Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

June 17, 2012

Ezekiel 17:22-24; Psalm 92; 2 Corinthians 5:6-10; Mark 14:26-34

                Our minds are built to solve problems and find meaning to life's mysteries. We want clear answers to questions and become frustrated when answers seem elusive. Scientists probe, lawyer rephrase, doctor's rule out, journalists deepen, and politicians maneuver around the data to construct a position favorable to themselves. Jesus introduces paradoxes and ambiguities in his preaching in his use or parables. Our minds do not know quite what to do with mysteries because we instinctively move past holding the unknown so we can figure out the meaning of what just happened. Ezekiel's passage and Mark's Gospel underscore that we live in the midst of mysteries.

          Ezekiel notes that God intends to encourage the fledgling Israelite community to be faithful to the Lord God who promises to raise up the lowly and bring down the mighty. The prophet likens Israel to a shoot from the branch of a tall cedar tree that is planted high atop a mountain (Jerusalem) for all to see and to find protection. The smallest of nations will become raised to a powerful one through God's providence. Israel will find her rightful place in the community of nations and she will experience internal and external safety. However, the contradictions remain. If Israel begins a tall and might nation, will God once again strike down the powerful and build up the lowly. She must become certain that her actions represent God's judgments.

          In Mark, Jesus speaks in parables to highlight the mysteries surrounding us. Though we may obtain knowledge of the farming or any processes in nature, we will not understand why some seeds germinate and others do not. We hope for good fortune that plantings take root, grow, and come to full harvest, but we realize we have little control over the outcomes. We can create conditions for more enhanced growth and protection from harsh elements and predators, but we cannot gain control over the mysteries of nature. We simply resign ourselves to do what is best not to thwart these natural processes.

          How well do we appreciate the mysteries surrounding us? For many who ponder them, they point to the reality that God is always laboring for us. We realize our dependence upon God for we can never master life or death. We come to understand what Ignatius tells us at the beginning of the Spiritual Exercises - that humans were created to love, serve, and know God and that all things of the earth are given to us as neutral gifts. We are to use these gifts insofar as they help us to better our relationship with God. When we marvel at the freedom that holding the mystery affords us, we let go of our need to control the world around us. It reminds me of the Augustine saying: "Pray as though everything depends upon God; work as though everything depends on you." It even makes sense if we turn the phrase: "Pray as though everything depends upon you; work as though everything depends upon God."

          We would do well to hold mystery more easily in our lives today. We are a "both-and" people because our faith allows for different perspectives and understandings. We are a "now-and-not-yet" people because we live in this world today and for a future, better reality. We can more easily hold the tensions and competing theologies in the church (even though the animus is hard to understand) because we ultimately realize the existence and the shaping of the church is not up to us. The kingdom is larger than the church. Let's simply respond to the mysteries and say "yes" when the opportunity arises for us to accept God's plan to build up the kingdom.  It is best to be like the farmer in Mark's Gospel who wakes up each day to witness and give thanks the mysteries of the growth of his crops. May we also arise each day to reverently behold and give thanks for the work God does in our lives.

Themes for this Week’s Masses

First Reading: Ahab seeks to buy Naboth the Jesreelite's field, but he will not give it up because it is his ancestral heritage. Defeated, he returns home to his wife Jezebel who devises a plan to obtain the land by having two scoundrels accuse Naboth of insulting God. The upset crowd takes Naboth out of the city to stone him to death - allowing Ahab to take possession of his land. Elijah the Tishbite prophet meets Ahab in Samaria and finds Ahab guilty of the cruel plot. Since Ahab humbles himself and comes clean, the Lord tells Elijah that no evil will fall upon his house. ~ As Elijah is about to be taken up to heaven in a chariot, Elisha asks that he receive double the spirit of Elijah who will grant it if Elisha sees Elijah crossing over to heaven. A song to Elijah's fiery words is sung in memorial. ~ Athaliah sees that her son is dead and exacts retribution on the royal family. After her plotting increases, Jehoiada decides to deal with her directly. She was arrested and killed alongside the many disciples of Baal. After Jehoiada dies, the spirit possesses Zechariah who is killed by the king's men because he tells they have abadonded the Lord. Aramean forces plunder Judah and Jerusalem sending many spoils to the king of Damascus - for the Lord abandons the wayward Israelites.

Gospel: The sayings after the Beatitudes continue as Jesus exhorts his disciples to offer no resistance to one who is evil and to go the extra distance to do good for others. This leads to love of neighbor and enemy alike. While it sounds nice, it is difficult to put into practice, but when they try to do it, it changes around relationships into peaceful ones. Jesus tells them their outward conduct must match their interior disposition. They are to follow the words of the Pharisees and scribes while making sure not to imitate their hypocritical behavior. Praying, fasting, and almsgiving is done for God's greater glory, not for human glory. Jesus them gives them a prayer that sets their dispositions and attitudes aright when talking to God. Treasures are not to be stored up on earth where decay and thievery happens. Treasures are to reflect the memories of one's heart where such precious gifts are stored away in heaven. They are to choose either God or mammon. They have role models in this world: the lilies do not toil, the birds received God's providence. We are not to worry about tomorrow for today's concerns are enough for us.

Saints of the Week

June 19: Romuald, abbot (950-1027), was born into a family of dukes from Ravenna and became known for founding the Camaldolese Benedictine order that combined the solitary life of hermits into a monastic community life. He founded other hermitages and monasteries throughout Italy.

June 21: Aloysius Gonzaga, S.J., priest (1568-1591), gave up a great inheritance to join the Jesuits in 1585 in his dreams of going to the missions. However, when a plague hit Rome, Gonzaga served the sick and dying in hospitals where he contracted the plague and died within three months. He is a patron saint of youth.

June 22: Paulinus of Nola, bishop (353-431) was a prominent lawyer who married a Spaniard and was baptized. Their infant son died while in Spain. He became a priest and was sent to Nola, near Naples, where he lived a semi-monastic life and helped the poor and pilgrims.

June 22: John Fisher, bishop and martyr (1469-1535) taught theology at Cambridge University and became the University Chancellor and bishop of Rochester. Fisher defended the queen against Henry VIII who wanted the marriage annulled. Fisher refused to sign the Act of Succession. When the Pope made Fisher a cardinal, the angry king beheaded him.

June 22: Thomas More, martyr (1478-1535) was a gifted lawyer, member of Parliament, scholar, and public official. He was reluctant to serve Cardinal Woolsey at court and he resigned after he opposed the king’s Act of Succession, which would allow him to divorce his wife. He was imprisoned and eventually beheaded.

This Week in Jesuit History

·         Jun 17, 1900. The martyrdom at Wuyi, China, of Blesseds Modeste Andlauer and Remy Asore, slain during the Boxer Rebellion.

·         Jun 18, 1804. Fr. John Roothan, a future general of the Society, left his native Holland at the age of seventeen to join the Society in White Russia.

·         Jun 19, 1558. The opening of the First General Congregation, nearly two years after the death of Ignatius. It was summoned by Fr. Lainez, the Vicar General. Some trouble arose from the fact that Fr. Bobadilla thought himself entitled to some share in the governance. Pope Paul IV ordered that the Institute of the Society should be strictly adhered to.

·         Jun 20, 1626. The martyrdom in Nagasaki, Japan, of Blesseds Francis Pacheco, John Baptist Zola, Vincent Caun, Balthasar De Torres, Michael Tozo, Gaspar Sadamatzu, John Kinsaco, Paul Xinsuki, and Peter Rinscei.

·         Jun 21, 1591. The death of St Aloysius Gonzaga, who died from the plague, which he caught while attending the sick.

·         Jun 22, 1611. The first arrival of the Jesuit fathers in Canada, sent there at the request of Henry IV of France.

·         Jun 23, 1967. Saint Louis University's Board of Trustees gathered at Fordyce House for the first meeting of the expanded Board of Trustees. SLU was the first Catholic university to establish a Board of Trustees with a majority of lay members.