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Commentary on Isaiah 62:1-5; Acts 13:16-17,22-25; Matthew 1:1-25

This beautiful Mass is not often celebrated, especially when the first Mass of Christmas takes place in the early evening (say 8:00 pm, as is not unusually the case in large parishes) and uses the readings from Midnight Mass. Yet, each one of these three readings from the Vigil Mass deserves attention and prayerful reflection.

The Gospel is the opening of Matthew’s Gospel and consists of a combined re-reading of the Gospels we had on December 17 and 18—the genealogy of Jesus and the birth of Jesus (Matthew’s version).

Many find the genealogy a rather boring and incomprehensible list of unpronounceable names. That only goes to show how much the Hebrew Testament is a closed book to so many of us. It begins with Abraham, the father of God’s people, and is in three parts, with 14 generations in each part. It ends with the words:

Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, who bore Jesus, who is called the Messiah.

Although Joseph’s role as Jesus’ earthly father is carefully excluded, it is clear that Jesus’ family line comes through him and reaches back to David.

It would be worth our while some day to go through that list of names and then we would learn something about the kind of people from whom Jesus was descended. They were by no means all saints; there are real ruffians among them. There are also four women.

By giving us this list of names, Matthew is emphasising, especially to the Jews of his day, that Jesus’ lineage goes back to the very beginnings of Israelite history beginning with Abraham, the father of the nations, and including David, Jesus’ kingly ancestor. Jesus is the natural continuation of God’s long connection and involvement in the history of his people. He is in fact the long awaited climax to that history. He is the Messiah King.

This is further emphasised by Matthew’s telling in the second part of the Gospel how Jesus came to be. The conception, the beginning of the life of the Child in the womb of Mary, takes place after she and Joseph are betrothed, but before they are married and begin to live together as husband and wife. Clearly, the agent of bringing the new life into existence is not Joseph, but God himself. It is God who is the Father of the Child, and Mary is his mother. This is the Incarnation, when the Word of God is made flesh and begins to live among us. This puts this Child in a totally different category from that of all his ancestors, and yet he shares their blood and their genes while, at the same time, being Someone quite other.

The Second Reading, from the Acts of the Apostles, represents a speech which Paul gave on his first missionary journey to fellow Jews in the synagogue at Antioch. In it he gives a brief history of the Jewish people leading up to John the Baptist and the appearance of Jesus, the Saviour of his people. Here too, there is the emphasis on the continuity between the Jewish people and the emergence of Jesus as a Saviour arising from among them—their Saviour and ours.

The First Reading is a beautiful passage from Isaiah. It is a message of consolation for Zion, but can easily be applied to the Church and to all of us in the community of Christ who look forward to the birth and the coming of our Saviour.

Let us just pick out a few phrases worth reflecting on:

I will not keep silent,
and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest,
until her vindication shines out like the dawn
and her salvation like a burning torch.

The nations shall see your vindication
and all the kings your glory,
and you shall be called by a new name
that the mouth of the Lord will give.

“Vindication” in this context means ‘integrity’, a precious gift needed by the Church as a whole and by each one of us. Integrity means that we are everything we proclaim to be, that there is no hidden agenda, no false fronts but total transparency—what you see is all there is.

You shall no more be termed Forsaken,
and your land shall no more be termed Desolate,
but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her
and your land Married…

For as a young man marries a young woman,
so shall your builder marry you,
and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,
so shall your God rejoice over you.

The three readings combined sum up beautifully the context in which the Child Jesus will be born in the strange surroundings of a stable in Bethlehem. All is now about to fulfilled for each one of us as we prepare this evening to celebrate the birth of God’s Son among us as one of us.

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Commentary on Luke 8:4-15 Read Saturday of Week 24 of Ordinary Time – Gospel »

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Commentary on 1 Corinthians 15:35-37, 42-49 Read Saturday of Week 24 of Ordinary Time – First Reading »

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Commentary on Luke 8:1-3

This passage follows immediately from yesterday’s about the sinful woman in the house of Simon the Pharisee. It is one of those summary passages describing in general terms the work of Jesus.

He is accompanied by the chosen Twelve, his cooperators in the preaching of the word and the establishing of the Kingdom. And it is precisely the Good News (the Gospel) about the Kingdom that they are preaching in word and demonstrating in practice.

What is noteworthy here—and it is unique to Luke—is the mention of many women also travelling in the company of Jesus. Some of them were women who had been healed of evil spirits. One is mentioned by name:

Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out…

The number seven is not to be taken literally, but indicates she had formerly been in a seriously immoral state. Mary of Magdala appears very prominently in John’s Gospel as someone very close to Jesus and he describes her as the first witness of the Resurrection. It is possible, too, that the “sinful woman” in the house of Simon the Pharisee was also in the group.

Some of the other women seem to be of more ample means and higher social rank. One of them was Joanna, the wife of King Herod’s steward. They helped Jesus and his disciples with their material needs. Once again, Jesus is not embarrassed to travel in the company of these women; nor are they uncomfortable in his.

We see here two roles being played by followers of Jesus. On the one hand are the Apostles whose function it is to proclaim the Gospel and establish the Kingdom by word and deed, by preaching and by the example of the communal and shared life they are leading.

The other role is that of disciples who are materially better off, and who support the work of proclaiming the Gospel by providing for the material and other needs of the evangelisers. Both roles are complementary and both, taken together, form the evangelising work of the Church.

A good example in our time are the Sisters of St Teresa of Calcutta (Missionaries of Charity), who would never be able to take care of the destitute dying without the generous help of many benefactors. And the same statement applies for many other voluntary groups involved in looking after the disadvantaged.

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Commentary on 1 Corinthians 15:12-20

Although the core of the Gospel proclamation was that Christ had been raised from the dead, there were Christians in Corinth who did not believe in the resurrection of the dead.

For Paul, Christ’s resurrection, of which the Apostles are witnesses, is the decisive proof of the future resurrection of all—something which the Old Testament early on suspects and hopes for, but eventually asserts quite plainly. This is why the resurrection of Christ is the foundation of faith. The risen Christ can be called the first-fruits, not only heralding, but causing the resurrection of all Christians.

Paul throws down a strong challenge to the logic of the Corinthians’ doubts. He makes eight points to show the falseness of their position:

If there is no resurrection from the dead:

1. then Christ himself has not been raised;
2. all preaching of the Gospel is therefore useless;
3. as is their faith in Christ, who, in this hypothesis, no longer exists.
4. Paul and his colleagues are guilty of telling terrible lies when they say they have had a personal experience of the Risen Christ;
5. and the faith of the Corinthians has no basis whatever.
6. They are still in their sins which have not been forgiven when they were baptised.
7. All their brothers and sisters who have died have gone into total oblivion.
8. And, if faith in Christ is valid only for this life, then the Christians are among the most to be pitied for enduring so much hardship and persecution for something which ends in nothing.

None of this makes sense, concludes Paul. He categorically states his conviction that Christ has been raised from the dead and he is the ‘first-fruits’ who leads the way for all others who die as his followers. It was the custom for the Jews to offer the first sheaf of the harvest to the Lord, as an acknowledgement that the whole harvest was his gift and would be used by his people in his love and service.

Similarly, Christ is the first ‘sheaf’ of the great harvest which will be gathered together by God to be with him forever. We too pray that we may be included in that great harvest.

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Commentary on Luke 7:36-50

Today’s passage is one of the most striking scenes in the whole of the Gospel. It is a story only found in Luke and, in a way it is strange that it is not otherwise recorded. It is not the same as the anointing of Jesus at Bethany, described by Matthew (26:6-13). Perhaps to some, especially Jewish readers, it was a little too daring and close to the edge because it is a highly intimate story in which Jesus is deeply involved.

We are told that a Pharisee—his name is Simon—was keen to have Jesus eat at his house. The word ‘Pharisee’ means ‘separated one’ and they numbered about 6,000 throughout Palestine. They taught in synagogues and, as their name implies, they saw themselves on a higher level of religious observance than their fellow Jews. They believed that interpretations and rules handed down by tradition had virtually the same authority as Scripture (see Mark 7:8-13). As a result, they were constantly bothered by Jesus’ behaviour.

Jesus accepted the invitation and he joined Simon and others at the table. We should notice that Jesus accepted invitations from both Pharisees and tax collectors. Both were equally deserving of his love and service. The diners would be reclining on couches, rather than sitting, as was the fashion of the day. This helps to explain what is going to happen.

It is not clear whether what happened next was totally spontaneous or whether it was part of a conspiracy to put Jesus in a compromising position where he could be denounced (not unlike his being presented with an adulterous woman in John 8:1-11). In one sense, it was strange that a woman such as this could burst into a Pharisee’s house unchallenged (there must have been servants); on the other hand, houses were not bolted and barred as they are in our more civilised (?) times.

What is clear is that the woman’s own intentions were sincere. We are told she was “a sinner”. ‘Sinner’ here can only refer to some public immorality, and very likely she was a ‘woman of the street’, perhaps a prostitute, or at least a woman known for her promiscuous behaviour.

She was eager to meet with Jesus and heard that he was dining at Simon’s house. So she burst in, bringing an alabaster box of ointment (probably quite expensive) and came up to Jesus from behind. She immediately began crying and her abundant tears bathed Jesus’ feet. She then began to dry his feet with her long hair. The fact that she wore her hair down or let it down in public itself indicates that she was a ‘loose woman’. She kissed the feet of Jesus and poured the ointment over them.

Simon, whether he had planned the intrusion or not, was deeply shocked at the extraordinary scene that was playing out before his eyes and in his house. If Jesus was really a prophet, he thought to himself, he would know what kind of a woman this was who was touching him. She was a sinner, and no good person (least of all a rabbi!) should allow anything remotely like that to take place.

Jesus, fully aware of what was going on in Simon’s mind, tells him a story about two debtors. One owed a large amount and other a smaller amount. However, the creditor wrote off both debts. Which of the two, Jesus asked, would be more grateful and appreciative? Obviously the one who had been remitted the larger debt, said Simon.

“You have judged rightly”, replied Jesus and then went on to apply the parable to the present situation. In the process he indicates something that Simon had probably not thought of—that he, too, was a sinner, even though to a lesser degree. This was true because Simon had been guilty of not extending even the ordinary courtesies of hospitality to his guest. He said to Simon:

I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment.

And now comes the point of the story. Jesus says:

Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven loves little.

And turning to the woman at his feet, Jesus says:

Your sins are forgiven.

The guests at table begin to ask each other:

Who is this who even forgives sins?

But Jesus says to the woman:

Your faith has saved you; go in peace.

This is a really extraordinary story. To appreciate this, one has to enter into it visually and be really present with all one’s senses active. What comes across is the amazing composure and inner security and freedom of Jesus during the whole episode. He shows absolutely no signs of being uncomfortable or embarrassed. He does not pull away or tell the woman to stop what she is doing.

Here is this woman, known to be a public sinner, who comes in and weeps over him, wipes his feet with her hair and keeps kissing them passionately. The guests are highly disturbed, shocked and probably embarrassed, but Jesus remains perfectly at ease. He knows what the woman is doing and why; he is not worried about what others might think she is doing.

Let us admire his ability to focus totally on the woman and not be self-conscious about the other people around. Imagine what a tabloid publication might have made of this scene! What if something like that were to happen today with a bishop or priest, or some other prominent person? How would most clergy—or other public people react in such a situation?

Jesus knows that the woman is expressing both sincere repentance and a great affection for Jesus. She is expressing her repentance in the only way that she knows. She is a highly tactile person; it is part of her way of life. To the sexually immature, what she is doing—and Jesus’ acceptance of it—seems at the very least, unbecoming, and at the worst bordering on the obscene.

But Jesus says her sins are now forgiven. It was really the passionate love she was showing which indicated that she had won forgiveness. Love and sin are incompatible; they cannot co-exist in the same person. She was loving Jesus so much at that moment that she could not be a sinner. Simon could not see this. His concept of sin was purely legalistic, but for Jesus it is relational.

At this point her immoral past was totally irrelevant. In our society, wrongdoers can be stuck with labels often for the rest of their lives irrespective of how they have changed. God does not work that way. He deals with persons as they are in the here and now. What I did yesterday does not matter. All that matters is what I am doing now, how I am relating to God and those around me right now.

We remember the man who died beside Jesus on the cross. He had led a terrible life and was now being executed for his crimes. Yet he appeals to Jesus and is promised that he will go to God hand in hand with Jesus. Unfair? Fortunately God’s ideas of fairness are not ours—otherwise we might be in trouble because of our past.

Once again we see how God, in Jesus, always tries to rehabilitate and not to punish. Punishment destroys—God’s desire is that we all be made whole and experience inner peace and harmony.

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Commentary on 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 Read Thursday of Week 24 of Ordinary Time – First Reading »

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Commentary on Luke 7:1-10

After he had finished the Sermon on the Plain (although we do not necessarily have to think it represents teachings all given at one time), Jesus went into Capernaum, the base from which he operated when in Galilee. Almost immediately, he is met with a request for healing, but this one is somewhat different. It will set the stage for developments which will take place and be described later in the Acts of the Apostles (also written by Luke).

The story concerns the slave of a centurion. A centurion was an army officer with—as his rank indicates—one hundred men under him. He was presumably attached to the Roman garrison in the town or one of Herod Antipas’ forces. The Roman military, in general, had a reputation for cruelty and brutality. However, those mentioned in the Gospel do not appear in a bad light. This is a good example of the danger of stereotyping any group of people—something we are all very easily prone to do.

He was not necessarily a Roman, but he was certainly not a Jew. He was a gentile outsider. His slave, who was very dear to him, had fallen seriously ill. This, in turn, implies he treated his slave well. Undoubtedly, he had heard the stories of what Jesus had done by way of healing and wondered if his slave could also be helped.

However, as an outsider he did not dare to approach Jesus personally. He sent a delegation consisting of Jewish town elders. These are not the ‘elders’ mentioned during Jesus’ passion,but simply respected members of the local Jewish community. In Matthew’s account, the centurion approaches Jesus himself. Luke, in having him go through influential Jewish friends, makes it sound more plausible.

They apparently were only too willing to help because they said he was very friendly to the Jews and had even built a synagogue for them. The stage is being set for the story of Cornelius, also a soldier and the first gentile Christian, in the Acts of the Apostles (see Acts 10:1).

While Jesus was on his way to the house, the centurion immediately sent word that it was not necessary for Jesus to come personally. As a friend of Jews, he knew that a devout Jew, and especially a rabbi, could not enter the house of a Gentile. He did not want to be a source of embarrassment for Jesus.

The centurion said:

I am not worthy to have you come under my roof…

We now use these words every time we prepare to approach the table of the Eucharist—just as the centurion felt unworthy to be approached by Jesus. He knew that Jesus had only to say a word and his slave would be made whole again.

The centurion recognised the very special authority that Jesus had, an authority, in some respects, not unlike his own as an army officer:

…I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and the slave does it.

Jesus is “amazed” at the man’s faith, saying:

I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.

Only twice in the Gospel is Jesus described as being amazed. In this reading, it is caused by the faith of a Gentile; the other time was when Jesus experienced the unbelief of his townspeople in Nazareth (Mark 6:6).

When the delegation returned to the centurion’s house, they found that the slave was totally well again.

What strikes one so strongly in this story is the character of the centurion who contradicted every stereotype of the Roman soldier which the average person in Palestine would have had. He is kind and caring of his slave. He has contributed to the building of the local synagogue. He is extremely sensitive to Jewish customs and does not embarrass Jesus by approaching him directly. And, when Jesus offers to go to his house, he says that it is not necessary. He knows that Jesus, as a Jew, would become unclean by entering a gentile house. He is a good example how wrong we can be in generalising about certain kinds or classes of people.

He also clearly illustrates how a Gentile could be, as the early Church only gradually discovered, a worthy person to belong to the Christian community. In fact, this story prepares the way for Luke’s later account of the centurion, Cornelius, being received as the first gentile member of the Christian community (see Acts chap 10).

The key factor, of course, in this healing story is the faith of the Gentile, a faith which Jesus said he had never encountered even among many of his own people. Beginning with Cornelius, this experience will be repeated in the early Church as the first Christians, all Jews, begin to realise that the Gentiles too are being called to follow Christ and that their Spirit-filled faith can be as strong as that of any of them.

For us today it is a reminder that Jesus can reveal himself to the most unlikely persons and that we must never presume that a person is unfit for the Christian life based on past behaviour or any other characteristics. God can, and does call anyone. Let us, too, follow the example of the centurion in our confidence in God’s healing power in our lives.

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Commentary on 1 Corinthians 11:17-26,33 Read Monday of Week 24 of Ordinary Time – First Reading »

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Commentary on Jeremiah 20:7-9; Romans 12:1-2; Matthew 16:21-27

In Last week’s Gospel, we saw the disciples riding high. They had, through Peter, acknowledged that Jesus, their teacher and friend, was no less than the long-awaited Messiah-King of Israel:

You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.

It must have been a really exciting moment for them. This, in turn, brought from Jesus a commission of the highest responsibility to Peter and his fellow disciples. Through Jesus, they were to be given the authority of God himself within their future communities. Peter himself is spoken of as a rock, firm and unshakeable, on which the ekklesia, the Church community, will be built.

It is hard to imagine that this was not a moment of particular joy and satisfaction for the disciples. They now were thinking that Jesus, in line with Jewish expectations, would be a glorious and powerful king. And they, of course, as his followers and companions would have a special share in the glory and privileges that went with it (and later, would not two of them go so far as to ask, rather cheekily, and behind their brothers’ backs, for special places in the Kingdom, to sit on the right and left of Jesus?).

A shock
However, the euphoria was not to last very long. Very soon after this:

Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and on the third day be raised.

This, undoubtedly, comes as a terrible shock. This was not at all part of the scenario for the coming of the Messiah! What is worse, the agents of Jesus’ humiliation and death will not be some hostile outsiders (like the pagan and barbaric Romans), but the leaders and most distinguished people of their own community. The elders, chief priests and scribes were the people who formed the Sanhedrin, the ruling body of the Jews in Palestine.

Furthermore, it would happen in Jerusalem, the holy city, the site of the Temple where God dwelt among his people. It might also be remembered, however, that Jerusalem was the city where prophets died and Jesus had said to the Pharisees:

Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! (Matthew 23:37)

The disciples must have felt very disturbed and confused indeed.

A protest
So, it is not surprising that at this point, Peter, still flush with his newly-acquired status, takes Jesus to one side, speaking to him almost on equal terms:

God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.

How can this happen to the Messiah-King of Israel?

The angry reaction of Jesus must have come as somewhat unexpected, to say the least. Turning to face Peter, Jesus says:

Get behind me, Satan!

These are strong words for someone who just now was being given leadership of the community Jesus would leave behind. It is not to be understood that Peter is literally a demon, but the disciple’s words are understood as a real temptation to Jesus to turn away from the path he is to follow. Unwittingly and with the best of intentions, Peter is doing the devil’s work – trying to steer Jesus away from the path laid out for him by his Father. How often have we been such a temptation or stumbling block to others? Perhaps more often than we care to think.

You are a hindrance to me, for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.

Peter is seen as an obstacle, a scandal (skandalon), a stone in one’s path which causes one to stumble. Ironically, the ‘rock’ which Jesus just now had said would be the foundation of his ‘church’ is now seen as an obstacle to Jesus’ work and mission!

The mind of Christ
Jesus is angry for, though his disciples may have acknowledged that he is the Messiah, they clearly have no idea whatever what kind of Messiah-King Jesus is going to be. They are, as he says, thinking in purely human terms and have not yet got “the mind of Christ” (Phil 2:5).

They shall have to change completely their ideas about what the Messiah is going to be like. He will not be a great political and military leader who will sweep away all of Israel’s enemies. Even after the resurrection they were still thinking in those terms.

Said the two fellows on their way to Emmaus, not realising the irony of their words:

…we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.
(Luke 24:21)

And, the disciples asked Jesus as he prepared to leave them at the Ascension:

Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel? (Acts 1:6)

Yes, Jesus will be a King, but he will be a King of love, a King who will rule by serving. Because he loves and serves them, he will, if necessary, be prepared to die for them, for this is the greatest love that a person can show for his friends. This is not to say that Jesus wants to die on the cross, but he is totally prepared to suffer and die, if the service of love demands it – and it will. Ultimately, the disciples will see that the death of Jesus was the source of his greatest glory and power:

And I, when I am lifted up from the earth [on the cross and into glory], will draw all people to myself. (John 12:32)

The prophet’s lot
The other readings today give examples of people who had similar experiences to Jesus. In the First Reading Jeremiah seems to regret that he was called by God to be his prophet.

O Lord, you have enticed me, and I was enticed; you have overpowered me, and you have prevailed.

As a result he became an object of people’s ridicule, a “laughingstock”.  Every time he opened his mouth, he had to warn of violence and disaster coming on God’s people. In return he got nothing but insults and derision. He decided he would not speak about God:

I will not mention him or speak any more in his name…

But that did not work because:

…within me there is something like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot.

He just had to go on speaking God’s message, which was like a fire in his heart, to his people whatever the cost to himself. It is a situation like this which explains why a person would risk insults, suffering and even death in order to witness to Truth and Love. Many people languishing in jails today for expressing their religious and political beliefs know this feeling. We have seen how political or religious dissidents released from jail show no signs of “conversion” and continue the struggle for human dignity.  It is something which those who see life in terms of material comfort and power simply cannot understand.

Paul, in the Second Reading, also knew all about this. He urges his fellow-Christians to offer their:

…bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable act of worship.

And, they are not to:

…be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind, so that [they] may discern what is the will of God.

They need a “new mind”, the way of thinking which Jesus had and which Peter certainly did not yet have in today’s Gospel.

Walking with Jesus
Today’s Gospel goes further than just asking us to understand why the glory of Jesus our King and Lord was to be found through suffering and the shameful death of the Cross.  There is a further call for us to walk the same road with Jesus:

If any wish to come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.

Jesus is asking each one of us to dedicate our lives in totally loving and serving others even, if at times, this involves misunderstanding, ridicule, pain and even death itself.

It would be altogether wrong to think that Jesus is asking us to lead miserable lives in order to be good Christians, although one gets the impression that some people interpret the passage in that way. To follow Jesus fully, we must be able to see life as he sees it, we must have that “mind of Christ”.

When we have the mind of Christ, then we can only see our lives in terms of loving and serving others and not in the pursuit of purely self-centred or even family-centred ambition. When we have the mind of Christ, the whole direction of our life changes. Our whole concept of happiness changes. Jesus is calling us not to a life of sacrifice and suffering, but rather to a life of total love and freedom. The person who can go to jail for his beliefs is more free and usually a lot happier than the one who is tied to the pursuit of material things, social position, pleasure, and the fear of pain.

“Denying oneself” is not a suppression of one’s personality. It is rather to let go of oneself so that one can really find oneself.

This is what today’s readings are saying, namely, that Jesus is calling us to where true success and happiness are. Maybe when we walk the way of Jesus there will be people who criticise us, think we are stupid, and even attack us. Yet those who have chosen the way of Jesus again and again confirm that their lives are full of freedom, happiness, and peace. Isn’t that what we all would like to experience?