More

Commentary on Numbers 12:1-13

Not only do the people complain, but Aaron and Miriam, the brother and sister of Moses, are also grumbling against their brother. Ostensibly their complaint was that Moses had married a Cushite woman. This seems to be Zipporah, the daughter of Jethro and a Midianite, whom Moses married when he was in hiding for killing a man prior to his becoming leader of his people (see Exod 2:21). There is an element of contempt in the expression.

However, it seems their real grievance was that God spoke not only through Moses, but also through them. The prophet Micah speaks of Moses, Aaron and Miriam as God’s gracious provision for Israel (Micah 6:4). Yet they were not given the treatment they felt they deserved, the kind of treatment that Moses was getting from God. Miriam appears as the chief complainer and Aaron simply goes along with her, so she alone will be punished.

In spite of the favours God showered on him, Moses himself is described as being the meekest man on earth (though he could, when need be, speak in very harsh language to wrongdoers). The complaint thrown against him could not be attributed to any arrogance on his part.

So God (how human he appears in all these accounts!) overhears their murmurings and summons all three to the Tent of Meeting. He comes down in a pillar of cloud, stands at the entrance to the Tent and calls Aaron and Miriam to come forward.

God makes his meaning very clear to them. He makes a distinction between other prophets and Moses (Miriam herself was a prophetess). God communicates with prophets through visions and dreams, but only Moses is at home in God’s house and God speaks to him face to face, plainly and not in riddles and Moses sees the very form of Yahweh.

With other prophets and seers, God’s revelation did not always come to them with complete clarity. A prophet might not fully understand the oracles he uttered, and they might seem to be riddles and mysteries. But, in Moses’ case, God spoke with special clarity—like two people speaking face to face. Clearly this was a privilege granted to no other human being.

By way of exception, some others would be given a share in the divine spirit, and God would raise up prophets after Moses’ death, but Moses will remain the greatest of them all—at least until John the Baptist comes, the forerunner of the new covenant.

How then could Aaron and Miriam have the temerity to speak against someone who had such a close relationship with him? So angry was God with the way Miriam and Aaron criticised God’s special friend that, as soon as he left and the cloud disappeared, Miriam found herself a leper, her whole body as white as snow. Actually, it was not strictly speaking leprosy (Hansen’s disease), but an affliction known as ‘white leprosy’ that is not regarded as serious or of long duration. However, it had the effect of ostracising her from the community for some time.

Aaron then begged God that the sin they had foolishly committed be not held against them. He begged that his sister not be left to look like a still-born baby:

…whose flesh is half consumed when it comes out of its mother’s womb.

Moses too, begs God to bring healing to his sister. On this note the reading ends.

Later, Aaron will pray to God on behalf of his sister. She will be cured, but not before she spends seven days outside the camp in quarantine and isolation until her skin returns to normal.

Perhaps today we could look into our own hearts and see if there are any traces of jealousy there. What or whom are we jealous about and why? And how do we relate with the people towards whom we feel jealousy or envy? Can we learn to thank God for the gifts we see in other people?

More

(Note: The Transfiguration of the Lord commemorates an event in the life of Jesus as recorded by the Synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. It is not recorded in John’s Gospel. It is also referred to in the Second Letter of Peter, which is used as an alternate weekday reading or as the Second Reading on a Sunday. One each of the three Gospel versions is read according to the Liturgical cycle of Years A, B, and C. The three versions are very similar, so this single reflection is given to cover all three years.)

Commentary on Daniel 7:9-10,13-14 or 2 Peter 1:16-19; Matthew 17:1-9 (Year A); Mark 9:2-10 (Year B); Luke 9:28-36 (Year C)

In all three Synoptic Gospels the story of the Transfiguration occurs in the same context, and that context is significant. Today’s verses are in the middle of the Gospel account and things have been building up to a climax. A previous reading describes how, as the disciples spend more time with Jesus, as they hear what he is saying and see what he is doing, they must have been asking, “Who is this Rabbi to whom we have attached ourselves; who is this Jesus?” Strangely, the answer comes from their own mouths.

One day, when Jesus was with them, he asked them:

Who do people say that the Son of Man is? (Matt 16:13)

Jesus was using this strange title of himself. Based on what they must have been hearing from people around them, they said there were various speculative answers—John the Baptist (resurrected from the dead), Elijah (ditto) or some other of the prophets.

Jesus then pressed them further:

But who do you say that I am? (Luke 9:20)

It is then that Peter speaks up:

You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God. (Matt 16:16)

It was a peak moment in their relationship with Jesus, and an exciting one. How their imaginations must have begun to work on what it meant to be so closely associated with the Messiah, the King who would be the Saviour and Liberator of Israel! What glories and privileges awaited them as his disciples!

But almost immediately, Jesus begins to speak in a very different way. For the first time (it will happen three times altogether) he tells them what his future is going to be. And it must have come as a terrible shock. Jesus told them he was going to suffer greatly, be rejected by the leaders of their own people, be killed and then rise again after three days. They could not believe their ears. How could this happen to the Messiah? How could their own leaders do such a thing? And what would it mean for the dazzling future they saw dangling before their eyes?

The impetuous Peter immediately stepped forward. He cried:

God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.
(Matt 16:22)

He can hardly have expected the reaction of Jesus:

Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things. (Mark 8:33)

And while they are recovering from this, Jesus continues by saying that not only will he himself suffer, but if they want to be his disciples, they will have to be ready to walk the same road:

If any wish to come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. (Mark 8:34)

It is after this depressing situation of disillusionment and incomprehension that today’s reading describing the Transfiguration takes place. We are told that six days later (eight days in Luke) Jesus took Peter, James and his brother John up a high mountain by themselves. The identity of the mountain is not given and it is not important. In the Scriptures, mountains are holy places and special things always happen there—we think for instance of Mount Sinai (Moses), Mount Carmel (Elijah), the Sermon on the Mountain, the Feeding of the 5,000, and Calvary (Golgotha), a hill outside Jerusalem.

There before them, Jesus is suddenly transformed and is dazzlingly bright. They can hardly look on him. Suddenly there appear with him Moses and Elijah. They represent the whole Jewish tradition of the Law and the Prophets. They are seen talking with Jesus. The message is clear. They fully endorse what Jesus is doing and saying and the future he has foretold about himself.

Peter becomes utterly confused. He suggests the building of three shelters—one each for Jesus, Moses and Elijah. As Mark comments:

He did not know what to say, for they were terrified.
(Mark 9:6)

But that was not all. Just then, a cloud came down and covered them. This was not just a change in the weather. To the biblical mind it spoke of only one thing—the presence of Yahweh himself. And then out of the cloud came a voice; it could only be the voice of One Being:

This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him! (Matt 17:5)

Here now is the supreme endorsement of the Son by his Father. “Listen to him!” Yes, listen, even when he says things that you don’t like, things that you do not yet understand. It is a confirmation of all that has gone on before—the real identity of who Jesus is and the reliability of everything that he says will happen to him and what is expected of them.

It is a special moment of encouragement which will help carry them through the difficult days ahead. They already have the answer to the question, “Who is Jesus?” But now they have to learn the answer to a more important question, “What kind of Messiah is Jesus going to be?” They will not fully accept that until after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus when they will boldly continue his mission and not hesitate to carry their cross in doing so.

Let us follow in their footsteps. That is where true happiness and fulfilment lie.

The First Reading (from the Book of Daniel) records a vision that Daniel had of God in glory and it echoes the scene that is described in the Gospel:

…an Ancient One took his throne;
his clothing was white as snow
and the hair of his head like pure wool;
his throne was fiery flames,
and its wheels were burning fire.

The alternate First Reading (or the Second Reading in some countries) is from the Second Letter of Peter in which he says he and his companions are not dispensing clever myths, but rather he claims to be a first-hand witness of the glory that was behind Jesus. Referring to the Transfiguration experience, he says they had been “eyewitnesses of his majesty”. He and his companions heard the words of confirmation coming from God in his glory:

This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him! (Luke 9:35)

Peter says that they heard:

…this voice come from heaven, while we were with him on the holy mountain.

Hence, the message that he and his companions are now proclaiming is “completely reliable” and we should take it very seriously. Because, he says in a lovely phrase, this message is:

…a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

More

Commentary on Romans 8:1-4; Matthew 5:13-19

The Gospel reading comes from the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew. It touches on two themes relevant to Alphonsus. The first is where Jesus tells his followers that they must not keep his message to themselves. It is a message that must be shared and promulgated as widely as possible. And Jesus uses several images to make his meaning clear. His followers are to be the “salt of the earth”. But if they lose their taste, that is, if the message becomes dead in them, they are useless as salt and should be got rid of. We might add that salt only works when it is fully inserted in the food; it is no good if it just remains at the side of the plate. We, too, can only be effective ‘salt’ in our society when we are totally inserted into it.

Other images that Jesus uses are that his followers are to be the “light of the world”, shining the light of Jesus’ Way by word and example. They are to be like a “city built on a hill” which cannot be hidden. An invisible Christian is no Christian (although perhaps a good person). Similarly, no one lights a light and then hides it under a cover. On the contrary, a light is set up in the place where its light is most effective. Lastly, our light is to “shine before others”, not so that people will praise us for being so good, but so that they will be led to serve and praise God.

In the second theme, Jesus speaks of his attitude to the Jewish law. Jesus did not come to put an end to this law. Rather, he came to go beyond it and bring it to a higher level. So the Jewish law was not to be changed or invalidated, but superseded. In subsequent passages (not in our reading today), he will give six examples of what he means. He will say it is not enough not to kill, but it is wrong even to have hateful and hurting thoughts in the depths of one’s mind.

Alphonsus spent much of his time teaching people how to observe God’s law as it comes to us in the Scriptures. He constantly sought a balance between excessive legalism, the law for its own sake, and excessive laxity in watering down the moral requirements of the laws. Let him, then, be a model for us both in our readiness to share our Christian life with others in word and action, and also in being truly moral people—a morality motivated above all by love.

In the First Reading, from the Letter to the Romans, Paul distinguishes between living in the ‘flesh’ and in the Spirit. To live in the ‘flesh’ is to live a life of pure self-interest. To live in the Spirit is to be inspired by the vision of life that Jesus has given us. It is, above all, the law of love that is to govern our every action. Paul writes that:

God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and to deal with sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

This was the deep concern of Alphonsus, that all live in the Spirit of Christ. And in his writings, he tried to show how this was to be done in the various situations of life.

More

Commentary on Deuteronomy 30:15-20 or 30:10-14; 1 Corinthians 10:31—11:1; Luke 9:18-25 or Matthew 8:18-27 or John 1:35-42

Three Gospel readings are suggested for today’s feast. Each of them reflects some of the spirituality of the Spiritual Exercises. The first, from Luke, is his version of Peter’s confession of Jesus as the Messiah, followed by the first prediction of his suffering, death and resurrection and, finally, the conditions for following Jesus. In the last verse of this text occur the words:

For what does it profit them if they gain the whole world but lose or forfeit themselves?

It is said that this text was proposed by Ignatius to Francis Xavier, who at the time was bent on a career of material success. After doing the Spiritual Exercises under Ignatius, Francis would devote himself to the Way of the Gospel and become an outstanding missionary, covering huge territories of Asia. It is for us, too, to hear those words of Jesus and reflect on the values that govern our lives.

The second proposed passage is from Matthew. It is about two people who wanted to become disciples of Jesus. The first, a scribe, said he would follow Jesus wherever he went. Jesus replied:

Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.

It is clear that the man had to realise that to be a follower of Jesus, he had to be ready to let go of absolutely everything. Another person, who seems to be already a disciple, says:

Lord, first let me go and bury my father.

To which Jesus replies:

Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.

It seems a severe answer, but the message is the same. It is possible, too, that the man’s father was not yet dead, but he wanted to be there when it happened. For Jesus, the service of God is always in the now. Ignatius expressed this teaching by his emphasis on ‘indifference’, a total openness to the will of God without expressing any preference one way or another.

The third text is from the Gospel of John. John the Baptist is with two of his disciples and, as Jesus walks by, John says,

Look, here is the Lamb of God!

The two disciples, one of whom was Andrew, begin walking behind Jesus. Jesus turns and asks them:

What are you looking for?

They reply with a question of their own:

Rabbi…where are you staying?

And Jesus answers:

Come and see.

So they went and saw where he stayed. A simple dialogue, but full of meaning.

It is a dialogue that each one of us can have with Jesus. If he asks me, “What are you looking for?”, how will I answer? My answer will say a lot about where I am in my relationship with Jesus. And I can also ask, “Where are you staying?” Where do I go to find Jesus? Where in my life is he to be found? Finally, there is the invitation “Come and see”. Knowing Jesus is not a question of doctrines and deep theology. It is a matter of a personal experience of Jesus in my life. This is the purpose of the Spiritual Exercises—to know Jesus more clearly, to love him more dearly and to follow him more nearly.

Two texts from the Book of Deuteronomy are suggested for the First Reading. They are both from Chapter 30. We read:

If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I am commanding you today, by loving the Lord your God, walking in his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees, and ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess.

The commandments mentioned here, of course, are the Law of Moses, but we will rather look at the law of love that Jesus taught. Jesuits, too, will find God’s law expressed in the Constitutions of their Society and in the wishes of their superiors, in whom they recognise the voice of God. For a congregation whose members were often scattered far and wide and living very much on their own, obedience was very important as a bond joining them all together.

The Second Reading is from the First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians. It reflects the motto of the Jesuits:

…whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.

And the passage ends:

Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.

The work of Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, was much loved by Ignatius. And the goal of doing the Spiritual Exercises is to become as like to Christ as possible.

There is also a beautiful prayer at the beginning of Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians (1:3-10) which speaks of how each one of us has been chosen by God long before we came into existence. In it he says:

He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. (Eph 1:5)

Ignatius would have been very much aware of how God worked in his life. Step by step, God brought him from the life of a rather worldly soldier to a hermit’s life, and eventually to become the leader of an apostolic group devoted to the spread of the Kingdom and God’s greater glory. Perhaps we too can see God acting in our lives at different stages and see how he has brought us to situations of which we had never dreamt—and how he has lavished his gifts on us through the people we have encountered and experiences we have had.

More

Commentary on 1 John 4:7-16; John 11:19-27 or Luke 10:38-42

There is a choice of Gospel readings for today’s Memorial, each one featuring Martha and Mary and one focused around the death of Lazarus.

The first is from Luke’s Gospel and describes an occasion when Jesus went to visit the family’s house in Bethany. It was not far from Jerusalem and it seems that Jesus was a regular visitor there. On this occasion we are told that Mary was sitting at the feet of Jesus and listening to him. Martha, on the other hand, was fussing about in the kitchen getting the meal ready. After a while, Martha complained (perhaps there was there a slight hint of jealousy and resentment here):

Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her, then, to help me.

Jesus replied:

Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things…Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.

Jesus had said elsewhere that his followers should not be anxious or worried:

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing…seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matt 6:25,33)

Jesuit Father Anthony de Mello used to say: “Why worry? If you worry, you will die. If you don’t worry, you will die. So why worry?” Martha gives the impression that Mary is just sitting there doing nothing. But in fact, she is listening to Jesus—listening to the Word of God.

Many of us are very busy, run off our feet from dawn to dusk. But what are we busy about? What was Martha busy about? We need to stop and listen, as Mary did. ‘Busy-ness’ is not a virtue. The important thing is to be active about the right things—and to know what is the right thing to do, we have to stop and listen.

The alternative Gospel reading is from John. It is story of raising of Lazarus from the dead. Lazarus was the brother of Mary and Martha. Jesus had been told some days before that Lazarus was seriously ill, but did not immediately respond. By the time Jesus reached Bethany, Lazarus was already dead for four days.

When the sisters heard that Jesus had arrived, Martha, typically, rushed out to greet him while Mary stayed mourning in the house. As soon as Martha saw Jesus, she told him that if Jesus had been there earlier, Lazarus would not have died. But she was confident that any prayer Jesus would make to his Father would be answered.

Jesus said to her:

Your brother will rise again.

Replied Martha, expressing her faith in a future life:

I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.

In so speaking, she draws from Jesus one of the great sayings of John’s Gospel:

I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?

In other words, those who believe in Jesus as Lord and follow his Way immediately enter a life that will never end, although the body, of course, will pass away.

This, in turn, draws a great profession of faith from Martha:

Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.

It is a statement on a par with that of Peter at Caesarea Philippi earlier on.

And that, of course, is what this whole chapter is about. Jesus, the Son of God, as the Source of Life. It is also a preparation for Jesus’ own death from which he will rise in glory and be reunited with his Father. The same future is promised to us.

The First Reading for the Memorial is from the First Letter of John. It is one of the most central passages in all of the New Testament. It is about love being at the very centre of our lives. Love here is agape, a very special kind of love. It can be defined as an unconditional reaching out for the well-being of the other person. It is the love that God extends to us. It is the love that motivated all that Jesus did and said. It has to be at the heart of all we do and say. It is the essence of Christian living. The word agape, or some form of it, occurs 16 times in the short passage of today’s reading. We are to love in this way because that is what God does. It is what Jesus did. When we love in this way we become like God. And wherever this kind of love is expressed, God is there, because God is this love.

We Christians do not have any monopoly on this love. It can be found in all kinds of people. But let us make sure it is the driving force in our own lives, not just for our own sake, but for the sake of everyone else, for:

By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love [agape] for one another. (John 13:35)

It is the best thing that could be said about any of us and the only thing that matters.

More

Commentary on 2 Corinthians 4:7-15; Matthew 20:20-28

The Gospel reading comes from Matthew. Jesus has just made the third prediction of his suffering, death and resurrection. Immediately afterwards, we are told that the mother of James and John approached Jesus with a request. When asked by Jesus what it was, she said:

Declare that these two sons of mine will sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.

After the first two predictions, the disciples had been very upset at the idea of their Master being put to death by the leaders of their own people. One gets the impression here that the disciples are coming to terms with this warning and are beginning to hear the last part—that he will be “raised on the third day”. And it looks as if James and John want to be first in line for the future that Jesus is talking about. What is interesting is that in Matthew, it is the mother who makes the request, while in Mark’s account, it is the two disciples who ask the favour.

In either case, it is clear that they show little real understanding of the spirit of Jesus. He tells them, in answer to the request:

You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?

Here, Jesus is clearly referring to his coming suffering and death. Obviously, not understanding his real meaning, they reply: “We are able.” In fact, when the time comes, they will be nowhere within sight, having run for their lives.

But Jesus does say to them:

You will indeed drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left, this is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.

Yes, when the time comes they will be ready to give their lives for their Master. But even then, the places on the right and left of Jesus cannot be ‘booked’; they will go to those who most deserve them, to those who are closest in spirit to Jesus.

Not surprisingly, when the other ten disciples heard what was going on they were extremely angry. Not because they were shocked at the request, but because it was done behind their backs. One thinks that, given the chance, they would have done exactly the same!

So Jesus takes them all aside and gives them a lesson in what constitutes true greatness in his world. It is not a question of status or power. Greatness in Jesus’ world, in his Kingdom, comes to those who dedicate themselves most to the well-being of their brothers and sisters. And Jesus himself was a living example of this. He, the Son of God, came to serve and not to be served. His whole life, up to his last breath, was a mission of love and service given unconditionally to every single person. He died in shame and disgrace, a nobody. He totally emptied himself—for us. That is greatness. Of course, in time, James would learn this lesson and would follow his Master in giving his life for the sake of the gospel.

The First Reading is a wonderful passage from the Second Letter to the Corinthians. Here Paul speaks of the paradox of how the power of Christ’s message is communicated through people who are weak and are the objects of hatred and contempt.

…we have this treasure in clay jars [i.e. fragile and easily broken]…We are afflicted in every way…but not driven to despair, persecuted but not forsaken, struck down but not destroyed… always carrying around in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies. So death is at work in us, but life in you.

This is a picture of Paul himself, but also of James and of all the martyred missionaries in the history of the Church. They are a stimulus and encouragement for us to follow in their footsteps.

More

Commentary on Galatians 2:19-20; John 15:1-8

The Gospel reading from John’s Gospel comes from Jesus’ long discourse at the Last Supper. In the passage, Jesus speaks of himself as the True Vine. His Father is the vine grower and his disciples are the branches. Jesus, as the trunk of the vine, is the source of life for the branches. As long as the branches remain on the tree, they will produce fruit. Any branches which do not produce fruit will be cut off and burnt. Other branches will be pruned so that they will produce even more fruit.

The images clearly indicate the relationship that exists between Jesus the Son and his Father. They also show the relationship that should exist between Jesus and his followers. Jesus is the source of real life through the Vision of Life that he gives to us, as well as through the grace that he pours into receptive hearts.

We can expect, too, that there will be times of trial. We should not see these as punishment, but rather as challenges to our faithfulness and opportunities for spiritual growth. There can be no real growth in a life where everything goes too easily.

And a test of our discipleship is that we bear fruit. We do not just live for ourselves; it is not just a question of being in ‘a state of grace’ and ‘saving our souls’. We have to carry out Jesus’ injunction to be the salt of the earth, the light of the world. Our lives are to be marked by a deep desire for the well-being of our brothers and sisters and a dedication to service to their needs.

This was the pattern of life which Bridget followed from her earliest years. Her deepest concern was for the moral uplift of people everywhere. Her life is perfectly expressed in the First Reading, a short passage from the Letter to the Galatians:

I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me…I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Like Paul, she is so close to Jesus that she finds it hard to distinguish between her own identity and that of Jesus. They have become one. That should be our goal too.

More

Commentary on Song of Songs 3:1-4 or 2 Corinthians 5:14-17; John 20:1-2,11-18

The Gospel reading, from John, describes the encounter of Mary Magdalene with the Risen Jesus. We are told that Mary went to the tomb early on Sunday morning, “while it was still dark”. The darkness not only indicates that it was before sunrise, but also expresses the feelings in Mary’s heart. She had lost her beloved Master and was in deep mourning for him.

She saw that the large stone guarding the entrance to the tomb had been removed and she was very upset. So she ran back to tell Peter and the Beloved Disciple:

They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.

The use of “we” suggests that there were, as the other Gospels indicate, other women with Mary, but they are not mentioned by John.

Peter and the Beloved Disciple then run to the tomb to verify the women’s report. They see the empty tomb and the burial cloths, but it is only the Beloved Disciple who sees the significance of their arrangement and believes that the women’s report that Jesus is risen is, in fact, true.

They then go back to report to the larger group and Mary Magdalene is left alone outside the tomb. Still weeping, she looks into the tomb and sees two angels inside, one at the head and one at the foot of where Jesus had been. They ask her why she is weeping. The word “weeping” is used three times, indicating the depth of her grief. She tells the angels:

They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.

It is not clear who the “they” might be.

Just then, she turns round and sees Jesus there, except that she does not recognise him—a common feature of all the resurrection stories. He asks her:

Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?

She thinks he must be the gardener. This was not surprising, as we had been told a little earlier (John 19:41) that Jesus’ tomb was in a garden. There is some Johannine irony here. At the very beginning, death had come to the human race in a garden, the Garden of Eden, where Adam and his wife had disobeyed Yahweh. Now, life is coming back in another garden. And, of course, Jesus is indeed the Gardener.

It is then that Jesus addresses her: “Mary!” In speaking of himself as the Good Shepherd, Jesus had said,

He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out…and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.
(John 10:3-4)

So here, Mary immediately recognises the voice of her Master; she knows that it is Jesus who is calling her. And she turns. But just now, she had already turned to face him. This is a different turning—it is an interior turning to her Lord.

Jesus then tells her to stop clinging to him. She thinks she is clinging to the Jesus she knew before. But this is the Risen Jesus, already on the way to be united to his Father. From now on she will have to find him in a very different way, in her brothers and sisters. So, she is told to go and tell the other disciples that Jesus is on his way to the Father, to his God and their God.

So Mary goes off to tell the disciples the exciting news:

I have seen the Lord!

In many ways, Mary Magdalene can be called a Beloved Disciple. No one shows a stronger love for Jesus than this woman who had been liberated from a seriously disturbed life. She was there with Jesus’ Mother and some other women at the foot of the cross keeping vigil, while not one of the men disciples was to be seen. After Jesus was buried, she kept vigil by his tomb. Early on Sunday morning, she was there again when the tomb was discovered to be empty. After the visit of Peter and the Beloved Disciple, she alone stayed on to mourn.

In this Gospel, she is the very first person to whom the Risen Jesus reveals himself. And she is the very first of his followers to announce the resurrection of the Lord. This gives her a unique place in the Gospel story.

There is a choice of two First Readings. The first is from the Song of Songs and expresses the lover’s distress at the loss of the one she loves and then her joy at finding him:

I sought him but found him not…The sentinels found me…Have you seen him whom my soul loves?

Just then, she comes across him:

Scarcely had I passed them,
when I found him whom my soul loves.
I held him and would not let him go…

The similarity with the Gospel story is very close.

The alternative First Reading is from the Second Letter to the Corinthians. In it, Paul says:

…the love of Christ urges us on…

It was this love that drove Mary Magdalene. And it speaks of a new relationship with Christ:

From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we no longer know him in that way.

This was what Mary Magdalene had to learn. She could no longer cling to the Christ she had known earlier. The Christ we know now is to be found in every person and in every experience of our life. It is there that he is to be loved and served. We will ask Mary Magdalene to help us know Jesus better.

More

Commentary on Ephesians 3:14-19; Matthew 23:8-12

The Gospel reading is from chapter 23 of Matthew. The whole chapter is a denunciation of the Scribes and Pharisees. This is not to say that it is a criticism of every scribe and every Pharisee, but rather of a certain arrogant mentality which many of them displayed, especially in their dealings with Jesus. In general, the very laudable aim of a Pharisee was to try and carry out the Law of Moses as perfectly as possible, believing that that was the way to follow God’s will and grow in holiness. However, it could in some cases lead to a certain sense of superiority in looking down on other people who were not leading similar lives.

It should also be said that the Gospel, in speaking of this mentality, was very likely not thinking of the scribes and Pharisees in Jesus’ time, but rather of people in Christian communities who had this mentality. People who put legalism above love and service. We see traces of it in some of the communities to which Paul wrote his letters (not to mention even in our own day).

Just before today’s passage, Jesus has told his disciples to follow the teachings of the Pharisees, but not their behaviour because they do not practise what they preach. They lay heavy burdens on people, but do not carry them themselves. And their main concern is to be seen to be more perfect than everyone else, and to be obsequiously greeted by people and given special privileges of honour and respect.

The followers of Jesus are not to behave like this. They are not to arrogate titles to themselves, insisting they be called ‘Rabbi’ or ‘Father’ or ‘Master’, because there is only one Teacher and only one Father and only one Master. Greatness in the Christian community is earned by those who give themselves in loving service to all their brothers and sisters. Jesus himself gave the example:

…the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve…
(Mark 10:35)

Bonaventure was a person who could have demanded obsequious behaviour. He was a distinguished theologian, the Master-General of his Order and a cardinal-archbishop. Yet we know that when messengers came from the Vatican to tell of his appointment as cardinal-archbishop, he only received them after he had finished what he was doing—washing dishes for the community. His was a life of frugal simplicity and service.

In the First Reading from the Letter to the Ephesians we are reminded of Bonaventure’s mystical and affective approach to understanding his God. Paul’s prayer for the Christians of Ephesus sums up the goal of Bonaventure’s life:

I pray that…Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love…that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

May that prayer be fulfilled in our lives too.

More

Commentary on Proverbs 2:1-9; Matthew 19:27-29

Today’s Gospel reading from Matthew is taken from the verses following the story of the rich man. Recall that in that story, the rich man came to Jesus and asked what he should do to gain eternal life. When Jesus told to him to keep the Commandments, he asked which ones Jesus had in mind. Jesus then cited the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th commandments. The significant thing about all of them is that they are concerned with relations with other people. Commandments on relations with God are not mentioned. The man said that he had kept all these commandments since he was young. “What else was lacking?” he asked. Jesus told him:

If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.

That was too much for the wealthy man. He went away deeply disappointed because he was very well-off and could not take that step.

When he had gone, Jesus told his disciples that:

…it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.

On hearing this, the disciples were astounded because, for them, as well as anyone in the society of the time, wealth was a sign of God’s blessings. Their reaction was, if the rich could not be saved, who could be?

Peter, speaking in their name, said to Jesus:

…we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?

And it is then that Jesus speaks the words of today’s Gospel:

Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man is seated on the throne of his glory, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

All those who are ready to leave family and property in order to follow the Way of Jesus will be rewarded many times over—and in this life.

This was all confirmed by Benedict and the way of life suggested by his Rule. Many people left their families and their material security to follow the monastic life. They entered a life of material simplicity, but also a life of loving security where everyone contributed to the well-being of everyone else.

Today’s First Reading from the Book of Proverbs speaks of another great characteristic of the Benedictine way, arising out of their way of life. His monasteries became centres of learning and wisdom which had a great influence on the knowledge and culture of Europe.

For the Lord gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;
he stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
he is a shield to those who walk blamelessly,
guarding the paths of justice
and preserving the way of his faithful ones.

These monasteries are a clear signal that a life of simplicity is not a barren life, but one that is deeply enriching not only for those who live there, but for all those who come under their influence.