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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.

Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time 'A'

Saturday February 2, 2008

Who’s in charge here?

The world is desperately in need of healing. Can it be said any more dramatically or put more simply than that? The phrase ‘broken humanity’ is by now a cliché that has become almost trite in the light of broken governments, war and terrorism to say nothing of earthquakes, blizzards, floods and avalanches.

These threats notwithstanding, we continue to turn to the Scriptures week after week for wisdom and guidance and although we do not expect the texts to supply us with clear-cut answers and a blueprint for action, we do search for words that provide solace and some direction for our response not only to world events but also to the many personal and family issues that challenge us every day.

It would appear from the readings that God favors the poor and the disenfranchised in every age. Indeed, the Scriptures are holding up the poor as role models not only for the Jews but also for Christians, indeed, believers of every tradition, race, religion and nation. The truly poor in spirit recognize that their strength rests in their powerlessness.

Zephaniah is not one of the more renowned prophets of the Old Testament. Matthew is the sole New Testament author to quote Zephaniah. A contemporary of Jeremiah during the reforms of King Josiah, the eyes of Zephaniah were definitely on the poor and disenfranchised of Judah in the face of an impending Babylonian invasion. Judah was a vassal state of Assyria in a state of political, economic and religious disarray.

Zephaniah was not glorifying poverty as a way of life—indigence is not a virtue—but highlighting the notion of total dependence on God. He connected the poor with the anawim, the lowly people, those without privilege or power. This is an interesting association that prepares us for the teaching of Jesus in the Beatitudes. In essence, he was urging the people to turn to God for help by recognizing their poverty without God, joining the notion of poverty with lowliness and humility.

When we know who God is, then we know who we are. Our true identity may be found not in power, money, status or even intellectual acumen but in our reliance on God.

For us, Jesus is the epitome of reliance on God. “I have come not to do my will but the will of the one who sent me.”

In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul addressed a community that was a mixed bag at best: rich and poor, educated and uneducated, but he seems to be pursing the same line of thinking as Zephaniah. At first reading, his message seems to be a putdown of the rich and well educated. However, he is challenging only those who considered themselves self-sufficient, relying more on their status than on the teaching of Jesus and dependence on God.

It is true, we often get down on our knees very quickly and bargain with God when adversity strikes making all sorts of robust promises but when the crisis passes, we become quite self-reliant.

Matthew locates Jesus’ teaching of the Beatitudes on the mountain instead of on the plain as in Luke’s gospel because he wants to identify Jesus as the ‘new Moses,’ promulgator of a new law. Connecting poverty and lowliness with trust in God, Matthew intended this teaching not only as a description of the way Jesus lived but what life is like in the dominion of God. He encapsulates the prophecy of Zephaniah in the first beatitude that sets the tone for the rest of the beatitudes: “Blessed are the poor in spirit…” In other words, blessed are they who know who they are in the sight of God and who rely on God as their source of life and dignity. They are the ones who know the source of their inner strength; it is they who will inherit the kingdom of heaven. They defer their thinking to God’s thinking. They are the meek and the merciful; they are the peacemakers and though they be lonely and even persecuted for their pursuit of justice, they will give their loneliness to God and it will not go unrewarded in this life and in the life to come.

The point of all this is that our identity and dignity are not found in what we own but in who we are before God. If we live in God’s grace, then our relationship with other creatures—men and women, indeed, with all of creation, cannot be neutral and therefore we cannot divide the world simplistically between those who are inherently good and those who are inherently evil but between the pursuit of good and the elimination of evil within ourselves as well as in the “enemy.” As someone put it quite aptly, evil is a snake that lurks in the heart of all humanity. This is what our ancient doctrine of Original Sin attempts to explain even if somewhat inadequately.

Preachers may be tempted to adjust the texts in order to soften the demands of the Gospel or accommodate them in such a way as to diminish their relevance for our times.

During this time of extraordinary political campaigning, the likes of which we have never witnessed, Christians need to be reminded that they cannot delegate responsibility to one man or to government agencies without accountability. We would be irresponsible not to monitor our military interventions and pursuits, to be certain that the moral norms of justice are honored on all sides lest we ourselves succumb to the very evil we attempt to conquer.

In the words of the contemporary spiritual writers, Thomas Moore and Richard Rohr, OFM, we need to do our’ soul work’ as individuals and as a nation during this time of political discernment. Soul work does not mean business as usual as individuals, as a church and as a nation. It means delving into the depths of our being, acknowledging our shortcomings, our sins and our wounds, but most of all, our total dependence on God. In so doing, we will come to the realization that not only are we are treasured by God but that all humanity is treasured by God and that none of us is innocent of the divisions with which we wrestle. We can only conquer evil as we conquer it in our hearts.

To the degree that we
are broken and wouinded—so is God.
As the earth sickens and shrivels
through neglect and gree—so does God.
As the little ones hunger
and are trampled upon—so is God.
So will God
be diminished
and hidden from us,
until—deeply wounded—we dare rise
from our dying
and, groaning mightily,
break open
our dark and tiny hearts
in the Spirit’s new birthing.
Edwina Gateley, ‘Growing into God, Sheed & Ward, Franklin, Wisconsin, 2000.]