21st Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jos 24:1-2a, 15-17, 18b

Eph 5:21-32

Jn 6:60-69

 

The readings and gospel each present a problem.  The reading from the 24th chapter of Joshua is a problem because it is discontinuous. After hearing the first two verses, we jump to verses fifteen to eighteen.  

 

Joshua had led the people into the promised land.  He is now a dying old man giving his valedictory.  From verses two to fifteen Joshua reviewed the history of what God had done for His people, how He led them in their journey.  In the edited reading we only heard that the people pledged their loyalty.  Loyalty to God was the primary condition of the covenant.  Loyalty to the one with whom it is made is always the principal demand of a covenant. This includes the marriage covenant.  

 

The reading from Ephesians is a problem because some hearers respond to it in hostile, defensive, angry, or dismissive fashion.  Or they engage in the kind of bullying against which there is no defense; the bullying that involves words ending in: ism, ist, and phobia.  Once that starts it is best to give up your lunch money as well.  There is no possibility of winning.  Or even being heard

 

Some preachers would prefer to skip the verse: "Wives should be subordinate to their husbands."  But then would have to ignore that which precedes it:  "Be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ."  

 

The letter compares the relationship between husband and wife to the relationship between Christ and His Church.  Thus we hear,  "even as Christ loved the Church  and handed himself over for her . . . so husbands should love their wives as their own body."  That kind of love may be more difficult than subordinating oneself.

 

We cannot separate Christ from the Church of which he is the head.  

 

In the ideal marriage husband and wife subordinate their  individual needs and desires to the needs and desires of the other.  Both must be constantly aware that loving the other means honoring, obeying, respecting and periodically subordinating oneself to the other.  Both are called in turn to subordinate themselves to God.  

 

As one commentary puts it, "Just as the God of old encountered his people with a covenant of love and fidelity, so Christ encounters Christian spouses in the sacrament of marriage. He remains with them so that by their mutual self-giving spouses will love each other with enduring fidelity. . . "  

 

In the sacrament of marriage both man and woman both woman and man are called into a relationship of dignity and equality.  The common denominator in most failed marriages is the lack or loss of the mutual self-giving and sacrifice that are crucial to marriage.  The "irreconcilable differences" that seem to be the excuse for the failure of many celebrity marriages is, in fact, the idea of you do your thing and I'll do mine.  And don't bother me.  

 

The problem with John's Gospel is that we need to know the previous thirty verses so as to understand what the disciples were "murmuring" about.  

 

Many of the disciples could not accept the revelation of Jesus as Bread of Life, as The Word Made Flesh. They could not accept Jesus as the revelation of the Father.  For this reason  many of the disciples returned to their former ways of life and no longer followed Jesus. Jesus even gave the twelve apostles the option to leave.   But Peter, acting as their spokesman said,  "Master, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life.  We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God."  

 

This is a radical statement of faith that we must keep in mind  because it describes the necessary growth and evolution of faith in each of us. That faith is nurtured in the triple presence of Christ: his presence in the assembly of people at prayer, his presence in the word proclaimed in scripture and in His real presence in the Eucharist. 

 

Through most of the past week the gospel readings at Mass have focused on being called and chosen. Today's gospel reading reminds us that those who are called, that those who are chosen, that those who are invited, are free to reject the revelation that is Jesus.  Many did.  Many do today.

 

Just as the Israelites forgot and rejected the covenant with God over and over, just as some of those who enter into the covenant of marriage ignore the terms of that covenant, 

 

There are those who reject the revelation of Jesus as Bread of Life, as the Word come down from Heaven. It is sad.

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It struck me yesterday as I was proofreading this homily that in 1994 the 21st Sunday of Ordinary Time was on 24 August.  Sometime that afternoon in the novitiate chapel in Jamaica Plain, these were the readings for Mass the day our class entered the novitiate.  A pleasant surprise

The photos below are from Taiwan over the years, a place I never would have visited were it not for entering the Society.  

A women's choir entering Chiang Kai-shek concert hall for a rehearsal.  It was blazingly hot and humid.  

One of my closest friends Ignatius Hung, SJ in profile atop Ci-en Pagoda overlooking Sun Moon Lake

A white peacock at Sun Moon Lake.  Manages to get the camera lens through the openings in the fence. 

Saw this little boy looking up at the crucifix on a trip to central Taiwan. 

Ignatius and I were in Chang-hwa, his home town.  Had a good lunch here.  

+Fr. Jack, SJ, MD

Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God

Rev 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10ab

Ps 45

1Cor 15:20-27

Lk 1:39-56

 

As the history of the Catholic Church goes, today's solemnity is both ancient and new.  It is ancient in that it has been observed since the sixth century in both the Roman Church where it is known as The Assumption of Mary, Mother of God, as well as in the Eastern Church, where it is known as the Dormition of Mary, the Theotokos or God-bearer.  

 

The solemnity is new in that it was only in 1950 that Pius XII infallibly declared as dogma that upon her death, Mary's body was spared corruption and taken into heaven.  In the Papal Bull Munificentissimus Deusthat instituted the dogma, Pius cited many writings about Mary's Assumption from theologians and doctors of the Church beginning with John Damascene who lived in the 7th and 8th centuries, and continued through Bonaventure, Francis de Sales, and others.  He quoted Jesuit Saint Robert Bellarmine whose rationale for the assumption included:  "And who, I ask, could believe that the Ark of Holiness, the dwelling place of the Word of God, the Temple of the Holy Spirit, could be reduced to ruin?"

 

The Papal Bull instituting the Assumption in 1950 was the only time papal Infallibility has ever been invoked. The document ends: "It is forbidden to any man to change this, our declaration, or by rash attempt, to oppose and counter it. If any man should presume to make such an attempt, he will incur the wrath of Almighty God . . ."  

 

This Solemnity does raise questions in many of the faithful and even more questions in the less-than-faithful and terminally sophisticated.  While there is no firm scriptural basis for Mary's Assumption into heaven some scriptural passages are cited as indicative of the Assumption.  But, the explanations of how these verses suggest it involve intricate verbal, mental, linguistic, and scriptural gymnastics.  

 

However, questions of scriptural basis are, in the end, irrelevant. The more important question is: What does the dogma of Mary's Assumption mean for us?

 

The Assumption points the way for all followers of Jesus. It points the way for those who are called to imitate Mary’s fidelity and obedience to God’s will. It points the way for all who can utter the same obedient yes that Mary did at the Annunciation when she reversed Eve's willful disobedience:

 

"Ecce Ancilla Domini.

Fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum"

 

“I am the handmaid of the Lord,

May it be done unto me according to your word.”  

 

The Solemnity of the Assumption tells us that where Mary is, we are meant to be.  

The Book of Revelation overflows with fantastical, strange, and bizarre images. Revelation is not Ancient Near Eastern science fiction.

 

Part of the challenge of the Book of Revelation is that the meanings and significance of many of the images have been lost in time.  The interpretation of the image of the woman in this passage is a topic of heated debate in scriptural and theological circles.  The arguments range from those who say that these images absolutely indicate Mary, the Mother of God to readings suggesting that the image of the woman refers to Israel, or the Church, or Eve, or Mary; or perhaps all of the above at the same time.  

 

Many artists have painted and sculpted the images called forth by these verses with mixed results.  Thus, the influence of the images in the first reading is obvious in paintings of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the only other feast on which we hear this reading from Revelation.  Biblical scholar, Adele Collins makes an important point that it is more important to see the woman’s destiny than it is to identify her.  Just as Mary's fiat countered and undid Eve's disobedience, the second reading reminds us that Jesus is the New Adam,  it reminds us of our redemption from the sin of Adam.  “Just as in Adam all die so too in Christ shall all be brought to life.” 

 

In the gospel we heard Mary's response to Elizabeth's greeting at the time of the Visitation: Magnificat anima meo Dominum . . .

 

"My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, 

my spirit rejoices 

in God my savior." 

 

Mary's prayer needs no elaboration from the pulpit. Theological dissection or linguistic revisions only serve to diminish the prayer.  Certain lilies should never be gilded. The Magnificat is one of them.  Mary’s Magnificat calls only for silent, word-by-word, line-by-line contemplation in the depths of our souls and the silence of our rooms.  Indeed, this one prayer would suffice for a full eight-day retreat 

 

As we rejoice in God our savior, we recall that God has remembered and will always remember His promise of mercy.  And so,  as we will remind ourselves in a few moments during the recitation of the Creed, Mary is . . . . where we are meant to be.  

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Gave a retreat to a group of priests last week on the topic of aging, suffering, wisdom and joy.  The retreat was held at the Miramar Retreat House in Duxbury, MA.  It was my first time there, I hope it won't be my last.  Beautiful grounds, huge house (former mansion), and good food.  And only one hour away from Boston.  Spent some time wandering around with camera. 

Walking out of the retreat house after supper.  Sun (it was hot) streaming through window and hitting the diagonal wall.  Could not resist. 

A straight on shot of the light pattern.

Dahlia with raindrops.  Shooting flowers adorned with raindrops is one of the great clichés of photography.  And we all keep doing it. 

The house is run by the Society of the Divine Word (SVDs).  The SVD is a missionary order .  There are artifacts from all over the world scattered throughout the house.  

Caught my eye.  

Some photos are more effective in black and white.  There grounds are extensive, there is an outdoor chapel, a stations of the cross within a wooded path, and gorgeous plantings. This is the crucifix overlooking the altar in the outdoor chapel.  

+ Fr. Jack, SJ, MD