Other times, those same words were used to indicate the political power of the Roman Empire which oppressed and exploited people. For example, in the Apocalypse, the Roman Empire is identified with “Devil or Satan” (Rev 12:9). While at other times, people used the same words to designate evils and illnesses. They spoke of devil, dumb spirit, deaf spirit, impure or unclean spirit, etc. There was great fear! In the time of Matthew, in the second half of the first century, the fear of demons increased. Some religions from the East taught worship of spirits. They taught that some of our mistaken gestures could irritate the spirits, and these, out of revenge, could prevent us from having access to God and deprive us of divine benefits. For this reason, through rites and writings, intense prayer and complicated ceremonies, people sought to appease these spirits or demons in such a way that they would not cause harm to life. These religions, instead of liberating people, nourished fear and anguish. Now, one of the objectives of the Good News of Jesus was to help people to liberate themselves from this fear. The coming of the Kingdom of God meant the coming of a stronger power. Jesus is “the strongest man” who can conquer Satan, the power of evil, snatching away from its hands a humanity imprisoned by fear (cf. Mk 3:27). For this reason the Gospels insist on the victory of Jesus over the power of evil, over the devil, over Satan, over sin and over death. The Gospels encourage communities to overcome this fear of the devil! Today, who can say “I am completely free?” Nobody! Then, if I am not totally free, there is some part of me which is possessed by other powers. How can these forces be cast away? The message of today’s Gospel continues to be valid for us.
4) Personal questions
• What oppresses and ill-treats people today? Why is it that so much is said about casting out the Devil today? Is it good to insist so much on the Devil?
• How is the meaning of a statement different when we use the term “evil” or “evil forces” versus “Evil One” or Satan or the Devil? How does modern society try to downplay the existence of Satan? Is this important?
• Who can say that he/she is completely free or liberated? Nobody! And then, we are all somewhat possessed by other forces which occupy some space within us. What can we do to expel this power from within us and from society?
• What is freedom? What is free-will? What is choice? If I go along with the crowd, am I free? Have I freely decided or have I acquiesced? Others, including Satan, cannot force us, but we can “go along”. We may not say “yes”, but did we really say “no” to evil today?
5) Concluding Prayer
Yahweh is tenderness and pity,
slow to anger, full of faithful love.
Yahweh is generous to all;
His tenderness embraces all His creatures. (Ps 145:8-9)
Ordinary Time
1) Opening prayer
Father of everlasting goodness,
our origin and guide,
be close to us
and hear the prayers of all who praise You.
Forgive our sins and restore us to life.
Keep us safe in Your love.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
2) Gospel Reading - Matthew 14:22-36
At once Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side while He sent the crowds away. After sending the crowds away He went up into the hills by Himself to pray.
When evening came, He was there alone, while the boat, by now some furlongs from land, was hard pressed by rough waves, for there was a head-wind. In the fourth watch of the night He came towards them, walking on the sea, and when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea they were terrified. 'It is a ghost,' they said, and cried out in fear.
But at once Jesus called out to them, saying, 'Courage! It's me! Don't be afraid.'
It was Peter who answered. 'Lord,' he said, 'if it is You, tell me to come to You across the water.' Jesus said, 'Come.' Then Peter got out of the boat and started walking towards Jesus across the water, but then noticing the wind, he took fright and began to sink. 'Lord,' he cried, 'save me!'
Jesus put out His hand at once and held Him. 'You have so little faith,' He said, 'why did you doubt?' 32 And as they got into the boat the wind dropped. 33 The men in the boat bowed down before Him and said, 'Truly, You are the Son of God.'
Having made the crossing, they came to land at Gennesaret. When the local people recognized Him they spread the news through the whole neighborhood and took all that were sick to Him, begging Him just to let them touch the fringe of His cloak. And all those who touched it were saved.
3) Reflection
• The Gospel today describes the difficult and tiresome crossing of the Sea of Galilee in a fragile boat, pushed by a contrary wind. Between the discourse of the Parables (Mt 13) and of the Community (Mt 18), there is once again, the narrative part (Mt 14 to 17). The discourse of the Parables calls our attention again to the presence of the Kingdom. Now, the narrative part shows the reactions in favor of and against Jesus provoked by that presence. In Nazareth, He was not accepted (Mt 13:53-58) and King Herod thought that Jesus was a sort or reincarnation of John the Baptist, whom he had murdered (Mt 14:1-12). The poor people, though, recognized in Jesus the one who had been sent by God and they followed Him to the desert, where the multiplication of the loaves took place (Mt 14:13-21). After the multiplication of the loaves, Jesus took leave of the crowd and ordered the disciples to cross the lake, as it is described in today’s Gospel (Mt 14:22-36).
• Matthew 14:22-24: To begin the crossing asked by Jesus. Jesus obliges the Disciples to go into the boat and to go toward the other side of the sea, where the land of the pagans was. He goes up to the mountain to pray. The boat symbolizes the community. It has the mission to direct itself toward the pagans and to announce among them the Good News of the Kingdom also, which was the new way of living in community. But the crossing was very tiring and long. The boat is agitated by the wave, because the wind is contrary. In spite of having rowed the whole night, there is still a great distance left before reaching the land. Much was still lacking in the community in order to be able to cross and go toward the pagans. Jesus did not go with His disciples. They had to learn to face together the difficulties, united and strengthened by faith in Jesus, who had sent them. The contrast is very great: Jesus is in peace together with God, praying on the top of the mountain, and the Disciples are almost lost there below, in the agitated sea.
• The crossing to the other side of the lake symbolizes also the difficult crossing of the community at the end of the first century. They should get out of the closed world of the ancient observance of the law toward the new manner of observing the Law of love, taught by Jesus; they should abandon the knowledge of belonging to the Chosen People, privileged by God among all other peoples, for the certainty that in Christ all peoples would be united into One People before God; they should get out from isolation and intolerance toward the open world of acceptance and of gratitude. Today also, we are going through a difficult crossing toward a new time and a new way of being Church. A difficult crossing, but which is necessary. There are moments in life in which we are attacked by fear. Good will is not lacking, but this is not sufficient. We are like a boat faced with the contrary wind.
• Matthew 14:25-27: Jesus comes close to them but they do not recognize Him. Toward the end of the night, that is, between three and six o’clock in the morning, Jesus goes to meet the Disciples. Walking on the water, He gets close to them, but they do not recognize Him. They cry out in fear, thinking that it is a ghost. Jesus calms them down, saying, “Courage! It is me! Do not be afraid!” The expression “It is me!” is the same one with which God tried to overcome the fear of Moses when He sent him to liberate the people from Egypt (Ex 3:14). For the communities, of today as well as for those of yesterday, it was and it is very important to be always open to novelty: “Courage. It is me! Do not be afraid!”
• Matthew 14:28-31: Enthusiasm and weakness of Peter. Knowing that it is Jesus, Peter asks that he also be able walk on the water. He wants to experience the power which dominates the fury of the sea. This is a power which in the bible belongs only to God (Gen 1:6; Ps 104:6-9). Jesus allows him to participate in this power. But Peter is afraid. He thinks that he will sink and he cries out, “Lord, save me!” Jesus assures him and takes hold of him and reproaches him: “You have so little faith! Why did you doubt?” Peter has more strength than he imagined, but is afraid before the oncoming waves and does not believe in the power of God which dwells within him. The communities do not believe in the force of the Spirit which is within them and which acts through faith. It is the force of the Resurrection (Eph 1:19-20).
• Matthew 14:32-33: Jesus is the Son of God. Before the waves that come toward them, Peter begins to sink in the sea because of lack of faith. After he is saved, he and Jesus, both of them, go into the boat and the wind calms down. The other Disciples, who are in the boat, are astonished and bow before Jesus, recognizing that He is the Son of God: “Truly, You are the Son of God”. Later on, Peter also professes the same faith in Jesus: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!” (Mt 16:16). In this way Matthew suggests that it is not only Peter who sustains the faith of the Disciples, but also that the faith of the Disciples sustains Peter’s faith.
• Matthew 14:34-36: They brought all the sick to Him. The episode of the crossing ends with something beautiful: “Having made the crossing they came to Gennesaret. When the local people recognized Him they spread the news through the whole neighborhood and took all who were sick to Him, begging Him just to let them touch the fringe of His cloak. And all those who touched it were saved”.
4) Personal questions
• Has there been a contrary wind in your life? What have you done to overcome it? Has this happened sometimes in the community? How was it overcome?
• Which is the crossing which the communities are doing today? From where to where? How does all this help us to recognize today the presence of Jesus in the contrary waves of life?
5) Concluding Prayer
Keep me far from the way of deceit;
grant me the grace of Your Law.
I have chosen the way of constancy;
I have molded myself to Your judgements. (Ps 119:29-30)
Ordinary Time
1) Opening prayer
Father of everlasting goodness,
our origin and guide,
be close to us
and hear the prayers of all who praise You.
Forgive our sins and restore us to life.
Keep us safe in Your love.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
2) Gospel Reading - Matthew 14:13-21
When Jesus heard of the death of John the Baptist, he withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself. The crowds heard of this and followed him on foot from their towns. When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, and he cured their sick. When it was evening, the disciples approached him and said, "This is a deserted place and it is already late; dismiss the crowds so that they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves." He said to them, "There is no need for them to go away; give them some food yourselves." But they said to him, "Five loaves and two fish are all we have here." Then he said, "Bring them here to me," and he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds. They all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the fragments left over– twelve wicker baskets full. Those who ate were about five thousand men, not counting women and children.
3) Reflection
• Context. Chapter 14 of Matthew, which contains the account of the multiplication of the loaves, provides an itinerary that guides the reader in a progressive discovery of faith in Jesus: from the lack of faith on the part of His fellow countrymen to the acknowledgment of the Son of God, passing through the gift of bread. The fellow citizens of Jesus marvel at His wisdom but do not understand that this is what acts behind His works. Besides, having a direct knowledge of Jesus’ family, of His mother, of His brothers, and of His sisters, they only succeed in seeing in Him His human condition alone: He is the son of the carpenter. Not being understood in His own home town, from now on, Jesus will live in the midst of His people, to whom He will give all His attention and His solidarity, healing and feeding the crowds.
• The dynamic of the account. Matthew has carefully narrated the episode of the multiplication of the loaves. The episode is enclosed between two expressions of transition in which he tells us that Jesus withdrew (“separated Himself”) from the crowds, from the disciples, from the boat (vv.13-14; vv.22-23). Verse 13 does not only serve as transition but offers us the reason why Jesus went to a deserted place. Such a device serves to create the environment in which the miracle takes place. The evangelist concentrates the account on the crowd and on Jesus’ attitude in regard to the crowd.
• Jesus was moved deeply to pity. At the moment when Jesus arrives He finds Himself before a crowd awaiting Him; on seeing the crowd He took pity on them and healed their sick. This is a “tired and depressed crowd, for they were like sheep without a shepherd” (9:36; 20:34). The verb that expresses Jesus’ compassion is really meaningful: “Jesus’ heart was broken”; and this corresponds to the Hebrew verb that expresses maternal visceral love. This is the same sentiment experienced by Jesus before the tomb of Lazarus (Jn 11:38). Compassion is the subjective aspect of the experience of Jesus that becomes effective with the gift of the bread.
• The gift of the bread. The account of the multiplication of the loaves is opened with the expression, “when evening came” (v.15) that will introduce the account of the Last Supper (Mt 26:20) and also that of the burial of Jesus (Mt 27:57). In the evening, then, Jesus invites the Apostles to feed the crowd. In the middle of the desert, far away from the villages and from the cities, Jesus and the disciples find themselves before a very big human problem: to feed the big crowd that follows Jesus. They cannot take care of this task to provide for the material needs of the crowd without the power of Jesus. Their immediate response is to send the crowd back home. In the face of human limitations Jesus intervenes and works the miracle satisfying the hunger of all the people who follow Him. To feed the crowd is Jesus’ response, from His heart which breaks in the face of a very concrete human need. The gift of the bread is not only sufficient to satisfy the crowd but it is so superabundant that it becomes necessary to gather what was left over. In v.19b we can see that Matthew gave a Eucharistic significance to the episode of the multiplication of the loaves: “He raised his eyes to heaven and said the blessing, and breaking the loaves He handed them to His disciples”; the role of the disciples is also made evident in their function of mediation between Jesus and the crowd: “and the disciples distributed to the crowd” (v.19c). The gestures that accompany the miracle are identical to those that Jesus will fulfill later, on the “night when He was betrayed”. He raised his eyes, blessed the bread and breaks it. From here comes the symbolic value of the miracle: it can be considered an anticipation of the Eucharist. On the part of Jesus, feeding the crowds is “a sign” that He is the Messiah and that He prepares a banquet of joy for all humanity. The disciples learn from Jesus, who distributes the bread to them, the value of sharing. A symbolic gesture that contains a real fact that goes beyond the episode itself and is projected on the future: in our daily Eucharistic celebration, where we relive that gesture of the broken bread, it is necessary that it be multiplied throughout the whole day.
4) Personal questions
• Do you try to extend gestures of solidarity toward those who are close to you or who are close to you along the journey of life? In the face of very concrete problems of your friends or relatives, do you know how to offer your help and your availability to collaborate to find a solution?
• Before breaking the bread, Jesus raised His eyes to heaven: do you know how to thank the Lord for the daily gift of bread? Do you know how to share your goods with others, especially with the poorest?
• Do you share your life with the poorest (as well as immigrants) or just share from your excess? Do you know of their lives personally or just from the news, statistics, or the internet?
5) Concluding Prayer
Keep me far from the way of deceit,
grant me the grace of Your Law.
Do not deprive me of that faithful word,
since my hope lies in Your judgments. (Ps 119:29,43)
Ordinary Time
1) Opening prayer
Father,
guide and protector of Your people,
grant us an unfailing respect for Your name,
and keep us always in Your love.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
2) Gospel Reading - Matthew 8:18-22
When Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other shore. A scribe approached and said to him, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go." Jesus answered him, "Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head." Another of his disciples said to him, "Lord, let me go first and bury my father." But Jesus answered him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead."
3) Reflection
• From the 10th to the 12th week of ordinary time, we have meditated on chapters 5 to 8 of the Gospel of Matthew. Following the meditation of chapter 8, today’s Gospel presents the conditions for following Jesus. Jesus decides to go to the other side of the lake, and a person asks to follow Him (Mt 8:18-22).
• Matthew 8:18: Jesus gives orders to go to the other side of the lake. He had accepted and cured all the sick whom people had brought to Him (Mt 8:16). Many people were around Him. Seeing that crowd, Jesus decides to go to the other side of the lake. In Mark’s Gospel, from which Matthew takes a great part of his information, the context is varied. Jesus had just finished the discourse of the parables (Mk 4:3-34) and said, “Let us go to the other side!” (Mk 4:35), and, once on the boat from where He had pronounced the discourse (cf. Mk 4:1-2), the disciples took Him to the other side. Jesus was so tired that He went to sleep on a cushion (Mk 4:38).
• Matthew 8:19: A doctor of the Law wants to follow Jesus. The moment at which Jesus decides to cross the lake, a doctor of the law comes to Him and says, “Master I will follow You wherever You go.” A parallel text in Luke (Lk 9:57-62) treats the same theme but in a slightly different way. According to Luke, Jesus had decided to go to Jerusalem, where He would have been condemned and killed. In going toward Jerusalem, He entered the territory of Samaria (Lk 9:51-52), where three people ask to follow Him (Lk 9:57,59,61). In Matthew’s Gospel, written for the converted Jews, the person who wants to follow Jesus is a doctor of the law. Matthew insists on the fact that an authority of the Jews recognizes the value of Jesus and asks to follow Him, to be one of His disciples. In Luke, who writes for the converted pagans, the people who want to follow Jesus are Samaritans. Luke stresses the ecumenical openness of Jesus who also accepts non-Jews to be His disciples.
• Matthew 8:20: Jesus’ response to the doctor of the law. The response of Jesus is identical both in Matthew and in Luke, and it is a very demanding response which leaves no doubts: “Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests but the son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” Anyone who wants to be a disciple of Jesus has to know what he is doing. He should examine the requirements and estimate well, before making a decision (Lk 14:28-32). “So in the same way none of you can be My disciple without giving up all that he owns.” (Lk 14:33).
• Matthew 8:21: A disciple asks to go and bury his father. Immediately, one who was already a disciple asks Him for permission to go and bury his deceased father: “Lord, let me go and bury my father first.” In other words, he asks Jesus to delay crossing the lake until after the burial of his father. To bury one’s parents was a sacred duty for the sons (cf. Tob 4:3-4).
• Matthew 8:22: Jesus’ answer. Once again the response from Jesus is very demanding. Jesus does not delay His trip to the other side of the lake and says to the disciple, “Follow Me, and leave the dead to bury their dead.” When Elijah called Elisha, he allowed him to greet his relatives (1Kings 19:20). Jesus is much more demanding. In order to understand the significance and importance of Jesus’ response it is well to remember that the expression “Leave the dead to bury their dead” was a popular proverb used by the people to indicate that it is not necessary to spend energies in things which have no future and which have nothing to do with life. Such a proverb should not be taken literally. It is necessary to consider the objective with which it is being used. Thus, in our case, by means of the proverb, Jesus stresses the radical demands of the new life to which He calls and which demands abandoning everything to follow Jesus. It describes the requirements of following Jesus. Like the rabbi of that time Jesus gathers His disciples. All of them “follow Jesus.” To follow was the term which was used to indicate the relationship between the disciple and the master. For the first Christians, to follow Jesus, meant three very important things bound together: a) To imitate the example of the Master: Jesus was the model to be imitated and to recreate in the life of the disciple (Jn 13:13-15). Living together daily allowed for a constant confrontation. In “Jesus’ School” only one subject was taught: The Kingdom - and this Kingdom is recognized in the life and practice of Jesus. b) To participate in the destiny of the Master: Anyone who followed Jesus should commit himself to be with Him in His privations (Lk 22:28), including persecutions (Mt 10:24-25) and on the Cross (Lk 14:27). He should be ready to die with Him (Jn 11:16). c) To bear within us the life of Jesus: After Easter, the light of the Resurrection, following took on a third dimension: "It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me" (Gal 2:20). It is a matter of the mystical dimension of following and the fruit of the action of the Spirit. The Christians tried to follow in their life the path of Jesus who had died in defense of life and rose from the dead by the power of God. (Phil 3:10-11).
4) Personal questions
• In what way am I living the “following of Jesus”?
• The foxes have their dens and the birds of the sky have their nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head. How can we live this aspect of discipleship today?
• In what ways and how often do I tell Jesus to “hold off” and wait while I do my own thing at the moment, rather following always and everywhere?
• In what way is living a conventional life like telling Jesus to wait? If He calls us radically like He called the disciples, and we say “yes”, how is it that we continue to live “like everyone else” still?
For further study
The Church of the first few centuries saw the beginnings of asceticism and monasticism in the Egyptian hermits. These early monastics took these words of Jesus literally and left everything to follow Him. This was the foundation for Eastern Monasticism, and through Saint Benedict, Western Monasticism. Some of the more visible modern monastic communities are the Benedictines and the Cistercians, or Trappists. Take time this week to read about the early Desert Fathers as they are called, as well as the the monastic orders that have resulted. Their lives are modeled after the early Christian communities and this advice from Jesus. The writings of the Desert Fathers, Saint Benedict, Saint Bernard, and others give insight on spiritual growth in this way.
5) Concluding Prayer
Fix your gaze on Yahweh and your face will grow bright,
you will never hang your head in shame.
A pauper calls out and Yahweh hears,
saves him from all his troubles. (Ps 34:5-6)
Ordinary Time
1) Opening prayer
Father,
guide and protector of Your people,
grant us an unfailing respect for Your name,
and keep us always in Your love.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
2) Gospel Reading - Matthew 8:5-17
When Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion approached him and appealed to him, saying, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully." He said to him, "I will come and cure him." The centurion said in reply, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man subject to authority, with soldiers subject to me. And I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come here,' and he comes; and to my slave, 'Do this,' and he does it." When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, "Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith. I say to you, many will come from the east and the west, and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the banquet in the Kingdom of heaven, but the children of the Kingdom will be driven out into the outer darkness, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth." And Jesus said to the centurion, "You may go; as you have believed, let it be done for you." And at that very hour his servant was healed. Jesus entered the house of Peter, and saw his mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. He touched her hand, the fever left her, and she rose and waited on him. When it was evening, they brought him many who were possessed by demons, and he drove out the spirits by a word and cured all the sick, to fulfill what had been said by Isaiah the prophet: He took away our infirmities and bore our diseases.
3) Reflection
• The Gospel today continues the description of the activity of Jesus to indicate how He put into practice the law of God, proclaimed on the mountain of the Beatitudes. After the cure of the leper in the Gospel of yesterday (Mt 8:1-4), it now follows the description of other cures.
• Matthew 8:5-7: The petition of the centurion and the answer of Jesus. When analyzing the texts of the Gospel, it is always good to be attentive to small details. The centurion is a pagan, a foreigner. He does not ask for anything, he only informs Jesus, telling him that his servant is sick and suffers terribly. Behind this attitude of people in regard to Jesus, there is the conviction that it was not necessary to ask things of Jesus. It was sufficient to communicate the problem to Him, and Jesus will do the rest. An attitude of unlimited trust! In fact, the reaction of Jesus is immediate: “I will come Myself and cure him!”
• Matthew 8:8: The reaction of the centurion. The centurion did not expect such an immediate and generous gesture. He did not expect that Jesus would go to his house. Beginning with his own experience of “head” he gives an example to express his faith and the trust that he had in Jesus. He tells Him: “Lord, I am not worthy to have You under my roof, just say a word and my servant will be cured. For I am under authority myself and have soldiers under me; and I say to one man, ‘Go’ and he goes, to another, ‘Come here’ and he comes, to my servant, ‘Do this’ and he does it”. This reaction of a foreigner before Jesus reveals what the opinion of the people was in regard to Jesus. Jesus was a person who could be trusted. He would not have driven away those who would go to Him to tell Him their problems. This is the image of Jesus which the Gospel of Matthew communicates to us even now that we read it in the XXI century.
• Matthew 8:10-13: Jesus’ comment. The official admired the reaction of Jesus and Jesus admired the reaction of the official: “In truth I tell you, in no one in Israel have I found faith as great as this”. Jesus already foresaw what was happening when Matthew wrote the Gospel: “And I tell you many will come from east and west and sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob at the feast in the Kingdom of Heaven, but the children of the Kingdom will be thrown out into the darkness outside where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth”. The message of Jesus, the new law of God proclaimed from the top of the mount of the Beatitudes is a response to the deepest desires of the human heart. The sincere and honest pagans like the centurion and so many others coming from the east and the west saw in Jesus the response to their yearning and they accepted it. The message of Jesus is not, in the first place, a doctrine or morals, nor a rite or a series of norms, but a deep experience of God which responds to what the human heart desires. It is this experience of God that people look for in the Church, or in their seeking through other religions, and we should live and radiate this way of God to others and to seekers.
• Matthew 8:14-15: The cure of Peter’s mother-in-law. Jesus goes to Peter’s house and cures his mother-in-law. She was sick. In the second half of the first century, when Matthew writes, the expression “Peter’s house” evoked the Church, constructed on the rock which was Peter. Jesus enters into this house and cures Peter’s mother-in-law. “He touched her hand and the fever left her and she got up and began to serve Him”. In Greek, the word used is diakonew, to serve. A woman becomes deaconess in Peter’s house. This is what was happening in the communities of that time. In the letter to the Romans, Paul mentions the deaconess Phoebe of the community of Cenchreae (Rm 16:1). Service was a hallmark of the first Christians.
• Matthew 8, 16-17: The fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah. Matthew says that “when evening came”, they brought many people to Jesus who were possessed by the devil. Why only at night? Because in Mark’s Gospel, from where Matthew takes his information, it was a Saturday (Mk 1:21), and Saturday ended at sunset. Then people could go out of the house, carry a burden and take the sick to the place where Jesus was. “Jesus, with His word, cast out the evil spirits and cured all the sick! Using a text of Isaiah, Matthew throws light on the meaning of Jesus’ actions: “So that which Isaiah had said would be fulfilled”. “Ours were the sufferings He was bearing, ours the sorrows He was carrying”. In this way, Matthew teaches that Jesus was the Messiah-Servant, announced by Isaiah (Is 53:4; cf. Is 42:1-9; 49:1-6; 50:4-9; 52:13-53:12). Matthew was doing what our communities do today: to use the Bible to enlighten and interpret the events and discover the presence of the creative word of God.
4) Personal questions
• Notice how Jesus didn’t wait to be asked. In our imitation of Him, do we wait to help others until we are asked? Why?
• The Good News of Jesus is not, in the first place, a doctrine or morals, nor a rite or a series of norms, but it is a profound and authentic experience of God that responds to what the human heart yearns for, and contained in the summation of the two greatest commandments. However, how can Church doctrine, morality, and instruction work in bringing us this profound and authentic experience of God? What spiritual practices help to bring this experience?
• Many people and religions claim to offer a profound experience of God. This is also an area where Satan, the deceiver, is expert in. How do we discern authentic experience from one that is just “feel good” or one that merely satisfies our earthly desires at the moment?
• Two thousand years ago there was no Internet, no shopping malls, no television or movies, no printing presses, etc. Religion filled peoples’ lives. Is the experience of the centurion possible today with so many doubts, alternatives, and distractions? How can we move to make God central to our lives again?
5) Concluding Prayer
Proclaim with me the greatness of Yahweh,
let us acclaim His name together.
I seek Yahweh and He answers me,
frees me from all my fears. (Ps 34:3-4)
Ordinary Time
1) Opening prayer
Father,
guide and protector of Your people,
grant us an unfailing respect for Your name,
and keep us always in Your love.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
2) Gospel Reading - Matthew 8:1-4
After Jesus had come down from the mountain, large crowds followed Him. Suddenly a man with a virulent skin-disease came up and bowed low in front of Him, saying, 'Lord, if You are willing, You can cleanse me.' Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him saying, 'I am willing. Be cleansed.' And his skin-disease was cleansed at once. Then Jesus said to him, 'Mind you tell no one, but go and show yourself to the priest and make the offering prescribed by Moses, as evidence to them.'
3) Reflection
•In chapters 5 to 7 we have heard the words of the New Law proclaimed on the Mountain by Jesus. Now, in chapters 8 and 9, Matthew indicates how Jesus put into practice what He had just taught. In today’s Gospel (Mt 8:1-4) and tomorrow’s (Mt 8: 5-17), we see closely the following episodes which reveal how Jesus practiced the Law: the cure of a leper (Mt 8:1-4), the cure of the servant of the Roman soldier (Mt 8:5-13), the cure of Peter’s mother-in law (Mt 8:14-15) and the healing of numerous sick people (Mt 8:14-17).
• Matthew 8:1-2: The leper asks, “Lord, if You are willing You can cleanse me”. A leper comes close to Jesus. The leper was one who was excluded. Anybody who touched him would remain unclean! This is why the lepers had to remain far away (Lev 13:45-46). But that leper had great courage. He transgresses the norms of religion in order to be able to enter into contact with Jesus. Getting close to Him he says, ‘If You are willing You can cleanse me! That is to say, ‘It is not necessary for You to touch me!’ It suffices that the Lord wants it and he will be cured”. This statement reveals two things: 1) the sickness of leprosy which made people unclean; 2) the sickness of solitude to which the person was condemned, separated from society and from religion. It reveals also the man’s great faith in the power of Jesus.
• Matthew 8:3: Jesus touches him and says, ‘I am willing. Be cleansed.’ Filled with compassion, Jesus cures two sicknesses. In the first place, in order to cure solitude, loneliness, before saying any word, He touches the leper. It is as if he said, “For Me, you are not excluded. I am not afraid to become unclean by touching you! And I accept you as a brother!” Then He cures the leper, saying, “I am willing! Be cleansed!” The leper, in order to be able to enter in contact with Jesus, had transgressed the norms of the Law. Thus Jesus, in order to help that excluded person and reveal the new face of God, transgresses the norms of his religion and touches the leper.
• Matthew 8:4: Jesus orders the man to go and show himself to the priest. At that time, a leper, in order to be reintegrated into the community, needed a certificate of healing confirmed by the priest. It is the same thing today. The sick person gets out of the hospital only if he has a certificate signed by the physician. Jesus obliges the person to obtain that document in order to be able to live normally. He obliges the authority to recognize that the man has been cured. Jesus not only heals but wants the healed person to be able to live with others. He reintegrates the person into the fraternal life of the community. The Gospel of Mark adds that the man did not present himself to the priest. Instead, “He went away and started freely proclaiming and telling the story everywhere, so that Jesus could no longer go openly into the town, but stayed outside in deserted places” (Mk 1: 45). Why could Jesus no longer enter openly into the town? Because He had touched the leper and had become unclean before the religious authority who embodied the law of that time. And now, because of this, Jesus was unclean and had to be far from everybody. He could no longer enter into the city. But Mark shows that people cared very little for these official norms, because people came to Jesus from all parts! This was totally overthrowing things! The message which Mark gives us is the following: In order to take the Good News of God to the people, we should not be afraid to transgress the religious norms which are contrary to God’s project and which prevent a fraternal spirit and love, even if this causes some difficulty to the people, as it did to Jesus.
• In Jesus everything is revelation of what He has within himself! He does not only announce the Good News of the Kingdom. He is an example, a living witness of the Kingdom, a revelation of God. In Him appears what happens when a human being allows God to reign, allows God to occupy the center of his life.
4) Personal questions
• In the name of the Law of God, the lepers were excluded and they could not live with others. In our Church are there norms and customs which are not written and marginalize persons and exclude them from living together with others and from communion? Do you know any such persons? What is your opinion concerning this?
• Jesus had the courage to touch the leper. Would you have this courage?
5) Concluding Prayer
I will bless Yahweh at all times,
His praise continually on my lips.
I will praise Yahweh from my heart;
let the humble hear and rejoice. (Ps 34:1-2)
Birth of the Precursor of the Lord
1. Let us recollect ourselves in Prayer – Statio
Prayer of Cardinal Mercier to the Holy Spirit
Oh God, who has instructed Your faithful, enlightening their hearts with the light of the Holy Spirit, grant us that in the same Spirit we may have the desire to do good and to enjoy always His comfort.
May there be glory, adoration, love, and blessing to You Eternal Divine Spirit, who has brought to earth for us the Savior of our souls. And may there be glory and honor to His most adorable heart who loves us with an infinite love.
Oh Holy Spirit, soul of my soul, I adore You: enlighten me, guide me, strengthen me, console me, teach me what I should do, give me your orders.
I promise to submit myself to all that will happen to me, allowed by You: I ask only that I may know Your will.
2. Prayerful Reading of the Word - Lectio
From the Gospel according to Luke (1:57-66,80)
When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy toward her, and they rejoiced with her. When they came on the eighth day to circumcise the child, they were going to call him Zechariah after his father, but his mother said in reply, "No. He will be called John." But they answered her, "There is no one among your relatives who has this name." So they made signs, asking his father what he wished him to be called. He asked for a tablet and wrote, "John is his name," and all were amazed. Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed, and he spoke blessing God. Then fear came upon all their neighbors, and all these matters were discussed throughout the hill country of Judea. All who heard these things took them to heart, saying, "What, then, will this child be?" For surely the hand of the Lord was with him. The child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the desert until the day of his manifestation to Israel.
3. Pondering the Word - Meditatio
3.1 Key to the Reading
This passage of the Gospel forms part of the account of the infancy of Jesus. In a particular way this text follows the scene of the visitation of Mary “in the house of Zechariah” (Lk 1:40) after the event of the Annunciation by the Angel, the messenger of the new creation.
In fact, the Annunciation inaugurates, in a joyful way, the fulfillment of God’s promise to His people (Lk 1:26-38). The joy of the new times, which filled Mary, now inundates the heart of Elizabeth. She rejoices with the announcement brought by Mary (Lk 1:41). Mary, on the other hand, “magnifies the Lord” (Lk 1:46) because He has worked great things in her, just as He has worked great marvels for His people in need of salvation.
The expression “the time came” reminds us that this reality does not only strike Elizabeth who is about to give birth, but also reveals something of God’s plan. In fact, Saint Paul tells us that when the completion of the time came, God sent His Only Begotten Son “born of a woman, born a subject of the Law, to redeem the subjects of the Law, so that we could receive adoption as children” of God (Gal 4:4).
In the Gospel, Jesus speaks about the completion of times, especially in the Gospel of John. Two of these times are the wedding at Cana (Jn 2:1-12) and the agony on the cross where Jesus exclaims that “all is fulfilled” (Jn 19:30). In the fulfillment of the times, Jesus inaugurates an era of salvation. The birth of John the Baptist inaugurates this time of salvation. In fact, at the arrival of the Messiah, he exults and leaps in the womb of his mother, Elizabeth (Lk 1:44). Later on, he will define himself as the friend of the bridegroom (Jesus) who exults and rejoices because of the event of the wedding with the bride, the Church (Jn 3:29).
The son will not be named after his father Zechariah, but John. Zechariah reminds us that God does not forget His people. In fact, his name means “God remembers”. His son will now be called “God remembers”, because God’s promises were being fulfilled. The prophetic mission of John has to indicate God’s mercy. In fact, he will be called Johanan, which is “God is mercy”. This mercy is manifested in the visit to the people, precisely “as he had promised by the mouth of His holy prophets of ancient times” (Lk 1:67-70). Thus, the name indicates the mission of the one about to be born. Zechariah will write the name of his son on a tablet so that all could see with admiration (Lk 1:63). This tablet is the echo of another inscription, written by Pilate to be fixed on the cross of Jesus. This inscription revealed the identity of the mission of the crucified: “Jesus, the Nazarene, King of the Jews” (Jn 19:19). This writing also provoked the admiration of those who were in Jerusalem for the feast.
John is the precursor of Jesus in everything. Since his birth and childhood he points out to Christ. “Who will this child be? He is “the voice which cries out in the desert” (Jn 1:23), impelling all to prepare the way of the Lord. He is not the Messiah (Jn 1:20), but he indicates this with his preaching, and above all, with his lifestyle of asceticism in the desert. Meanwhile, the child grew up and his spirit grew strong. He lived in the desert until the day he appeared openly to Israel” (Lk 1:80).
3.2 Questions to direct the meditation and the carrying out
- Do you or your community rejoice when God shows great mercy on another in the community, or do you grumble or even ignore it?
- John identifies himself as the friend of the bridegroom. According to you, what is the meaning of this image?
- John the Baptist is the one who prepares the way for the Lord. How is this relevant in our daily life?
4. Oratio
Let us bless the Lord together with Zechariah (Lk 1:68-79)
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
for He has visited His people, He has set them free,
and He has established for us a saving power
in the House of His servant David,
just as He proclaimed,
by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient times,
that He would save us from our enemies
and from the hands of all those who hate us,
and show faithful love to our ancestors,
and so keep in mind His holy covenant.
This was the oath He swore to our father Abraham,
that He would grant us, free from fear,
to be delivered from the hands of our enemies,
to serve Him in holiness and uprightness in His presence,
all our days.
And you, little child,
you shall be called prophet of the Most High,
for you will go before the Lord to prepare a way for Him,
to give His people knowledge of salvation
through the forgiveness of their sins,
because of the faithful love of our God
in which the daybreak on high will visit us,
to give light to those who live in darkness
and the shadow dark as death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.
5. Contemplatio
Let us all together adore the mercy and the goodness of God repeating in silence:
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen
Ordinary Time
1) Opening prayer
Father,
guide and protector of Your people,
grant us an unfailing respect for Your name,
and keep us always in Your love.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
2) Gospel Reading - Matthew 7:15-20
Jesus said to his disciples: "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but underneath are ravenous wolves. By their fruits you will know them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Just so, every good tree bears good fruit, and a rotten tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a rotten tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. So by their fruits you will know them."
3) Reflection
• We are reaching the final recommendations of the Sermon on the Mount. Comparing the Gospel of Matthew with that of Mark, one perceives a great difference in the way in which they present the teaching of Jesus. Matthew insists more on the content of the teaching and organizes it into five great discourses, of which the first one is the Sermon of the Mount (Mt 5 to 7). Mark says over fifteen times that Jesus taught, but he rarely says what He taught. In spite of this difference, both agree on a point: Jesus taught very much. To teach was what Jesus did the most (Mk 2:13; 4:1-2; 6:34). He does it always (Mk 10:1). Matthew is interested in the content. To teach is not only a way of communicating a truth in such a way that people learn it. The content is not limited to words, but it is also composed of gestures and in the way Jesus related Himself with people. The content is never separated from the person who communicates it. The person, in fact, is the origin of the content. Good content without intrinsic goodness is like milk spilled on the ground. It does not convince and conversion does not take place.
• The final recommendations and the result of the Sermon on the Mount in the conscience of the people are the points of the Gospel of today (Mt 7:15-20) and of tomorrow (Mt 7:21-29). (The sequence of the Gospel of the days of the week are not always the same as that of the Gospels).
Matthew 7:13-14: Choose the sure way.
Matthew 7:15-20: The prophet is known by the fruits.
Matthew 7:21-23: Not only speak, but act.
Matthew 7:24-27: Construct the house on rock.
Matthew 7:28-29: The new conscience of the people.
• Matthew 7:15-16ª: Beware of false prophets. In the time of Jesus, there were prophets of all types, people who announced apocalyptic messages to involve people in different movements of that time: Essenes, Pharisees, Zealots, and others (cf. Ac 5:36-37). When Matthew writes there were also prophets who announced messages different from the one proclaimed by the community. The letters of Paul mention these movements and tendencies (cf. 1 Co 12:3; Gal 1:7-9; 2:11-14; 6:12). It must not have been easy for the community to make a discernment of spirits. This marks the importance of the words of Jesus on false prophets. The warning of Jesus is very strong: “Beware of false prophets who come to you disguised as sheep but underneath are ravenous wolves”. The same image is used when Jesus sends the disciples on mission: “I am sending you out as sheep among wolves” (Mt 10:16 and Lc 10:3). The opposition between the ravenous wolf and the meek sheep is irreconcilable, unless the wolf is converted and looses its aggressiveness as the prophet Isaiah suggests (Is 11:6; 65:25). What is important here in our text is the gift of discernment. It is not easy to discern spirits. Sometimes it happens that personal interests or the interests of a group lead one to proclaim as false those prophets who announce the disturbing truth. That happened with Jesus. He was eliminated and put to death, considered a false prophet by the religious authorities of that time. Every so often, the same thing has happened and continues to happen in Christianity.
In our society today we experience false prophets in many ways. First, there are the obvious ones who proclaim ridiculous things in order to have some fame. There are others who use Christianity for personal gain. Those who get on television, or the Internet, or in a community and suggest that filling their bank account with money from the community members is what God wants. There are others who distort the word of God, or add to it or remove parts, in order to form their own separate community or beliefs. There are those that claim a personal revelation from God that is not consistent with Church teaching. Some claim to be God. The list can go on… Jesus warns us to not be misled. It is a wide road that carries all of these false prophets and teachers and their followers.
• Matthew 7:16b-20: The comparison of the tree and of its fruits. To help to discern spirits, Jesus uses the comparison of fruit: “You will be able to tell them by their fruits”. A similar criteria had been suggested in the book of Deuteronomy (Dt 18:21-22). Jesus adds: “Can you pick grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles? In the same way a sound tree produces good fruit, but a rotten tree bad fruit. A sound tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor a rotten tree bear good fruit. Any tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. In the Gospel of John, Jesus completes the comparison: “Every branch in me that bears no fruit, he cuts away. Every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes to make it bear even more. As a branch cannot bear fruit all by itself, unless it remains part of the vine, neither can you unless you remain in Me. Those branches will be cut off and thrown into the fire to be burnt” (Jn 15:2,4,6).
Some preach that believing in God will make you wealthy and give you the easy life. This is not Jesus’ message. When the person saying this has used the charity of the community and the people to build a huge mansion for themselves and very little goes to the poor, this is contrary to Jesus’ teaching. This is a lack of the fruit of good works that Jesus talks about, so it is easy to discern if one looks. This form of teaching does not produce good works. The same applies to those who preach violence, retribution, and even death for others. This is not consistent with Jesus’ teaching. He does not advocate killing, nor does He ever suggest “getting even”. In fact, He teaches the opposite, no matter what the offense. This is another fruit that can be used to discern the truth.
A false prophet does not even have to claim to be a prophet. The culture of death through abortion is one example. The fruit of abortion is innocent death. It is even possible that those teaching the truth are labeled as false teachers by others. We can see this in the arguments among some in the Church and with various ecclesial communities.
4) Personal questions
• Do you know any case in which a good and honest person who proclaimed a truth was condemned as a false prophet?
• How do the fruits of your actions reveal yourself to others?
• Can we use the same criteria, fruits or results, to discern the truth from the collective efforts of groups as well? Are there groups within Christianity or the Church that are so closed in on themselves that they produce little good fruit? Are there groups in Christianity or the Church that end up distorting truth or doctrine in their zeal or confusion? Can you identify some?
5) Concluding Prayer
Yahweh, look at my suffering and rescue me,
for I do not forget Your Law.
Plead my cause and defend me;
as You promised, give me life. (Ps 119:153-154)
Ordinary Time
1) Opening prayer
Father,
guide and protector of Your people,
grant us an unfailing respect for Your name,
and keep us always in Your love.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
2) Gospel Reading - Matthew 7:6,12-14
Jesus said to his disciples: "Do not give what is holy to dogs, or throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them underfoot, and turn and tear you to pieces. "Do to others whatever you would have them do to you. This is the Law and the Prophets. "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many. How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few."
3) Reflection
• Discernment and prudence in offering things of value. In relationships with others Jesus, warns about certain dangerous attitudes. The first one of these is to not judge (7:1-5): it is a true and proper prohibition, “do not judge”. It is an action that influences and drives contempt or condemnation of others. The last judgment is the exclusive competence of God. Our figures of measure and our criteria are relative and they are conditioned by our subjectivity. Any condemnation of others becomes a condemnation of oneself, in so far as it places us under the judgment of God and we exclude ourselves from pardon. If your eye is pure, that is to say, is free from every judgment of the brothers, then you can relate with them in a true way before God. Now we consider the words of Jesus offered to us by the liturgical text: “Do not give dogs what is holy; and do not throw your pearls in front of pigs, or they may trample them and then turn on you and tear you to pieces” (Mt 7:6). At first sight, this “saying” of Jesus sounds strange to the sensibility of today’s reader. It may represent a true enigma. But it is a way of saying in a Semitic language that has to be interpreted. At the time of Jesus, just as in ancient culture, dogs were not greatly appreciated because they were considered somewhat savage and wild. But let us now consider the positive and didactic-wisdom aspect of the words of Jesus: do not profane holy things. In the last instance, it is an invitation to use prudence and discernment. In the Old Testament, the holy things are the meat for the sacrifice (Lv 22:14; Ex 29:33 ff; Nb 18:8-19). The act of throwing pearls to the pigs is incomprehensible. For the Hebrews, the pigs are impure animals, the quintessence of repugnance. On the contrary, the pearls are the most precious things that can exist. The warning of Jesus refers to those who feed the stray dogs with consecrated meat destined to the sacrifice. Such behavior is evil and imprudent because those dogs were usually not fed and therefore, because of their insatiable hunger, they could turn back and attack their “benefactors”.
The pearls at the metaphoric level could indicate the teachings of the wise or the interpretation of the Torah. In Matthew’s Gospel the pearl is the image of the kingdom of God (Mt 13:45ff). The interpretation which the evangelist gives is above all theological. Surely, this is the interpretation which seems to be more in harmony with the text and with the ecclesial reading of the words of Jesus: a warning to the Christian missionaries not to preach the Gospel to just anybody.
• To follow a path. In the final part of the discourse (7:13-27), Matthew includes, among the others, an admonition of Jesus who invites us to make a choice in order to enter the kingdom of Heaven: through the narrow door (7:13-14). The word of Jesus is not only something to be understood and to interpret, but above all, it should become life. Now, to enter into the kingdom of Heaven it is necessary to follow a path and to enter into the fullness of life through a “door”. The theme of the “path, the way” is very dear to the Old Testament (Dt 11:26-28; 30, 15-20; Jr 21:8; Ps 1:6; Ps 118:29-30; Ps 138:4; Ws 5:6-7 etc.). The road represented by two doors leads to different goals. A significance that is consistent with the admonishments of Jesus would be that the wide door is joined to the wide path which leads to perdition or damnation, that is to say, to walk on a wide road is something pleasant, and capable of handling a great many travelers, but this is not said in our text. Rather it seems that Matthew agrees with the Jewish conception of the “road”; on the trail of Dt 30:19 and Jr 21:8 there are two roads that are in counter-position, that of death and that of life. To know how to choose among the many ways of life is decisive for entering into the kingdom of Heaven. Anyone who chooses the narrow road, that of life, should know that it is full of afflictions; narrow means tried by suffering for the sake of faith. Narrow paths, especially with a cart, are tricky and tough to travel. It is also less traveled. Matthew is telling his readers that most may not choose this path, so don’t expect it to be the way of the majority. Christianity was a new way, a new path, and many of the people of that time may not want to travel that path.
4) Personal questions
• Examine your day today. Are there instances where you did not treat a brother or sister as you would want to be treated? Do you make excuses as you ask yourself, saying “oh, it wouldn’t matter to me if he did that” rather than taking responsibility?
• The word of Jesus, or rather, Jesus Himself, is the door who makes us enter into the filial and fraternal life. Do you allow yourself to be guided and attracted by the narrow and demanding path of the Gospel? Or do you follow the wide and easy road that consists in doing what pleases or that leads you to satisfy all your desires, neglecting the needs of others?
5) Concluding Prayer
We reflect on Your faithful love, God,
in Your temple!
Both Your name and Your praise, God,
are over the whole wide world.
Your right hand is full of saving justice. (Ps 48:9-10)
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Ordinary Time
1) Opening prayer
Father,
guide and protector of Your people,
grant us an unfailing respect for Your name,
and keep us always in Your love.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
2) Gospel Reading - Matthew 7:1-5
Jesus said to his disciples: "Stop judging, that you may not be judged. For as you judge, so will you be judged, and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you. Why do you notice the splinter in your brother's eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove that splinter from your eye,' while the wooden beam is in your eye? You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother's eye."
3) Reflection
• In today’s Gospel we continue to meditate on the Sermon on the Mount, found in chapters 5 to 7 of the Gospel of Matthew. During the 10th and 11th week we have seen chapters 5 and 6. Beginning today, we will see chapter 7. These three chapters, 5, 6, and 7, offer an idea of how the catechesis was done in the communities of the converted Jews in the second half of the first century in Galilee and in Syria. Matthew unites and organizes the words of Jesus to teach how the new way of living the law of God should be.
• After having explained how to re-establish justice (Mt 5:17 to 6:18) and how to restore the order of creation (Mt 6:19-34), Jesus teaches how the life in community should be (Mt 7:1-12). At the end He presents some recommendations and final advice (Mt 7:13-27). Then follows an outline of the entire Sermon on the Mount:
Matthew 5:1-12: The Beatitudes: solemn openness of the New Law.
Matthew 5:13-16: The new presence in the world: Salt of the earth and light of the world.
Matthew 5:17-19: The new practice of justice: relationship with the ancient law. Matthew 5:20-48: The new practice of justice: observing the new law.
Matthew 6:1-4: The new practice of the works of piety: alms giving.
Matthew 6:5-15: The new practice of the works of piety: prayer.
Matthew 6:16-18: The new practice of the works of piety: fasting.
Matthew 6:19-21: The new relationship to material goods: do not store up.
Matthew 6:22-23: The new relationship to material goods: a correct vision.
Matthew 6:24: The new relationship to material goods: God or money.
Matthew 6:25-34: The new relationship to material goods: trust in Providence
Matthew 7:1-5: The new community life together: do not judge.
Matthew 7:6: The new community life together: do not despise the community.
Matthew 7:7-11: The new community life: trust in God produces sharing.
Matthew 7:12: The new community life together: the Golden Rule.
Matthew 7:13-14: Final recommendations to choose the sure way.
Matthew 7:15-20: Final recommendations, the prophet is known by his fruits.
Matthew 7:21-23: Final recommendations to not only speak but also practice.
Matthew 7:24-27: Final recommendations to construct the house on rock.
The community-lived experience of the Gospel (Mt 7:1-12) is the touchstone. It is where the seriousness of the commitment is defined. The new proposal of life in community embraces many aspects: do not observe the splinter in your brother’s eye (Mt 7:1-5), do not throw your pearls in front of pigs (Mt 7:6), do not be afraid to ask God for things (Mt 7:7-11). This advice reaches the summit in the Golden Rule: Always treat others as you would like them to treat you (Mt 7:12). The Gospel of today presents the first part: Matthew 7:1-5.
• Matthew 7:1-2: Do not judge and you will not be judged. The first condition for a good life together in community is not to judge brother or sister. That is, to eliminate the preconceptions which prevent a transparent community life. What does this mean concretely? John’s Gospel gives an example of how Jesus lived in community with the disciples. Jesus says: “I shall no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know the master’s business; I call you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have learned from My Father” (Jn 15:15). Jesus is an open book for His companions. This transparency comes from His total trust in the brothers and sisters and has its origin in His intimacy with the Father who gives Him the force of opening himself up totally to others. Anyone who lives in this way with his brothers and sisters accepts others as they are, without any preconceptions, without previously imposing any conditions, without judging. Mutual acceptance without any pretension and with total transparency! This is the ideal of the new community life, which has come from the Good News which Jesus has brought to us: God is our Father, and therefore, we are all brothers and sisters. It is a difficult ideal, but as beautiful and attractive as the other one: “Be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect.
• Matthew 7:3-5: You observe the splinter in your brother’s eye and never notice the great log in your own. Immediately Jesus gives an example: Why do you observe the splinter in your brother’s eye, and never notice the great log in your own? And how dare you say to your brother, “Let me take that splinter out of your eye, when look, there is a great log in your own? Hypocrite! Take the log out of your own eye first, and then you will see clearly enough to take the splinter out of your brother’s eye”. When hearing this phrase we usually think of the Pharisees who despised the common people, considering them ignorant and they considered themselves better than others (cf. Jn 7:49; 9:34). In reality, this statement of Jesus serves for all of us. For example, it is often the case that we criticize the very thing in others that we do ourselves. We observe the splinter in the eye of our brothers and we do not see the big log in our own eyes. These logs can cause many people today to have difficulty in believing in the Good News of Jesus.
4) Personal questions
• Think about the things I criticize other for. Does it reveal the same behavior, in some way, in me?
• Does this show that we all have more in common than in differences, and that it is only the log in the eye that is the problem in understanding this?
• Splinters and logs share a similar nature: both are wood. What faults do I share with others in my community or family which I seem to be blind to in myself?
5) Concluding Prayer
Your kindnesses to me are countless, Yahweh;
true to Your judgments,
give me life. (Ps 119:156)
Ordinary Time
1) Opening prayer
Almighty God,
our hope and our strength,
without You we falter.
Help us to follow Christ
and to live according to Your will.
Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
2) Gospel Reading - Matthew 6:24-34
Jesus said to his disciples: "No one can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are not you more important than they? Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span? Why are you anxious about clothes? Learn from the way the wild flowers grow. They do not work or spin. But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was clothed like one of them. If God so clothes the grass of the field, which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith? So do not worry and say, 'What are we to eat?' or 'What are we to drink?' or 'What are we to wear?' All these things the pagans seek. Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides. Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. Sufficient for a day is its own evil."
3) Reflection
• Today’s Gospel helps us to review our relationship with material goods and presents two themes of diverse importance: our relationship with money (Mt 6:24) and our relationship with Divine Providence (Mt 6:25-34). The advice given by Jesus gave rise to several difficult questions. For example, how can we understand the affirmation: “You cannot serve God and money” (Mt 6:24)? How can we understand the recommendation not to worry about food, about drink, and about dress (Mt 6:25)?
• Matthew 6:24: You cannot serve God and money. Jesus is very clear in His affirmation: “No one can serve two masters: he will either hate the first and love the second, or be attached to the first and despise the second. You cannot serve God and money… Each one has to make his/her own choice. They should ask themselves: “To what do I give the first place in my life: God or money?” This choice will depend on understanding the advice which follows about Divine Providence (Mt 6:25-34). It is not a question about a choice made only in one’s head, but rather a very concrete choice of life that has to do with attitudes.
• Matthew 6:25: Jesus criticizes excessive worry about eating and drinking. This criticism of Jesus, even in our day, causes great fear in people because the great worry of all parents is how to get food and clothing for their children. The reason for the criticism is that life is worth more than food and the body more than the clothes. In order to clarify or explain his criticism Jesus presents two parables: the birds of the air and the flowers.
• Matthew 6:26-27: The parable of the birds of the air: life is worth more than food. Jesus orders them to look at the birds. They do not sow, or reap or gather into barns, but they always have something to eat because the Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they are?” Jesus criticizes the fact that the worry about food occupies the whole horizon of the life of people, without leaving space to experience and relish gratuity and fraternity and the sense of belonging to the Father. This is why materialism is wrong, because it obliges the great majority of people to live 24 hours a day, worried about food and clothing, and produces in a rich minority, quite a limited one, the anguish of buying and consuming up to the point of not leaving space for anything else. Jesus says that life is worth more than the goods to be consumed! Materialist prevents living the Kingdom.
• Matthew 6:28-30: the parable of the lilies in the fields: the body is worth more than clothing. Jesus asks us to look at the flowers, the lilies of the fields. How elegant and beautiful God dresses them! “Now if that is how God clothes the wild flowers growing in the field which are there today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, will He not much more look after you, you who have so little faith?” Jesus says to look at the things of nature, because seeing the flowers of the field, people will remember the mission which we have: to struggle for the Kingdom and to create a new life, living together, which can guarantee the food and clothing for everybody.
• Matthew 6:31-32: Do not be like the Gentiles. Jesus once again criticizes the excessive worry over food, drink, and clothing. He concludes: “The gentiles are concerned about these things!” There should be a difference in the life of those who have faith in Jesus and those who do not have faith in Jesus. Those who have faith in Jesus share with Him the experience of the gratuity of God the Father, Abba. This experience of paternity should revolutionize life together. It should generate a community life which is fraternal, and the seed of a new society.
• Matthew 6:33-34: Set your hearts on the Kingdom first. Jesus indicates two criteria: “To seek first the kingdom of God” and not to worry about tomorrow. To seek first the Kingdom and its justice is a means to seek to do God’s will and allow God to reign in our life. The search for God is concretely expressed in the search for a fraternal and just life together. From this concern for the Kingdom springs a community life in which all live as brothers and sisters and nobody is lacking anything. Here there will be no worry for tomorrow, that is, there will be no worry about storing up things.
• Seek first of all the kingdom of God and its justice. The kingdom of God should be at the center of all of our concerns. The Kingdom demands a life together, where there is no storing up of things, but sharing in such a way that all have what is necessary to live. The Kingdom is the new fraternal life together, in which each person feels responsible for others. This way of seeing the Kingdom helps us to better understand the parables of the birds and the flowers, because for Jesus, Divine Providence passes through the community. To be concerned about the kingdom of God and its justice is the same as to be concerned about accepting God, the Father, and of being brother and sister with others. Before the growing impoverishment caused by economic consumerism, the concrete form which the Gospel presents to us gives us an alternative so that the poor will be able to live via the solidarity of the organization.
• A sharp knife in the hands of a child can be a mortal weapon. A sharp knife in the hand of a person hanging on a cord can save. The words of God on Divine Providence are like this. It would not be evangelical to say to a jobless father, who is poor, who has eight children and a sick wife: “Do not worry about food or drink! Why worry about health and clothes?” (Mt 6:25-28). We can say this only when we ourselves imitate Jesus, organize ourselves to share, guaranteeing in this way to the brother the possibility of surviving. Otherwise, we are like the three friends of Job, that in order to defend God they told lies (Job 13:7). It would be like “abandoning an orphan and betraying a friend”. In the mouth of the rich, these words can be a mortal arm against the poor. In the mouth of the poor they can be a real and concrete outlet for a better life together, more just and more fraternal.
4) Personal questions
• What do I understand by Divine Providence? Do I trust in Divine Providence? How do I express it in real life? Can it be better expressed now that I look at it and myself?
• In helping others we participate in Divine Providence, which is to participate in the Kingdom as well. What are the opportunities I had today to help and participate in God’s plan to help sustain others that I missed or avoided or shrunk away from?
• When I pass someone on the street asking for money, do I just toss them a coin or do I spend time to find out what they need and who they are? Is there more that I can do? Even talking to them and treating them as a friend is a form of welcoming them into the community and respect for a brother or sister – something they likely do not feel.
5) Concluding Prayer
I observe Your instructions,
I love them dearly.
I observe Your precepts, Your judgments,
for all my ways are before You. (Ps 119:166-167)
Ordinary Time
1) Opening prayer
Almighty God,
our hope and our strength,
without You we falter.
Help us to follow Christ
and to live according to Your will.
Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
2) Gospel Reading - Matthew 6:19-23
Jesus said to his disciples: "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and decay destroy, and thieves break in and steal. But store up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be. "The lamp of the body is the eye. If your eye is sound, your whole body will be filled with light; but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be in darkness. And if the light in you is darkness, how great will the darkness be."
3) Reflection
• In today’s Gospel we continue our reflection on the Sermon on the Mount. The last few days we have reflected on the practice of the three works of piety: almsgiving (Mt 6:1-4), prayer (Mt 6:5-15), and fasting (Mt 6:16-18). Today’s and tomorrow’s Gospel presents four recommendations on the relationship with material goods, clearly explaining how to live the poverty of the first Beatitude: (a) not to accumulate (Mt 6:19-21); (b) to have a correct idea of material goods (Mt 6:22-23); (c) to not serve two masters (Mt 6:24); (d) to abandon oneself to Divine Providence (Mt 6:25-34). Today’s Gospel presents the first two recommendations: not to accumulate goods (6:19-21) and not to look at the world with diseased eyes (6:22-23).
• Matthew 6:19-21: Do not accumulate treasures on earth. If, for example, today on TV, it is announced that next month sugar and coffee will be lacking in the market, we might all buy the most coffee and sugar we can. We accumulate because we lack trust. During the forty years in the desert, the people were tested to see if they were capable of observing God’s Law (Ex 16:4). The test consisted of this: to see if they were capable of gathering only the necessary manna for a single day and not accumulate for the following day. Jesus says: “Do not store up treasures for yourselves on earth, where moth and woodworm destroy them and thieves can break in and steal. But store up treasures for yourselves in heaven, where neither moth nor woodworm destroys them and thieves cannot break in and steal. What does it mean to store up treasures in heaven? It is a question of knowing where I place the basis of my existence. If I place it on material goods of this earth, I always run the danger of losing what I have stored up. If I place the basis in God, nobody will be able to destroy it and I will have interior freedom to share with others what I possess. In order that this may be possible and feasible it is important to reach a community life which will favor sharing and reciprocal help, and in which the greatest richness or the treasure is not material riches, but rather the richness or the treasure of fraternal living together born from the certainty brought by Jesus: God is Father and Mother of all. Because there, where your treasure is, is your heart.
• Matthew 6:22-23: The light of your body is the eye. To understand what Jesus asks it is necessary to have new eyes. Jesus is demanding and asks very much; do not store up (6:19-21), do not serve God and money together (6:24), do not worry about what you are to eat or drink (6:25-34). These demanding recommendations have something to do with that part of human life where people are anguished and worried. It also forms a part of the Sermon on the Mount that is more difficult to understand and practice. This is why Jesus says: “If your eye is diseased ....". Some translate this as diseased eye and healthy eye. Others translate as mean or poor eye and generous eye. It is the same, in reality, the worse sickness that one can imagine is a person closed up in herself and in her goods and who trusts only worldly things. It is the sickness of being stingy! Anyone who looks at life with this eye lives in sadness and in darkness. The medicine to cure this sickness is conversion, a change of mentality and ideology. To place the basis of life on God allows our look to become generous and life becomes luminous, because it makes sharing and fraternity emerge.
•Jesus wants a radical change. He wants the observance of the Law of the sabbatical year, where it is said that in the community of believers there cannot be poor (Dt 15:4). Human living together should be organized in such a way that a person should not have to worry about food and drink, about dress and house, about health and education (Mt 6:25-34). But this is possible if we all seek the kingdom of God and His justice first (Mt 6:33). The kingdom of God means to permit God to reign: it is to imitate God (Mt 5:48). The imitation of God leads to a just sharing of goods and of creative love, which brings about a true fraternity. Divine Providence can be mediated by the fraternal organization. It is only in this way that it will be possible to eliminate any worry or concern for tomorrow (Mt 6:34).
4) Personal questions
• We are stewards of what God gives us and He tells us not to store up these goods for ourselves. How do I manage this in real life? What have I stored up? Should I share a little part or everything?
• When I share, or give to others, do I give a little and keep most of it, or give most and keep only what I need for the day?
• In giving, the Church talks of time, talent, and treasure. What would be ways of hoarding these instead of sharing them? Are there other things from God to be given to others? Do I share a little and enjoy the most for myself?
5) Concluding Prayer
For Yahweh has chosen Zion,
He has desired it as a home.
Here shall I rest for evermore,
here shall I make My home as I have wished. (Ps 132:13-14)
1) OPENING PRAYER
Lord God,
You speak Your mighty word to us,
but we cannot hear it
unless it stirs our lives
and is spoken in human terms.
Keep speaking Your word to us, Lord,
and open our hearts to it,
that it may bear fruit in us
when we do Your will
and carry out what we are sent to do.
We ask You this through Your living Word,
Jesus Christ our Lord.
2) GOSPEL READING - MATTHEW 6:7-15
Jesus said to his disciples: "In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him. "This is how you are to pray: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. "If you forgive men their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive men, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions."
3) REFLECTION
There are two versions of the Our Father: Luke (Lk 11:1-4) and Matthew (Mt 6:7-13). In Luke, the Our Father is shorter. Luke writes for the communities which came from Paganism. In Matthew the Our Father is found in the Discourse on the Mountain, in the part where Jesus orientates the disciples in the practice of the three works of piety: alms (Mt 6:1-4), prayer (Mt 6:5-15) and fasting (Mt6:16-18). The Our Father forms part of a catechesis for the converted Jews. They were accustomed to pray, but had some vices which Matthew tries to correct.
Matthew 6:7-8: The faults to be corrected. Jesus criticizes the people for whom prayer was a repetition of a magic formula, strong words addressed to God to oblige Him to respond to our needs. The acceptance of our prayer by God does not depend on the repetition of words, but on God’s goodness, on God who is love and mercy. He wants our good and knows our needs even before we pray to Him.
Matthew 6:9a: The first words: Our Father, Abba Father, is the name which Jesus uses to address Himself to God. It reveals the new relationship with God that should characterize the life of the communities (Ga 4:6; Rm 8:15). We say Our Father and not My Father . The adjective places the accent on the awareness or knowledge that we all belong to the great human family of all races and creeds. To pray to the Father is to enter in intimacy with Him. It also means to be sensitive to the cry of all the brothers and sisters who cry for their daily bread. It means to seek in the first place the Kingdom of God. The experience of God as our Father is the foundation of universal fraternity.
Matthew 6:9b-10: Three requests for the cause of God: The Name, the Kingdom, the Will. In the first part we ask that our relationship with God may be re-established again. To sanctify His name: The name JAHVE means I am with you! God knows. In this name He makes Himself known (Ex 3:11-15). The name of God is sanctified when it is used with faith and not with magic; when it is used according to its true objective, not for oppression but for the liberty or freedom of the people and for the construction of the Kingdom. The coming of the Kingdom: The only Lord and King of life is God (Is 45:21; 46:9). The coming of the Kingdom is the fulfillment of all the hopes and promises. It is life in plenitude, the overcoming of frustration suffered with human kings and governments. This Kingdom will come when the Will of God will be fully accomplished. To do His will: The will of God is expressed in His Law. His will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. In Heaven the sun and the stars obey the laws of their orbit and create the order of the universe (Is 48:12-13). The observance of the law of God will be a source of order and well-being for human life.
Matthew 6:11-13: Four petitions for the cause of the brothers: Bread, Pardon, Victory, Liberty. In the second part of the Our Father we ask that the relationship among persons may be restored. The four requests show how necessary it is to transform or change the structures of the community and society in order that all the sons and daughters of God may have the same dignity. The daily bread. In Exodus the people received the manna in the desert every day (Ex 16:35). Divine Providence passed through the fraternal organization, the sharing. Jesus invites us to live a new Exodus, a new fraternal way of living together which will guarantee the daily bread for all (Mt 6:34-44; Jo 6:48-51). Forgive us our debts: Every 50 years, the Jubilee Year obliged people to forgive their debts. It was a new beginning (Lv 25:8-55). Jesus announces a new Jubilee Year, a year of grace from the Lord (Lk 4:19). The Gospel wants to begin everything anew! Do not lead us into temptation, do not put us to the test: In Exodus, people were tempted and fell (Dt 9:6-12). The people complained and wanted to go back (Ex 16:3; 17:3). In the new Exodus, the temptation will be overcome by the strength which people receive from God (I Co 10:12-13). Deliver us from evil: The Evil One is Satan, who draws away from God and is a cause of scandal. He succeeds in entering in Peter (Mt 16:23) and to tempt Jesus in the desert. Jesus overcomes him (Mt 4:1-11). He tells us: Courage, I have conquered the world! (Jn 16:33).
Matthew 6:14-15: Anyone who does not forgive will not be forgiven. In praying the Our Father, we pronounce the phrase which condemns us or absolves us. We say: Forgive our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass us (Mt 6:12). We offer God the measure of pardon that we want. If we forgive very much, He will forgive us very much. If we forgive little, He will forgive little. If we do not forgive, He will not forgive us.
4) PERSONAL QUESTIONS
Jesus prayer says forgive our debts . In some countries it is translated as forgive our offenses . What is easier to forgive, the offenses or to forgive the debts?
Christian nations of the Northern Hemisphere (Europe and USA) pray everyday: Forgive our debts as we forgive those who are in debt to us! But they do not forgive the external debt of poor countries of the Third World. How can we explain this terrible contradiction, source of impoverishment of millions of people?
Debt, in the context of society, is not only money. In fact, in referring to people who have served time in jail we say “they have paid their debt to society”. Do we accept these people back into society? Not only have they paid their “debt”, they are often treated as having not been forgiven.
How do we forgive others in terms of immigration, documented or not, and accept them into our communities?
5) CONCLUDING PRAYER
Proclaim with me the greatness of Yahweh,
let us acclaim His name together.
I seek Yahweh and He answers me,
frees me from all my fears. (Ps 34,3-4)
