Notes from the Pastor

Three times in our Scripture Readings today we are told how God will provide for us. In the First Reading (Isaiah 25:6-10a) Isaiah says “On this mountain the Lord of Hosts will provide for all peoples a feast of rich food and choice wines… he will destroy death forever.” Here, God is reminding the Israelites that he will be faithful to his covenant with them and provide for them. In our Second Reading from Saint Paul’s Letter to the Philippians (Philippians 4:12-14; 19-20), Paul tells the community, “God will supply whatever you need, in accord with his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” At this point in human history, what Isaiah had prophesied had come to pass: through Jesus, death had been overcome and the Lord had opened the doors to eternal life. So Saint Paul is reminding the Philippians that they can be content with whatever circumstances come their way, because the banquet has begun. For all who have responded to the invitation to faith by their Baptism, the feast of salvation is plentiful.

In today’s Second Reading (Philippians 4:6-9), Saint Paul encourages the Philippians to “have no anxiety at all.” Easier said than done, right! It is hard for us not to be anxious at times-especially in these times. We become anxious about people – about our children, our spouse, our aging parents. We also become anxious about work, mortgages, car payments, medical issues. We are most certainly anxious about the COVID-19 pandemic and all the changes it has brought to our lives. We are anxious about our nation torn apart by politics and social injustice. When we become anxious, we disturb the quiet within.

Today’s Scripture Readings can be understood as a plea to live a virtuous life, a life that exemplifies all that is wholesome about our human nature. Justice, compassion, mercy, selflessness, humility, and, above all, love, portray the best of who we can be. This is not to ignore the fact that we sometimes fall short of these virtues in our day-to-day living. Rather, it is to help us recognize that there is more goodness in the world than there is evil. It is found in the love of parents for their child, in the mercy we show the sick, the forgiveness we ask from a friend, and the compassion we have for one another. These little acts often go unnoticed but they are genuine expressions of a virtuous life.

In the Penitential Rite of the Mass as well as the Sacrament of Reconciliation, we ask for, and receive, God’s mercy. And we come to the realization that we must forgive others just as we have been forgiven by God. Today’s Gospel (Matthew 18:21-35) began with Jesus speaking about the breadth of the forgiveness that we are called upon to offer. Peter asks Jesus, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive? As many as seven times?” Peter thinks he is being generous.

On Monday we will be observing Labor Day, a national holiday to recognize the dignity of all who labor to provide for themselves and their families. It may come as a surprise to some that the Catholic Church has had a long history of encouraging the dignity of work and the rights of workers including encyclicals by Pius XI, John XXIII, and John Paul II. The “granddaddy” of them all is a papal encyclical issued on May 15, 1891, by Pope Leo XIII and it is known as “Rerum Novarum” which translates as “The Condition of Labor.”

Today’s Scripture Readings for Mass discuss something rather uncomfortable: the necessity of sacrifice; of taking up our crosses to follow Christ, even when following Christ comes at great personal expense. We see that perhaps most clearly in the lives of the martyrs. At this moment I am thinking particularly of St. Lawrence and St. Maximilian Kolbe, whose feast days we recently celebrated.

In today’s Gospel (Matthew 16:13-20), Jesus asked his disciples who the people thought he was, and their replies were interesting. Some thought he was John the Baptist, others Elijah or Jeremiah or one of the prophets. But it was Peter who stated it correctly – “You are the Christ – the Son of the Living God.” Peter’s statement of faith became the foundation of the Church, and nothing would prevail against it. However, Peter would soon weaken in his faith. This would happen after Jesus was arrested and then crucified. Peter would deny three times that he even knew Jesus, and Scripture does not mention him as being present at the Crucifixion. But after the Resurrection, Peter and the other disciples would be stronger than ever.

Today’s Gospel story (Matthew 15:21-28) is about an expanding circle of grace. What convinces Jesus that the Spirit is at work in the Canaanite woman is her deep love for her daughter and her persistent faith in his ability to heal the child. She addresses him with the messianic title “Son of David.” When he is silent, she refuses to withdraw, and even when he refers to her with the common slur Jews used to describe pagans, she turns the image back at him: “Even the dogs get the scraps that fall from the children’s table.”