July 12, 2010
Monday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time
When you spread out your hands, I close my eyes to you; Though you pray the more, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood! Wash yourselves clean! Put away your misdeeds from before my eyes; cease doing evil; learn to do good. Make justice your aim: redress the wronged, hear the orphan's plea, defend the widow. Isaiah 1:15-17
Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. Matthew 10:37-38
Piety
“…Offer praise as your sacrifice to God; fulfill your vows to the Most High.
Then call on me in time of distress; I will rescue you, and you shall honor me.”
But to the wicked God says: “Why do you recite my commandments and profess my covenant with your lips?
You hate discipline; you cast my words behind you!
When you see thieves, you befriend them; with adulterers you throw in your lot.
You give your mouth free rein for evil; you harness your tongue to deceit.
You sit maligning your own kin, slandering the child of your own mother.
When you do these things should I be silent? Or do you think that I am like you? I accuse you, I lay the charge before you.
“Understand this, you who forget God, lest I attack you with no one to rescue.
Those who offer praise as a sacrifice honor me; to the obedient I will show the salvation of God.” Psalm 50:14-23
Study
Jesus and Isaiah are admonishing us to make sure that there is consistency between what is in our hearts and what is on our lips. As the prophet explains, no matter however numerous are the sacrifices offered to the Lord, they are not acceptable without the right moral fiber and outlook on the part of the worshiper.
Jesus takes this teaching a giant step forward. He explains that nothing, not even blood family, should come before our commitment to the Lord. This is a theme that has echoed through the Sunday Gospel according to St. Luke as well.
The cross is not some optional, pretty gold adornment for the Christian. These days, it is popular to have these large chains around the necks of singers and other performers. Unless the lives we lead measure up, then Jesus says these outward signs are meaningless without a matching commitment in our minds, on our lips and in our hearts.
The notes to the New American Bible explain that this reference to the cross in today’s Gospel is the first reference made by Matthew’s narrative. Those listening to it for the first time would have the fearful image of the means used by the Roman occupying army for torture and execution. However, the full context is yet to emerge.
Action
Last week, I was in a proverbial “taxi cab” in Vienna, Virginia. The driver was sharing with me his recent life developments including a special liturgy experienced on Corpus Christi Sunday last month at St John Bosco Church in Conygenham Pa. The words of the Gospel and homily that day really spoke to him. Fr. John said, “Get over you, and get on with God.”
Jesus is telling us today, in different words that we must get over putting ourselves and our egos and desires ahead of the Lord’s work. “Get over you and get on with God.” What are you putting before your commitment to God?
