Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time_B - Following the Rules: Easier Said Than Done_082921

Deacon Tom Writes,

“Following the Rules: Easier Said Than Done”

Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

Question. How many laws are necessary to help us lead dignified, well ordered, and morally responsible lives? 

Answer. Not many!

In today’s first reading we hear Moses instruct the Israelites to follow the laws and statutes that God has given to them. According to Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, one of the greatest medieval Jewish scholars, there were 613 mitzvot (commandments). Of these commandments 248 were positive – thou shall commandments and 365 were negative – thou shall not. These commandments stated the obvious in some cases such as: 1) to know that G-d exists; 10) to imitate his good and upright ways; 27) not to stand idly by when a human life is in danger. There were also some interesting commandments such as: 159) not to slaughter an animal and its young on the same day, or 364) not to work with beasts of different species, yoked together. There were commandments for every facet of daily life and they were intended to help the people live together in peace and harmony. But that ideal was never realized.

By the time Jesus comes along, we can understand his compassion for those who were suffering from the burden of so many unnecessary “statutes and decrees”. In the hours he spent in prayer Jesus must have been amazed that so many "additions" to the law had been place upon the peoples shoulders.  And so, as he performed his ministry, Jesus teaches his disciples the sure fire way to live fully in the context of the Mosaic Law without getting caught up in all the nitty-gritty.  You are familiar, I have no doubt, with this profound teaching: "Love God with all your heart, mind, and strength; and, love your neighbor as yourself”. 

So, when Jesus is challenged by some Pharisees about washing his hands before eating, he calls them what they are, “hypocrites”. Jesus knows that this notion of ritualistic purity is a diversion from doing the real work that God calls us to do. In fact, a lot of the work God calls us to do is pretty dirty, if not totally ritualistically unclean. Working with the homeless or in prison or with the people who frequent our soup kitchens, the lepers of our day, may get your hands dirty but such activity is sure to open your eyes to a level of poverty and personal degradation many poor men, women, and children experience each and every day. There is a large contingency of our brothers and sisters today for whom eating off of dirty plates is the least of their problems. Newsflash… Jesus is not worried about us eating from dirty dishes! The filth Jesus wants to alert and cleans us from is that which comes from within – our hard heartedness, our deafness to the needs and concerns of others, our self-centeredness, our out of control desires, our lusting for what’s not ours. So again, how many commandments do we need to save us from ourselves? Ten? Seventeen? Do we decide which number is right for us – just like the Serta sleep bed, or are we going to listen to what the teacher has to say…and take up our cross and follow him by loving God and placing ourselves in the service of one another?

God didn’t bring us into creation to have us get caught up in the minutia. Nor did Jesus die on the cross to defend any prevailing legalistic way of life. We do need rules to guide us and govern our lives. For that reason Jesus gave us some simple ones to live by. If we want to live happy and fulfilling lives, we must see in ourselves and in each other the dignity that God has given to us. We must come to recognize that God dwells in each and every one of us. And, we must realize that we come to know, love, and serve him by knowing, loving, and serving one another. We don’t need a lot of rules to live a good life. Rather we must, in the words of St. James, “Be doers of the word and not hearers only” following Jesus’ example by Loving God and each other.

Last Sunday we heard that many of Jesus disciples departed from him because his teaching was too difficult. The truth is that ALL Jesus's teachings are difficult. It is difficult for us to be doers of the word.  Now, perhaps more than ever before, it's time to put our faith into practice and show our love for God and one another by putting aside our own likes and dislikes and act like the Children of God that we are and unite with one another in our common purpose of putting an end to this devastating virus. 

Enjoy the day!
Deacon Tom

Photo Credit : Newseum, Washington, D.C.

Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time_A - The Good Life_083020

Deacon Tom Writes

“La Dolce Vita….”

Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

Today’s gospel makes it crystal clear that Jesus was aware of the fate that awaited him in Jerusalem at the hands of the “Elders, chief priests and the scribes.” There is no turning back, as Peter learns the hard way.

As we enjoy the warmth and brightness of the full summer sun, scripture invites us to pause for a moment of reflection. That, in itself, is a real challenge for us with all that needs our attention. Yet, as fuel for our meditation today, we can ask, what Jesus is doing? He has made the decision to continue to spread the message of God’s unconditional love for all his children even though he knows it will cost him his very life. The very thought of that is grossly disturbing as Peter’s actions attest. One would think today’s lesson would be better contained in the great seasons of Easter or Christmas, but no, we encounter it now, at the end of August, with no shopping to do, no cakes to decorate or cards to send, and as we are free to relax beneath the bright summer sun and wonder just what difference, if any, God’s love for us has made in our lives.

One way to reflect on the difference God has made in our lives is “via negativa,” that is, by imagining what our lives would be like if our lives were totally disconnected from the realm of the divine. For instance, we might find that if God wasn’t an active, dynamic force in our lives we would have more money to spend since we would have no obligation to fund a parish community or donate to the poor and needy or respond generously to those who are suffering from the devastation Covid-19 that has wrecked havoc upon families, parishes and communities. Yes, we might still contribute to worthy causes occasionally, but it would be based on how we felt at the time; it wouldn’t flow from our spiritual awareness of being, “one in Christ”. We certainly would have more time on our hands also because we would be freed up from attending Mass every Sunday and running the kids back and forth to religious education and all those service hours that go along with it. Another big change we would notice is that we wouldn’t have anything to feel guilty about that comes from failing to love our neighbor or following the Golden Rule. How liberating! We would only have to follow man-made laws. Perhaps! For as we all know there are plenty of laws presently that we disregard for our own convenience. Freed from that good old Catholic guilt, we could certainly enjoy…La dolce vita! 

Make no mistake, a world with God would be a scary place …for left to our own best “human behavior” we would no longer have any awareness of our moral responsibility to love others as God has loved us, as Jesus has love us… unconditionally. So, I welcome the chance to use this passage from scripture to reflect on God’s abundant love for his creation. With that thought in mind we can begin to grasp the reality that for those who love the Lord, this is, “La dolce vita,” and the Good News is, the best is yet to come!

Please pray for all those who have and are suffering from Covid-19 and are struggling to put their lives and families back together. Remember, God hears the cries of the poor.

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom