 |
| “Pigs Rush To the Sea” by James Tissot, 1886-96 |
Readings and Commentary: [3]
Reading 1: Amos
5:14-15, 21-24
Seek good and not evil,
that you may live;
Then truly will the Lord, the God
of hosts,
be with you as you claim!
Hate evil and love good,
and let justice prevail at the gate;
Then it may be that the Lord, the
God of hosts,
will have pity on the remnant of
Joseph.
I hate, I spurn your feasts, says
the Lord,
I take no pleasure in your
solemnities;
Your cereal offerings I will not
accept,
nor consider your stall-fed peace
offerings.
Away with your noisy songs!
I will not listen to the melodies
of your harps.
But if you would offer me burnt
offerings,
then let justice surge like water,
and goodness like an unfailing
stream.
-------------------------------------------
Commentary on Am
5:14-15, 21-24
The Prophet continues his
pronouncement of “Woes to Israel” with what is called the "Third
Word." “The Lord condemns, not ritual worship in itself, but the
cult whose exterior rites and solemnity have no relation to interior morality
and justice. The Israelites falsely worshiped him as neighboring nations adored
Baal or Chamos, deities which were thought to protect their respective peoples
against their enemies in return for ritual observances, without any relation to
right conduct.” [4]
-------------------------------------------
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 50:7, 8-9, 10-11,
12-13, 16bc-17
R. (23b) To
the upright I will show the saving power of God.
“Hear, my people, and I will speak;
Israel, I will testify against you;
God, your God, am I.”
R. To the upright I will show the
saving power of God.
“Not for your sacrifices do I
rebuke you,
for your burnt offerings are before
me always.
I take from your house no bullock,
no goats out of your fold.”
R. To the upright I will show the
saving power of God.
“For mine are all the animals of
the forests,
beasts by the thousand on my
mountains.
I know all the birds of the air,
and whatever stirs in the plains,
belongs to me.”
R. To the upright I will show the saving
power of God.
“If I were hungry, I should not
tell you,
for mine are the world and its
fullness.
Do I eat the flesh of strong bulls,
or is the blood of goats my drink?”
R. To the upright I will show the
saving power of God.
“Why do you recite my statutes,
and profess my covenant with your
mouth,
Though you hate discipline
and cast my words behind you?”
R. To the upright I will show the
saving power of God.
-------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ps
50:7, 8-9, 10-11, 12-13, 16bc-17
Psalm 50 is a “covenant lawsuit”
that is a lament against those who have violated God’s law, and the covenant
made with the Lord upon which it was based. Echoing the charges leveled against
Israel by the prophet Amos (Amos 5:14ff), the
psalmist condemns empty ritual and sacrifice that is not reflective of external
actions and internal faith.
-------------------------------------------
Gospel: Matthew 8:28-34
When Jesus came to the territory of
the Gadarenes,
two demoniacs who were coming from
the tombs met him.
They were so savage that no one
could travel by that road.
They cried out, “What have you to
do with us, Son of God?
Have you come here to torment us
before the appointed time?”
Some distance away a herd of many
swine was feeding.
The demons pleaded with him,
“If you drive us out, send us into
the herd of swine.”
And he said to them, “Go then!”
They came out and entered the
swine,
and the whole herd rushed down the
steep bank into the sea
where they drowned.
The swineherds ran away,
and when they came to the town they
reported everything,
including what had happened to the
demoniacs.
Thereupon the whole town came out
to meet Jesus,
and when they saw him they begged
him to leave their district.
-------------------------------------------
Commentary on Mt 8:28-34
Jesus comes to a region about five
miles southeast of the Sea of Galilee and encounters the two demoniacs (people
taken over by demons). He drives the demons out into a herd of swine. The
symbolism here for the Jewish audience would be powerful, as swine were unclean
animals. By casting themselves into the sea, they showed that even they
preferred death to the presence of evil. The Gentile population, probably very
superstitious, was afraid of Christ’s power over evil and did not want any more
damage as a result of his presence.
-------------------------------------------
Reflection:
Heavenly Father, we
humbly pray that those suffering from the coronavirus be returned quickly to
full health by the power of your Son’s healing presence, and those in fear be calmed
through the Holy Spirit.
In Christ’s name we
pray. – Amen.
At the risk of offending some of
the “flock,” we focus our attention today on the plight of the swine from the
Gospel story, and ironically identify with them. In St. Matthew’s Gospel we see
great symbolism as Jesus casts out evil. He identifies it, masters it, and
removes if from its human hosts. The swine, now burdened with this evil choose
to kill themselves rather than endure the evil that befalls them. In ironic
symbolism (given the secular holiday) they say: “Give me liberty or give me
death” (being swine, animals without souls, their suicide cannot be interpreted
as sin). However what they have done is clearly a message to us that forces
threatening our personal liberty cannot be tolerated.
As a church we have just concluded
what our Bishops have called “Religious
Freedom Week.” When the Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Health Care Act in
2012, it also upheld the HHS Mandate that is repugnant to Catholics. It is
repugnant, not because it continues to allow the use of medical procedures and
drugs that we find morally objectionable. Rather it is repugnant because we,
who find these contraceptive, sterilization, and abortifacients morally reprehensible
are going to be forced to pay for them and cover, through health insurance
programs, their use by others.
Fortunately the Supreme Court has found that closely held corporations
(that is a majority of the company’s stock is held by 5 or fewer members) whose
religious beliefs contradict the mandated coverage of contraceptive,
sterilization, and abortifacients are not required to pay for them. There have been other court decisions
supporting religious freedom but the attack on our beliefs is coming in many
forms. In spite of attempts, legal and
congressional, to remove these requirements, they are still in place for most
Catholics, and we all pay for these provisions with our taxes.
As we approach the celebration of
the birth of our nation, we find these attempts to erode religious freedom in
our country abhorrent. We ask ourselves, if a mandate were announced stating
that each person would have some small percent of their taxes sent to support
the Catholic Church, would there not be a hue and cry about separation of church
and state? We are reminded that the
principle of the separation of church and state does not mean “removal of
church from state.” It seems that
understanding has been forgotten. We are
guided by the Lord God and his Son, Jesus Christ; nothing can change that and
the government cannot mandate it.
As the bishops have said and
continue to say, we have a long hard fight against this blatant attempt to
force the faithful members of the Church to violate their moral beliefs. As we
approach Independence Day, we once more recall the great price paid for the
freedoms we enjoy and call upon those whom we have elected to insure those
liberties are not trampled upon.
In this strange year where many
of us will not be able to receive the Blessed Sacrament or celebrate as a
community in our houses of worship, we must be prepared to receive spiritual communion
in prayer:
My Jesus,
I believe that You
are present in the Most
Holy Sacrament.
I love You above all
things,
and I desire to receive
You into my soul.
Since I cannot at this
moment
receive You sacramentally,
come at least spiritually
into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there and unite myself
wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You.
Amen.
Pax
[1]
The picture today is: “Pigs Rush To the Sea” by James
Tissot, 1886-96.
[3]
The readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the
psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for
English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is
for private use only.
[4]
NAB
footnote on Amos 5:21.
