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Daily Scripture

+ 20th Week in Ordinary Time

I’ll do it myself.

Readings: Ezekiel 34:1-11 Psalm 23:1-6 Matthew 20:1-16

Therefore, shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: because my shepherds did not look after my sheep, but pastured themselves and did not pasture my sheep, I will claim my sheep from them and put a stop to their shepherding my sheep. I will save my sheep, that they may no longer be food for their mouths. [Ezekiel 34:10]

There is much talk about a vocation shortage—fewer young men entering the seminary and fewer still persevering to ordination. Not withstanding some notable exceptions this has resulted in the lowering of standards for ordination. Moreover, priests and candidates for the priesthood are being ‘imported’ from other countries whose needs are as urgent as ours.

The prevailing accent seems to be on the need to have a sufficient number of priests to ‘say Mass’ and provide for the sacramental needs of the faithful. But surely in the light of the Second Vatican Council, priests need to be more than presiders at Mass and providers of the sacraments, as important as are these roles.

The earliest experience of the Church can be instructive in this regard. The notion of presbyter provided the early church with presiders for worship and leaders for base communities. Celibacy was not an issue and there was no clerical caste. The gifts of the faithful were recognized in such a manner that men and women, married and single fulfilled the spiritual needs of the community including the sacramental needs.

Notwithstanding the inadequacy of the notion of shepherding people (sheeple?) the need remains for qualified men and women to minister to the needs of the community.

Ezekiel warned the priests and assured the people of Israel that God would find away to pasture his people.

Ezekiel’s words need to be taken to heart again and in fact we already see that God is indeed providing a way through the action of the Holy Spirit in the lives of men and women, married and single, who are tending to the needs of the faithful.

Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time 'C'

Friday August 31, 2007

Here comes everybody!

Public transportation provides many opportunities to meet the world at its best and worst. From time to time I take the midtown direct into Penn Station. It’s an easy trip if you know where you are going but I don’t understand why they keep changing the location of the tracks from one side of the station to the other. Of course it’s all in my imagination. My sense of direction is not what it used to be. However, the real fascination of public transportation is the incredible variety of people one encounters from every corner of the globe. Notwithstanding the talk of terrorism and illegal aliens, it’s really hard to tell who’s who and for sure, the complexion of the population is changing rapidly. Moreover, it’s also impossible to know who has a hole in his socks and who doesn’t. In other words, language and color of skin do not determine who qualifies for the dominion of God or who gets into the heavenly banquet.

God’s view of the world is broader than the human mind can grasp and Christ’s love knows no limits. The Vatican Council was not so much about setting limits as it was about breaking down walls of division and building bridges of understanding among Christian churches, other religious traditions and even among nations.

The readings this weekend challenge us to focus on the wisdom that comes from God. This is the wisdom that provokes debate but which also draws nations together and challenges religious and political leaders to tear down walls of misinformation and misunderstanding and to build bridges of trust. Although this vision was addressed by Isaiah to the Jews returning from Babylon it can also be addressed to us in the new world, inviting us to open up the boarders or our minds and our hearts to the alienated and disenfranchised poor without jeopardizing our safety or legitimate homeland defenses. But the text also challenges us to break down barriers within our Church, barriers that keep people away from full communion at our table. “They shall bring all your kindred from all the nations as an offering to the Lord, on horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and on mules… to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the Lord.” There are many ways to be “Catholic and still remain faithful to the our tradition.

But there is a paradox to inclusion and it is expressed in the exclusivity of those who choose to catch the rhythm of the divine — the rhythm of God’s spirit. There is a discipline connected with the search for God and a discipline associated with the pursuit of doing things God’s way especially in the face of criticism and even persecution. That’s what the author of Hebrews was addressing in his letter to the early Christians whose spiritual health was endangered by their discouragement in their struggle to live as Jesus taught them to live.

The message of Jesus was inclusivity but the true disciple had to make a singular (exclusive) commitment to live this inclusivity with bias toward none. By the way, it is interesting that the word “discipline” is connected with the word “disciple”. The life of a disciple is truly a life of the discipline of learning from the master.

Most scholars agree that the narrow door mentioned in Luke is Jesus who is himself the way to life, the way to God and the way to salvation. Of course, this assumes that we enjoy more than a passing relationship with him. St. Paul tells us in his letter to the Galatians that we need to live ‘in Christ’, i.e., to put on the new person, Jesus Christ, so that we can say, “I live, no longer I but Christ lives in me.” This exclusive commitment does not exclude the recognition that salvation is available to all nor does it mean that others cannot be saved except through Christ. It means that those who accept Christ, must also accept his disposition of unconditional love for all. Jesus is an historical figure but for those who call themselves his disciples, Jesus is the ‘Christ’, the great paradigm, the universal symbol of what life can look like when we catch the ‘rhythm’ of God’s life on earth. That’s ultimately what it means to be saved.

So as Christians, we accept the fact that God’s love is universal and therefore extends to every race and nation — indiscriminately. Divine love knows no boundaries and is manifested in varying degrees through other priests and prophets and figures who throughout the centuries have given testimony of and witness to divine holiness, compassion, and unconditional love.

In the words of Pat Sanchez, biblical scholar, “ There are no reserved tables at the eternal feast, nor are there place cards designating positions of honor. Admission will not be gained based on anyone’s ethnic background, religious heritage or nationality. While the door may be narrow, it remains open to all who humbly welcome salvation as a gift and who love and are loved by God in Christ.”