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Commentary on Ezra 1:1-6 Read Monday of Week 25 of Ordinary Time – First Reading »

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Commentary on Luke 6:43-49 Read Saturday of Week 23 of Ordinary Time – Gospel »

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Commentary on Mark 8:1-10

Today we have the second of two multiplication stories found in Mark. The first, with 5,000 people, was in a predominantly Jewish area while this one, with 4,000 people, is in mainly gentile territory. Jesus is reaching out to both groups. The people have nothing to eat and are hungry. The meaning is both physical and spiritual.

Once again we see Mark indicating the emotional response of Jesus. He is filled with compassion for the people in their need.

I have compassion for the crowd…If I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way—and some of them have come from a great distance.

They will collapse “on the way”, i.e. on the road. Jesus is the Way, the ‘Road’. To walk the road of Jesus, we need a certain kind of nourishment. This is what Jesus came to give.

The disciples, interpreting Jesus literally, as they usually do, ask:

How can one feed these people with bread here in the desert?

In the presence of Jesus, the question answers itself, but the disciples have not yet clicked. In Mark’s Gospel, they are often shown to be without an understanding of just who their Master is—that is because they represent us.

The disciples are asked what they can supply. Seven loaves and a few fish is all they have. There is a strong Eucharistic element in this, as in the former story (with the 5,000). The people are told to sit down, and:

…he took the seven loaves, and after giving thanks [Greek, eucharistesas] he broke them and gave them to his disciples to distribute, and they distributed them to the crowd.

Again, we note that Jesus himself does not give out the food the people need. It comes from him, but is distributed by his disciples. The same is true today. It is our task to feed the hungry—both physically and spiritually. All were filled—4,000 people altogether—and even so, there were seven (a perfect number) baskets left over. This was another sign of God’s abundance shared with his people.

As before:

…he sent them away. And immediately he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha. [i.e. back to Jewish territory]

Jesus was leaving no room for any misinterpretations of what he had done. The disciples, too, are quickly removed from the scene. There was to be no self-congratulation or glorying in their connections with Jesus, the wonder worker. Through the miracle, the teaching had been given and that was it.

And so, we pray:

Lord, teach me to serve you as you deserve;
to give and not to count the cost;
to fight and not to heed the wounds;
to labour and seek no reward,
save that of knowing that I do your holy will.

(Prayer of St Ignatius Loyola)

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Commentary on Luke 10:1-12

Two days ago we saw Jesus firmly setting out for Jerusalem and the accomplishment of his mission. Yesterday we saw how he responded to people who wanted to or were being invited to join his mission. During the coming days we will see Jesus preparing his actual disciples for their work.

In addition to the inner circle of the Twelve, we are told today that he appointed another 72 (12×6) and sent them two by two to the places he himself would be visiting (note that only Luke mentions this group). That is a good description of our Christian role. We are supposed to go first to prepare the ground, but then it is Jesus himself who comes to plant the seed of faith.

Jesus then goes on to give an instruction to his disciples. We, too, should be listening to his words. First, he points out that the harvest is great and there are very few labourers—few who are willing to do the harvesting work with Jesus.

This is a text which is often thrown at us during “vocation” campaigns. We tend to hear it as a call for more priests, brothers and nuns. It is that, of course, but when Jesus spoke there were no priests, brothers or nuns. The challenge was being thrown out to all his followers to find more people to join in the harvesting work.

We have to be careful as we listen to these words not to exclude ourselves because we are middle-aged, or married, or already have a career. The words are addressed to all of us and call for some kind of response from every one of us. It is never too late to respond to the call.

Second, Jesus warns his followers that it may not be easy.

I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves.

In spite of the message of truth, love, compassion and justice that we bring, it does not mean that we will be received with open arms. On the contrary, we may meet with strong opposition and even persecution. Our message will be seen as threatening. It will be distorted and misunderstood.

Third, the disciples are called on to travel light. Jesus himself “had nowhere to lay his head” and he only had the clothes he wore.

So many of us are weighed down by the things we own. Some of us have to protect our property with the latest in security devices. In our search for prosperity and material security we have lost the more precious gift of freedom. The disciples are not to stop to greet people in the sense of carrying on lengthy conversations. Their mission was urgent—there are few labourers for a potentially huge harvest.

Fourth, they are to be bearers of peace. Peace, shalom, is much more than an absence of violence. It is a deep inner harmony with oneself, with others, with one’s environment, with God:

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. (Matt 5:9)

We could hardly bring a more precious gift to others than this inner peace. It is, in fact, the heart of our Christian message. Faith, hope and love are the keys to peace.

Fifth, the evangeliser is to stay in the first house that accepts him. He should not be going around looking for better accommodation. At the same time, he is to be provided with shelter and hospitality:

…for the laborer deserves to be paid.

This, it seems, was the way Jesus himself lived. And this was the overall ideal of the Christian community: a network of mutually supporting people sharing their resources with each other and with those in greater need than themselves.

Sixth, their work is primarily to heal the sick in the places they go to. ‘Healing’ should be taken in a wider sense of including body, feelings, mind and spirit. And ‘healing’ should also be seen not just as getting rid of a sickness, but of making a person whole again. Bringing healing and wholeness into the lives of individuals and communities is of the essence of the Kingdom and at the heart of Jesus’ work and that of his followers. The sign of that wholeness is inner peace. Today it is no different.

And they are to say:

…the kingdom of God has come near.

This is not just a statement they are to throw out. It is the core of Jesus’ message and an explanation of why people are experiencing healing and wholeness coming into their lives. This is the effect of the coming of the Kingdom; this is what the coming of the Kingdom means. God’s power is penetrating their lives, transforming them and making them whole again.

Luke mentions the kingdom of God more than 30 times; Matthew more than 50 times. Matthew’s is truly a Gospel of the Kingdom.

The term can have a number of meanings:

• the eternal Kingship (basileia) of God;
• the presence of the Kingdom in the person of Jesus; he is the embodiment, the incarnation of the rule of God in himself, an incarnation he wishes to be found in his disciples and the communities they establish;
• the future Kingdom in the life that is to come.

In short, the Kingdom—the rule of God—is intended to be both a present reality as well as a future hope.

And finally, seventh, if there is any place where they are not received, the disciples are to leave it to its own fate. Even then those people are to know that the Kingdom of God is near to them also. There is always the hope that the results of their very rejection of the Kingdom will lead to a deeper awareness later on. By rejecting the messengers of God, they have opened themselves to a fate worse than that of Sodom, a city utterly destroyed because of its shameful lack of hospitality to divine visitors. But those hearing the message of Jesus are even more accountable for hearing the message of the Kingdom proclaimed to them and turning their back on it.

Clearly, we cannot literally apply all of these points to our own work on behalf of the Gospel, but we need to make the underlying principles and values ours too. It will require some reflection on our part, both as individuals and as communities, on how we should effectively share the Gospel with those around us and be the harvesters that are so badly needed. Indeed, let us pray for vocations, but let us remember that every single one of us is being called to work in the harvest field and not just some chosen souls who are totally unknown to us.

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Commentary on Matthew 17:22-27

For the second time Jesus warns his disciples about what is to come: his suffering, death and resurrection. Once again the word ‘delivered’ or ‘handed over’ (Greek, emiparadidomi) is used. It is a refrain running right through the Gospel – applied to John the Baptist, to Jesus, to the disciples, and to the giving of the Body of Christ in the Eucharist.

We are told that the disciples are overwhelmed with grief over what Jesus says. Whether that is purely out of sorrow for Jesus or whether it represents their disillusionment, is hard to say. This was not the kind of end they were expecting to the coming of the Messiah.

The second part of today’s reading is a peculiar scene, only to be found in Matthew. The collectors of the temple tax want to know whether Jesus pays it or not. Peter assures them that he does.

But on entering the house (there is that anonymous ‘house’ again, which seems to symbolise the Church or the Christian community), Jesus asks Peter (though, interestingly, he calls him by his old name ‘Simon’):

What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tribute? From their children or from others?

In other words, from whom do they collect taxes, from their subjects, or from foreigners? Peter replies:

From others…

And, in fact, the Romans did collect taxes from their colonised peoples and not from their own citizens.

In that case, Jesus says, the sons—that is, he and his disciples—should be exempt from paying the temple tax. After all, the Temple is God’s house, and Jesus is his Son, and his disciples are his brothers, sons of the same Father.

But to avoid giving scandal and misunderstanding, Peter is told to catch a fish in whose mouth he will find a shekel, enough to pay taxes for both of them. A half shekel was levied each year on all Jewish males of 20 years or older. It was for the upkeep of the Temple. A half shekel at this time was roughly equivalent to two days’ wages.

This passage seems to reflect a dilemma of the early Church, in fact, a double dilemma. Should Christians who are Jews continue to pay the temple tax? And, should Christians in general have to pay tax to a pagan government, especially one whose emperor claims to be a deity?

The first dilemma solved itself in time, especially with the destruction of the Temple (which had already taken place when Matthew’s Gospel was written). The second dilemma took longer. The problem seems to have been solved by the principle laid down elsewhere by Jesus:

Give therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s. (Matt 22:21)

We too have to discern what is legitimately required of us by our governments and make our contribution to the needs of our society while, at the same time, not compromising on issues where universal principles of truth and justice are at stake. Civil disobedience is sometimes not only a right, but also a responsibility.

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Commentary on Matthew 19:13-15

This short passage is an echo of the statement Jesus made at the beginning of the discourse on the Church (Matt 18:1-4). Parents were bringing their children for Jesus to bless. The disciples, with the officiousness of minor officials, thought they were doing their Master a favour by protecting him from such trivial nuisances.

Jesus scolds them:

Let the children come to me, and do not stop them, for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.

Not to children alone but to those who have the qualities of the child: the simplicity and openness, the teachability, the freedom from prejudice, the readiness for change and adaptation. Only such people are ready to hear the message of the Gospel in its fullness.

The passage leads naturally into the next one about the rich man who asked Jesus what he should do to enter eternal life. For all his wealth, he would prove to be wanting in this particular area of openness.

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Commentary on Matthew 14:1-12

Our reading is about the death of John the Baptist at the hands of Herod. When Herod the Great died, his kingdom was divided among four of his sons. One of them, the Herod of today’s Gospel (also known as Herod Antipas), is called a “tetrarch”, meaning that he was the ruler of a fourth part, or a quarter of a territory.

Herod Antipas ruled over Galilee and Perea from 4 BC to 39 AD, that is, all during the life of Jesus and beyond. He is the same one who wanted to see Jesus, and whom Jesus called “that fox”. He is the one to whom Pilate sent Jesus during his trial. His rather painful and loathsome death is described in Acts (12:20-23). Although only a tetrarch, Matthew calls him ‘king’ because that was his popular title among the Galileans and also in Rome.

It seems that, by all accounts, Herod was a nasty man and, as revealed by today’s story, a weak and highly superstitious one as well. It is striking that, even today, many seemingly powerful people are made insecure by superstition (for example, needing to wear the same ‘lucky’ business suit or only drive or ride in a particular model of car).

Herod was hearing extraordinary things about Jesus and he came to the conclusion that Jesus was a reincarnation of John the Baptist whom he had executed for reasons he knew very well to be totally wrong. Now here was John’s spirit come back to taunt him, for he had killed God’s servant. This leads to a retelling by Matthew of the events which led to John’s death.

John, who was no respecter of persons, had openly criticised Herod for taking his half-brother Philip’s wife, Herodias, as his own partner. This was in clear contravention of the Mosaic Law. Herod’s fault was not so much in marrying a close relative, but for taking her as his wife when Philip was still living and, at the same time, putting away the wife he already had.

It was already an extraordinarily incestuous family. Herodias was a granddaughter of Herod the Great and therefore a niece of Herod Antipas. First, she married another uncle, Herod Philip, who lived in Rome. He was a half-brother, from a different mother, of Herod Antipas. It was on a visit to Rome that Herod Antipas persuaded Herodias to leave her husband for him. This, of course, was strictly forbidden by the Mosaic law:

You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother’s wife; it is your brother’s nakedness. (Lev 18:16)

Herod, doubtless under pressure from Herodias, had wanted to rid himself of the embarrassment John was causing him, but was afraid to do anything because, in the eyes of the people, John was a prophet and spoke in the name of God.

Herodias got her chance on the occasion of Herod’s birthday. Knowing her new husband’s weaknesses, she got her daughter to dance in his presence. According to the Jewish historian Josephus, the daughter was known as Salome. She later married her granduncle, another Philip, and a son of Herod the Great who ruled over the northern territories. He is mentioned by Luke.

Whether the dance was lascivious (as old Hollywood movies have suggested) we do not know, but Herod was greatly taken by the performance. In the presence of his courtiers and very likely having drunk too much wine, he promised the girl he would give her anything she wanted, even half his kingdom. Under the prompting of her mother, she asked for the head of John the Baptist delivered on a dish. Herod was clearly appalled and also afraid, but he had made his oath in the presence of a large number of people. He could not go back. John was decapitated and his head delivered as requested. His disciples came and buried the body and then went to tell Jesus.

There are echoes in this story of Jesus’ own death. He also died because of the moral weakness of Pilate, who gave in to the threats of the Jewish leaders for the sake of his own career. Jesus’ death, too, was the result of blind hatred. And when he died his disciples arranged to have him buried.

Undoubtedly John was a martyr. He died as a witness to truth and justice in the service of God. Herod, on the other hand, put expediency and his own convenience before truth and justice. He was in an immoral relationship with a woman and he gave in to what he felt would be the criticism and perhaps the derision of others. He had indeed made an oath, but it was one that, in the circumstances, he was obliged not to observe.

With whom do I identify more? John the Baptist, the fearless champion of truth and justice? Or Herod, the vacillator, the one who compromised truth and justice because of pressure of opinion and his own personal interests? I am sure all of us can think of times when we compromised with what we knew was the good or right thing to do and took the line of less resistance.

John is an example to us of integrity. And like him, we have, each one of us, been called in our own way to be prophets, to be spokespersons for God’s way. It may not always be easy.

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Commentary on Leviticus 25:1,8-17

Today in our second and last reading from the Book of Leviticus, we read of the tradition of the Jubilee. The Jubilee was calculated as happening at the end of seven times seven sabbatical years, in other words, every 50 years. To arrive at this number, the preceding year of jubilee was included in the count, and therefore this was more exactly the 49th year, the seventh sabbatical year. The word ‘jubilee’ is derived from the Hebrew word yobel, which means ‘ram’s horn’, because a horn was blown to announce the beginning of the Jubilee.

The observance of the Jubilee began on the 10th day of the seventh month, the feast of Atonement (Yom Kippur), when a horn or trumpet blast was heard throughout the land. The main purpose of the Jubilee was to restore social balance to the community. The year was to be made sacred first of all by proclaiming freedom for all citizens. This involved the restoration of both personal and economic freedom.

On the level of personal freedom, all Israelite slaves were to be set free. On the level of economic freedom all ancestral land was to be given back to the original owner. For this purpose, everyone was told to return to their own property and everyone to their family land.

The idea was to restore the social balance in a community which was family-based and whose livelihood depended on the ownership of family land. For various reasons, for which family members might or might not be responsible, people might be forced to sell their land in order to survive and, in more severe cases, might even have to sell themselves into slavery. The purpose of the Jubilee was to have their ancestral property and status restored to them.

This arrangement was also an attack on land monopolies, which are denounced later on by the prophets. So Isaiah says:

Woe to those who join house to house,
who add field to field,
until there is room for no one,
and you are left to live alone
in the midst of the land! (Is 5:8)

And Micah says:

They covet fields and seize them,
houses and take them away;
they oppress householder and house,
people and their inheritance. (Mic 2:2)

Both prophets could be talking about situations in our own contemporary societies.

Whether selling back or buying back alienated property to or from the original owner, justice was to be observed and only a fair price charged. The price was to be calculated on the basis of the number of years the property had been held—a longer period meant a higher price, because, in effect what was being sold back was not only the land, but also the harvests which it yielded during that time.

In addition, during the Jubilee, there was to be no sowing, reaping of after-growth or picking grapes from untrimmed vines. Only what was taken directly from the field could be eaten and not any other produce from it. In other words, fields were to be left fallow during this year. It was easier to give back a fallow field to the original owner than one on which there was a valuable crop which had been planted by the person who had been holding the property.

All this seems a highly admirable arrangement and a model of social justice, but it seems that it was only a late attempt to make the sabbatical law—which had similar stipulations—more effective, and it does not seem that this particular law was ever really observed.

The passage concludes by urging all to deal fairly with their neighbour and stand in fear of their God:

…I am the Lord your God.

One is reminded of similar ideals for a just society which one reads in the Acts of the Apostles. We are told that the new Christians would bring forward their property and give it to the community for the shared use of all. No one had any wealth which belonged to them privately. One couple, who gave only part of their property claiming that it was all that they had, was struck dead for their dishonesty (see Acts 5:1-10).

Although this ideal never really took root in the Church, there is certainly much that could be done in parish communities to see that those in need are helped by their brothers and sisters. Each of us needs to seriously consider the many ways we can put the ideal of the Acts into practice.

The Church has a great record of speaking about justice and also, in many places, of doing justice, but we are a long way from perfection. So we say:

“Let there be justice done on earth, and let it begin with me.”

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Commentary on Matthew 13:54-58

Immediately following the discourse on the parables of the Kingdom, we see Jesus going to his home town of Nazareth. The New American Bible marks this as the beginning of a new section in Matthew’s Gospel which it calls “Jesus, the Kingdom and the Church”. It ends with chapter 18, which contains the fourth of the five discourses distinctive to Matthew.

As was his right, Jesus spent some time teaching in the synagogue at Nazareth. The townspeople were quite amazed to hear the local carpenter’s son speaking as he did:

Where did this man get this wisdom and these deeds of power?

The New International Version says that the word usually translated “carpenter” could also mean “stonemason”. All his family were well known to the people and they knew he could not have gotten it from them (“Is not this the carpenter’s son?”) , but they failed to apprehend the real origin of what he was saying and doing.

And, in the contrariness of human nature, they were so impressed that they rejected him! He was just too much. A perfect example of familiarity breeding contempt and blinding the eyes to the obvious. And Jesus sadly comments that a prophet can get a hearing everywhere except among his own. Probably all of us have had some experience, directly or indirectly, of this! We Irish, in particular, are well known for our ‘begrudgery’!

It might be helpful for us to see how often and where we ourselves have been guilty of this sort of behavior. How often have we written off what people we know very well, or think we know very well, suggest to us? It is important for us to realise that God can communicate with us through anyone at all, and we must never decide in advance who his spokespersons will be.

Finally, we are told that Jesus could not do in Nazareth any of the wonderful things he had done elsewhere “because of their unbelief”. His hands were tied. Jesus can only help those who are ready to be helped, those who are open to him. How open am I?

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Commentary on Leviticus 23:1,4-11,15-16,27,34-37

Today we move on to the third book of the Pentateuch—the Book of Leviticus. It gets its name from the Levites who were responsible for worship and ritual among the Israelites. The content of the book is almost entirely concerned with rules and regulations concerning worship and ritual.

Although we seem to be starting a new ‘book’, it is a continuation of the priestly tradition we saw at the end of Exodus (chaps 25-31; 35-40). And this tradition continues on into the first 10 chapters of the next book, Numbers. The emphasis is on the continuing presence of God among his people. This heightens their sense of sin and also to honour him with sacrifices of worship. These are the means by which a sinful people can be reconciled in their relationship with Yahweh.

We will only be taking two readings from the book, both coming from well into the second half, from chaps 23 and 25. Today’s reading, which consists of snippets taken from a whole chapter, touches on the observance of certain important feasts which are to be celebrated “at the time appointed for them.”

The Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread
The two festivals are linked together, occurring on consecutive days. The first of these is the Passover of the Lord which falls at the evening twilight on the 14th day of the first month (Nisan).

The 15th day of the same month is the beginning of the feast of the Unleavened Bread. For seven days unleavened bread is to be eaten. We saw earlier that this feast may be connected with the fact that the Israelites, during their flight from Egypt, only had unleavened bread with them. On the first day of this feast there is to be a sacred assembly and no work is to be done. And on each day an offering is to be made to the Lord. Finally, on the seventh and last day, there is again a “holy convocation” and no work is to be done.

The First Sheaf
When they arrive in the land which the Lord is giving them, immediately after the harvest, a sheaf of the first fruits of the harvest is to be brought to the priest. He will wave it before the Lord so that it may be acceptable for the offerer. This will be done on the day following the nearest Sabbath.

The Feast of Weeks
On the day after that Sabbath, there shall follow a period of seven full weeks, and on the day after, the 50th day, the offering of cereal made from the new grain will be made to the Lord. Between the feast of Unleavened Bread and the feast of Weeks, the Law of Holiness introduces an offering of the first sheaf (of the barley harvest) at the appropriate place in the agricultural cycle. This is a new formulation of the ancient offering of the first fruits.

From the Greek word for ‘fifty’ (hendeka) we have the name ‘Pentecost’. It was also called ‘the feast of the Seven Weeks’. Pentecost was the thanksgiving feast at the end of the grain harvest, which began after Passover. Later tradition made it a commemoration of the giving of the law at Sinai.

The Day of Atonement
The 10th day of the seventh month is the Day of Atonement, when there is a sacred assembly. Penance is to be done, and an oblation is made to the Lord. On this day, too, no work is to be done. We know this feast more commonly as Yom Kippur. Part of the observance was the slaughtering of two goats. One was offered in holocaust and the other was driven out into the desert to die, bearing with it the sins of the whole community. It is from this that we get our term ‘scapegoat’.

The Feast of Booths or Shelters
The 15th day of the seventh month begins the feast of the Booths, which lasts for seven days. The Hebrew name is Sukkoth. On the first day, there is a sacred assembly and no work is to be done. On each of the seven days an oblation will be made to the Lord. On the eighth day, there will again be a “holy convocation”, an oblation made to the Lord and no work will be done.

This feast was the joyful observance of the grape and fruit harvest. During the seven days of the feast, the Israelites camped in booths of branches erected on the flat roofs of their houses, or in the streets, in commemoration of their wanderings in the desert, where they had dwelt in booths.

These are festivals which are to be observed—during each one there will be a “holy convocation”—a sacred assembly—and when holocausts and cereal offerings, sacrifices and libations, as prescribed for each day, will be offered to the Lord

We find a number of these feasts mentioned in the New Testament and some of them have been incorporated into our Christian faith:

• The feasts of the Passover and the Unleavened Bread are mentioned during the narrative of Holy Week. The Passover was transformed into a new Passover with Christ as the sacrificial Lamb. In every Eucharist, the host is made of unleavened bread.
• The end of the Feast of Weeks is Pentecost which, in our Christian faith, is described by Luke in the Acts of the Apostles as the day on which the Holy Spirit came down on the Jesus’ disciples (in the gospels, the Spirit is described as being given under different circumstances, e.g. John 20).
• The Feast of Booths is mentioned in John’s Gospel (7:2).

Every community—whether secular or religious—needs its regular celebrations as a reminder and affirmation of its identity and purpose. And our Christian communities are no exception. The important thing is that we remain faithful to the meaning of these celebrations and not reduce them to an occasion for ‘having a good time’. We are often reminded to put Christ back into Christmas, which is in constant danger of being taken over by commercial interests.