Mal.1: 14b-2: 2b, 8-10; 1 Thes. 2:7b-0, 13; Mt. 23: 1-12
This week we had the celebration of the saints, the church triumphant in heaven and a Holy Day of Obligation. We also celebrated “All Souls Day” reminding us of the church suffering in purgatory as souls in need of purification. This Sunday we address the church militant, ourselves in battle with sin and the powers of evil. We are all called to be saints by our baptism but we must recognize the enemy and be willing to battle for our sanctity. The gift of freedom is won in battle whether we speak of spiritual battle, battling to protect our relationships, or battling to defend our society, our beliefs and values. It is a battle not to be our own god but to serve the God of creation and this requires the power of love.
“I Am” says the Lord. Am I then also and am I at peace with the Lord? My peace rests on the Lord “like a weaned child on its mother’s lap”. Do you recall your earliest memory of life? It probably is not as a nursing infant but at an age when you become aware of being a “self” apart from your mother. Until then your oneness with a mother is at peace. My first memory of life was riding in a Volkswagen Beatle standing on the floor board looking at the road. My stepsister was taking me to her apartment. I recall barely able to climb the stairs holding on to her hand. As soon as we got inside I was ready to go home. She had to call my mother on the phone so I could hear her voice. I suddenly became aware of myself as a being separate and apart and my peace was shaken. “In you Lord I have found my peace.” To be one with the Lord is to be at peace otherwise our hearts are restless until we rest in Him says St. Augustine.
The Gospel is an admonition, a warning of the dangers of not seeing beyond the human to the divine where we find our peace. The question I have been asked by non-Catholics is “why do Catholics call a priest father?” if the bible says to not call anyone on earth your father and they use this gospel “line” to challenge us. The immediate response I have is to question, “Is it not right to call your earthly father as ‘father’?” Usually the response to my question is “Yes it is ok but that is different.” Then the scripture meaning is not a literal meaning since “no one” would include your natural parent also. Scripture is interpreted in the context of the whole or we can lose its full meaning. That is the beauty of the Catholic Church that over centuries has gathered the books of the bible, provided original meaning from the Early Church Fathers, and continued the traditions that represent that meaning to our current day.
Jesus reminds us to look beyond the human to the divine. The Rabbi wanted the place of honor, elevated above the people. By “widening their phylacteries” the box worn on the head that hold the Hebrew law they made themselves lawgivers that burdened the people. They made themselves “Masters” to govern over the people not for the people. Jesus is reminding us whether priest, prophet, mother, father, teacher, or world leader we are all servants of the people, their brothers and sisters in his one body. Priests are Fathers because they serve the Father in heaven in “persona Christi” in the person of Christ when they administer the sacraments. Priests don’t forgive sins, Christ forgives through his servants. Priests consecrate the host but it is Christ who offers himself as the sacrifice in the Eucharist. We are to look beyond the human to the divine behind the veil. The visible is a sign of the unseen work of God in our lives. We recognize God because he is already with us but we come to receive Him in peace that we may be strengthened in his love and peace.
There are start-up churches that preach the word of God from the bible with only the pastor as head or in our times also by a couple each as pastors. Many respond to their message and find the message or the music or the fellowship to be more meaningful. They leave the church governed by the magisterium that provided the bible that others preach from because of the leader. The leader is still a sinner and when their sin is revealed they lose faith and move on seeking another church, another leader. The Catholic Church moves its priests often to meet the needs of a greater community in the diocese. Priests are servants of the universal church. While we may call a priest “Father” we recognize his calling, his humanity, and we see beyond the person to the divine life which he serves and in which we serve together. One of the goals of Vatican II was to send a clear message we are in it together. In the one body we all share in being priest, prophet and king to each other.
History has demonstrated the importance of the gospel warning. When people make their leaders their gods, evil enters into the fold. Then they declare war on others and bring chaos. The secular society likes to point out all the religious wars in the name of God. The secular world has its history of wars led by leaders and the people who obeyed them. It is part of our fallen nature to seek a “king” who will govern us and to fight for that king. If we fail to see the true king of heaven then our earthly “kings” who govern us have and will lay a heavy burden and lead us on a sinful path. Consider how virile government elections have become and when one side’s candidate loses we see the anger and uprising in protest and this is not just in this country but all around the world. Democracy is under attack with the desire to crown a person “king” not servant of the people. This is also part of the warning in revelations that in the end times one will rise who will be the cause for many to falter and because we have not established a strong relationship with the one true king we will lose our way, God’s way.
God is at work in us that we may receive “not a human word but as it truly is, the word of God, which is now at work in you who believe”. This we celebrate in receiving the word of God we receive Christ the King. This is the purpose of the second reading to remind us of our roles as servants of God regardless of the titles we hold as mother, father, grandparents, teachers, principals, governors, presidents, or priests, we all are called to proclaim the gospel by our example as servants of the people who toil at our calling and state in life for the greater good.
“Have we not all the one father? Has not the one God created us?” The church through the work of the Holy Spirit seams to bring together scripture from the Old Testament, the responsorial, our second reading and the Gospel message as a whole to give light to the truth of our humanity and how we are to live our lives as servants to our heavenly Father and King. This we manifest in our relationships with each other. When Malachi says, “O priests, this commandment is for you: if you do not listen, if you do not lay it to heart to give glory to my name” Jesus is reminding the people how this prophesy has come true “the scribes and the Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses bringing about the “curse” from the “blessing” and become “contemptible”. They do not keep God’s ways.
The early church was first known by the title “The Way”. It was the way back to the Father for those who “have turned aside from the way and have caused many to falter…and break faith with one another”. We have all one father and God who created us, Christ the King.
We have heard the expression, “through the mouth of babes”. A child from the womb recognizes its mother’s voice. A child by nature listens to that voice and learns to speak by being attentive to the voice of its parents. It also recognizes in their voice an authority and to the child that voice of authority as parents is the image of God to them. We could say it is also the first struggle with God himself when they reach the “terrible two” stage and as teens well let’s just say we are all born with a will of our own and we test it all through life. A child however placed in the temporary care of another authority is known to challenge that authority by saying, “you’re not the boss of me”. Their faith and understanding does not recognize an outside authority. We dare to ask then, “Who’s the boss of us?”
Where are our attention, time, energy, and love going? We shall love our God with all our hearts and all our lives and our neighbors as ourselves. To love God is to recognize our one true king and to love our neighbor is to share ourselves in the one true way. He is the way, the one waiting behind the veil for us to recognize and we will rest in peace all the days of our life. I am for the Lord.
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