Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 07-15-05, Mem. St. Bonaventure, Doctor of the Church

July 15, 2005
Memorial of Saint Bonaventure, bishop and doctor of the Church

Psalm: Friday 31

Reading I
Ex 11:10—12:14

Although Moses and Aaron performed various wonders
in Pharaoh's presence,
the LORD made Pharaoh obstinate,
and he would not let the children of Israel leave his land.

The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,
"This month shall stand at the head of your calendar;
you shall reckon it the first month of the year.
Tell the whole community of Israel: On the tenth of this month
every one of your families must procure for itself a lamb,
one apiece for each household.
If a family is too small for a whole lamb,
it shall join the nearest household in procuring one
and shall share in the lamb
in proportion to the number of persons who partake of it.
The lamb must be a year-old male and without blemish.
You may take it from either the sheep or the goats.
You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, and then,
with the whole assembly of Israel present,
it shall be slaughtered during the evening twilight.
They shall take some of its blood
and apply it to the two doorposts and the lintel
of every house in which they partake of the lamb.
That same night they shall eat its roasted flesh
with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
It shall not be eaten raw or boiled, but roasted whole,
with its head and shanks and inner organs.
None of it must be kept beyond the next morning;
whatever is left over in the morning shall be burned up.

"This is how you are to eat it:
with your loins girt, sandals on your feet and your staff in hand,
you shall eat like those who are in flight.
It is the Passover of the LORD.
For on this same night I will go through Egypt,
striking down every first born of the land, both man and beast,
and executing judgment on all the gods of Egypt—I, the LORD!
But the blood will mark the houses where you are.
Seeing the blood, I will pass over you;
thus, when I strike the land of Egypt,
no destructive blow will come upon you.

"This day shall be a memorial feast for you,
which all your generations shall celebrate
with pilgrimage to the LORD, as a perpetual institution."

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 116:12-13, 15 and 16bc, 17-18

R. (13) I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord.
How shall I make a return to the LORD
for all the good he has done for me?
The cup of salvation I will take up,
and I will call upon the name of the LORD.
R. I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord.
Precious in the eyes of the LORD
is the death of his faithful ones.
I am your servant, the son of your handmaid;
you have loosed my bonds.
R. I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord.
To you will I offer sacrifice of thanksgiving,
and I will call upon the name of the LORD.
My vows to the LORD I will pay
in the presence of all his people.
R. I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord.

Gospel
Mt 12:1-8

Jesus was going through a field of grain on the sabbath.
His disciples were hungry
and began to pick the heads of grain and eat them.
When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him,
"See, your disciples are doing what is unlawful to do on the sabbath."
He said to the them, "Have you not read what David did
when he and his companions were hungry,
how he went into the house of God and ate the bread of offering,
which neither he nor his companions
but only the priests could lawfully eat?
Or have you not read in the law that on the sabbath
the priests serving in the temple violate the sabbath
and are innocent?
I say to you, something greater than the temple is here.
If you knew what this meant, I desire mercy, not sacrifice,
you would not have condemned these innocent men.
For the Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath."

From: Exodus 11:10-12:14

[10] Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh; and the Lord
hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go out of
his land.

The Institution of the Passover

[1] The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, [2] "This month
shall be for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the
year for you. [3] Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day
of this month they shall take every man a lamb according to their fathers'
houses, a lamb for a household; [4] and if the household is too small for a
lamb, then a man and his neighbor next to his house shall take according to
the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your
count for the lamb. [5] Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year
old; you shall take it from the sheep or from the goats; [6] and you shall
keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of
the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs in the evening. [7] Then
they shall take some of the blood, and put it on the two doorposts and the
lintel of the houses in which they eat them. [8] They shall eat the flesh
that night, roasted; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat
it. [9] Do not eat any of it raw or boiled with water, but roasted, its head
with its legs and its inner parts. [10] And you shall let none of it remain
until the morning, anything that remains until the morning you shall burn.
[11] In this manner you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on
your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste. It is
the Lord's passover. [12] For I will pass through the land of Egypt that
night, and I will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and
beast; and on all, the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the
Lord. [13] The blood shall be a sign for you, upon the houses where you are;
and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall fall
upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.

[14] "This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a
feast to the Lord; throughout your generations you shall observe it as an
ordinance for ever."

Commentary:

12:1-14. This discourse of the Lord contains a number of rules for
celebrating the Passover and the events commemorated in it; it is a kind of
catechetical-liturgical text which admirably summarizes the profound meaning
of that feast.

The Passover probably originated as a shepherds' feast held in springtime,
when lambs are born and the migration to summer pastures was beginning; a
new-born lamb was sacrificed and its blood used to perform a special rite in
petition for the protection and fertility of the flocks. But once this feast
became connected with the history of the Exodus it acquired a much deeper
meaning, as did the rites attaching to it.

Thus, the "congregation" (v. 3) comprises all the Israelites organized as a
religious community to commemorate the most important event in their
history, deliverance from bondage.

The victim will be a lamb, without blemish (v. 5) because it is to be
offered to God. Smearing the doorposts and lintel with the blood of the
victim (vv. 7. 13), an essential part of the rite, signifies protection from
dangers. The Passover is essentially sacrificial from the very start.

The meal (v. 11) is also a necessary part, and the manner in which it is
held is a very appropriate way of showing the urgency imposed by
circumstances: there is no time to season it (v. 9); no other food is eaten
with it, except for the bread and desert herbs (a sign of indigence); the
dress and posture of those taking part (standing, wearing sandals and
holding a staff) show that they are on a journey. In the later liturgical
commemoration of the Passover, these things indicate that the Lord is
passing among his people.

The rules laid down for the Passover are evocative of very ancient nomadic
desert rites, where there was no priest or temple or altar. When the
Israelites had settled in Palestine, the Passover continued to be celebrated
at home, always retaining the features of a sacrifice, a family meal and,
very especially, a memorial of the deliverance the Lord brought about on
that night.

Our Lord chose the context of the Passover Supper to institute the
Eucharist: "By celebrating the Last Supper with his apostles in the course
of the Passover meal, Jesus gave the Jewish Passover its definitive meaning.
Jesus' passing over to his Father by his death and Resurrection, the new
Passover, is anticipated in the Supper and celebrated in the Eucharist,
which fulfills the Jewish Passover and anticipates the final Passover of the
Church in the glory of the kingdom"
("Catechism of the Catholic Church", 1340).

12:2. This event is so important that it is going to mark the starting point
in the reckoning of time. In the history of Israel there are two types of
calendar, both based on the moon--one which begins the year in the autumn,
after the feast of Weeks (cf. 23:16; 34:22), and the other beginning it in
spring, between March and April. This second calendar probably held sway for
quite a long time, for we know that the first month, known as Abib
(spring)--cf. 13:4; 23:18; 34:18--was called, in the post-exilic period
(from the 6th century BC onwards) by the Babylonian name of Nisan (Neh 2:1;
Esther 3:7). Be that as it may, the fact that this month is called the first
month is a way of highlighting the importance of the event which is going to
be commemorated (the Passover).

12:11. Even now it is difficult to work out the etymology of the word
"Passover". In other Semitic languages it means "joy" or "festive joy" or
also "ritual and festive leap". In the Bible the same root means "dancing or
limping" in an idolatrous rite (cf. 1 Kings 18:21, 26) and "protecting" (cf.
Is 31:5), so it could mean "punishment, lash" and also "salvation,
protection". In the present text the writer is providing a popular,
non-scholarly etymology, and it is taken as meaning that "the Lord passes
through", slaying Egyptians and sparing the Israelites.

In the New Testament it will be applied to Christ's passage to the Father by
death and resurrection, and the Church's "passage" to the eternal Kingdom:
"The Church will enter the glory of the kingdom only through this final
Passover, when she will follow her Lord in his death and Resurrection"
("Catechism of the Catholic Church", 677).

12:14. The formal tone of these words gives an idea of the importance the
Passover always had. If the historical books (Joshua, Judges, Samuel and
Kings) hardly mention it, the reason is that they allude only to sacrifices
in the temple and the Passover was always celebrated in people's homes.
When the temple ceased to be (6th century BC), the feast acquired more
prominence, as can be seen from the post-exilic biblical texts (cf Ezra
6:19-22; 2 Chron 30:1-27; 35:1-19) and extrabiblical texts such as the
famous "Passover papyrus Elephantine" (Egypt) of the 5th century BC. In
Jesus' time a solemn passover sacrifice was celebrated in the temple the
passover meal was held at home.

Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.

From: Matthew 12:1-8

The Question of the Sabbath

[1] At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath; His
disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck ears of grain and to
eat. [2] But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, "Look, Your
disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath." [3] He
said to them, "Have you not read what David did, when he was hungry,
and those who were with him: [4] how he entered the house of God and
ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat
nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? [5] Or have
you not read in the law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple
profane the Sabbath, and are guiltless? [6] I tell you, something
greater than the temple is here. [7] And if you had known what this
means, `I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,' you would not have
condemned the guiltless. [8] For the Son of Man is Lord of the
Sabbath."

Commentary:

2. "The Sabbath": this was the day the Jews set aside for worshipping
God. God Himself, the originator of the Sabbath (Genesis 2:3), ordered
the Jewish people to avoid certain kinds of work on this day (Exodus
20:8-11; 21:13; Deuteronomy 5:14) to leave them free to give more time
to God. As time went by, the rabbis complicated this divine precept:
by Jesus' time they had extended to 39 the list of kinds of forbidden
work.

The Pharisees accuse Jesus' disciples of breaking the Sabbath. In the
casuistry of the scribes and the Pharisees, plucking ears of corn was
the same as harvesting, and crushing them was the same as
milling--types of agricultural work forbidden on the Sabbath.

3-8. Jesus rebuts the Pharisees' accusation by four arguments--the
example of David, that of the priests, a correct understanding of the
mercy of God and Jesus' own authority over the Sabbath.

The first example which was quite familiar to the people, who were used
to listening to the Bible being read, comes from 1 Samuel 21:2-7:
David, in flight from the jealousy of King Saul, asks the priest of the
shrine of Nob for food for his men; the priest gave them the only bread
he had, the holy bread of the Presence; this was the twelve loaves
which were placed each week on the golden altar of the sanctuary as a
perpetual offering from the twelve tribes of Israel (Leviticus
24:5-9). The second example refers to the priestly ministry to perform
the liturgy, priests had to do a number of things on the Sabbath but
did not thereby break the law of Sabbath rest (cf. Numbers 28:9). On
the other two arguments, see the notes on Matthew 9:13 and Mark
2:26-27, 28.

[The notes on Matthew 9:13 states:

13. Here Jesus quotes Hosea 6:6, keeping the hyperbole of the Semitic
style. A more faithful translation would be: "I desire mercy MORE THAN
sacrifice". It is not that our Lord does not want the sacrifices we
offer Him: He is stressing that every sacrifice should come from the
heart, for charity should imbue everything a Christian does--especially
his worship of God (see 1 Corinthians 13:1-13; Matthew 5:23-24).]

[The notes on Mark 2:26-27, 28 states:

26-27. The bread of the Presence consisted of twelve loaves or cakes
placed each morning on the table in the sanctuary, as homage to the
Lord from the twelve tribes of Israel (cf. Leviticus 24:5-9). The
loaves withdrawn to make room for the fresh ones were reserved to the
priests. Abiathar's action anticipates what Christ teaches here.
Already in the Old Testament God had established a hierarchy in the
precepts of the Law so that the lesser ones yielded to the main ones.

This explains why a ceremonial precept (such as the one we are
discussing) should yield before a precept of the natural law.
Similarly, the commandment to keep the Sabbath does not come before the
duty to seek basic subsistence. Vatican II uses this passage of the
Gospel to underline the value of the human person over and above
economic and social development: "The social order and its development
must constantly yield to the good of the person, since the order of
things must be subordinate to the order of persons and not the other
way around, as the Lord suggested when He said that the Sabbath was
made for man and not man for the Sabbath. The social order requires
constant improvement: it must be founded in truth, built on justice,
and enlivened by love" ("Gaudium Et Spes", 26).

Finally in this passage Christ teaches God's purpose in instituting the
Sabbath: God established it for man's good, to help him rest and devote
himself to Divine worship in joy and peace. The Pharisees, through
their interpretation of the Law, had turned this day into a source of
anguish and scruple due to all the various prescriptions and
prohibitions they introduced.

By proclaiming Himself `Lord of the Sabbath', Jesus affirms His
divinity and His universal authority. Because He is Lord he has the
power to establish other laws, as Yahweh had in the Old Testament.

28. The Sabbath had been established not only for man's rest but also
to give glory to God: that is the correct meaning of the _expression
"the Sabbath was made for man." Jesus has every right to say He is
Lord of the Sabbath, because He is God. Christ restores to the weekly
day of rest its full, religious meaning: it is not just a matter of
fulfilling a number of legal precepts or of concern for physical
well-being: the Sabbath belongs to God; it is one way, suited to human
nature, of rendering glory and honor to the Almighty. The Church, from
the time of the Apostles onwards, transferred the observance of this
precept to the following day, Sunday--the Lord's Day--in celebration of
the resurrection of Christ.

"Son of Man": the origin of the messianic meaning of this _expression is
to be found particularly in the prophecy of Dan 7:13ff, where Daniel,
in a prophetic vision, contemplates `one like the Son of Man' coming
down on the clouds of Heaven, who even goes right up to God's throne
and is given dominion and glory and royal power over all peoples and
nations. This _expression appears 69 times in the Synoptic Gospels;
Jesus prefers it to other ways of describing the Messiah--such as Son
of David, Messiah, etc.--thereby avoiding the nationalistic overtones
those expressions had in Jewish minds at the time (cf. "Introduction to
the Gospel According to St. Mark", p. 62 above.]

Catholic Culture

Collect:
All-powerful Father, may we who celebrate the feast of St. Bonaventure always benefit from his wisdom and follow the example of his love. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Recipes:

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Activities:

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Prayers:

July 15, 2005

Memorial of St. Bonaventure, bishop and doctor

Old Calendar: St. Henry, emperor and confessor

St. Bonaventure was born in Italy in 1221. He joined the Franciscan Order and went to Paris for his studies. He was made General of his Order and deserves to be reckoned its second founder for his work in consolidating an institution that was as yet ill-defined in nature. St. Bonaventure died at Lyons in 1274 during the general Council between Greeks and Latins held in this city. Dante had already included him among the inhabitants of his "Paradise". He is known as the Seraphic Doctor.

Before the reform of the General Roman Calendar today was the feast of St. Henry, whose optional memorial is now observed on July 13. In England this day is known as "St. Swithin's Day", celebrating the day his relics were transferred. The Catholic Church celebrates his feast on July 2.

St. Bonaventure
"In Bonaventure we meet a unique personality. He was unsurpassed in sanctity, wisdom, eloquence, and gifted with a remarkable skill of accomplishing things, a heart full of love, a winning disposition, benevolent, affable, pious, charitable, rich in virtue, beloved by God and man. . . . The Lord endowed him with such a charming disposition that everyone who saw him was immediately attracted to him." In these words the historian of the Council of Lyons concludes his account on St. Bonaventure.

At an early age he was a celebrated teacher and a powerful preacher. At thirty-six he was called to the highest post among the Franciscans, the Order which honors him as a second founder. He was an important figure at the Council of Lyons. His virtue and wisdom, his versatility and mildness were major factors in attaining the happy result that the Greeks so easily returned to the unity of the Church.

Bonaventure was a subtle scholastic and a profound mystic. Because of the latter he is known as the "Seraphic Teacher." In philosophy he was the principal leader of the Platonic-Augustinian school of Franciscan thought; as such he stood opposed to the Aristotelianism that was making its way into the schools of the time (Thomas of Aquin). Bonaventure's Life of St. Francis was a favorite book of the Middle Ages. When St. Thomas was told about Bonaventure's work, he said: "Let us allow one saint to labor for another." His contemporaries are said to have believed that no one was "more handsome, more holy, or more learned" than he.

The Church's Year of Grace, Pius Parsch

Patron: Bowel disorders.

Symbols: Cardinal's hat; ciborium; communion.
Often portrayed as: Cardinal in Franciscan robes, usually reading or writing.

Things to Do:

Read a lenghtier account of St. Bonaventure's life in the Catholic Encyclopedia.
In Journey of the Mind to God St. Bonaventure wrote: "I propose the following speculations to be free for those willing to magnify, admire and even take a taste of God, intimating, that too little or nothing is the proposed, exterior gaze [speculum], unless the mirror [speculum] of our mind has been wiped and polished. Exert yourself, therefore, man of God, before [prius ad] the sting of conscience bites again, and before you raise your eyes towards the rays of wisdom glittering in His reflections [speculis], lest by chance from the sight [speculatione] itself of the rays you fall into the more grave pit of shadows." You can read the entire work available in several formats at the Christian Classics Ethereal Library or purchase a copy from Amazon.
For even more of St. Bonaventure's works you can visit the Franciscan Archives.
For those who just can't get enough of St. Bonaventure here are several links: St. Bonaventure, Mirror of the Blessed Virgin Mary and The Triumph of the Catholic Intelligence: St. Bonaventure, St. Albert the Great, St. Thomas Aquinas

St. Swithin's Day
The Roman Martyrology mentions St. Swithin, Bishop of Winchester, England. He died on July 2, but "St. Swithin's Day" is July 15 in the Anglican Church. He is another of the "weather saints" — if it rains on July 15, it will rain forty more days. If no rain, it will be fair for forty more days, as the old rhyme says:

St. Swithin's day if thou dost rain
For forty days it will remain
St. Swithin's day if thou be fair
For forty days 'twill rain nae mair.

This weather patronage traces back to July 15, 871 when the monks were translating his body (relics) from the outdoor grave to an indoor shrine in the Cathedral. The saint apparently did not approve, as it rained for 40 days afterward. See July 2 for more biographical details of this saint.

American Catholic’s Saint of the Day

July 15, 2005

St. Bonaventure

(1221-1274)

Bonaventure, Franciscan, theologian, doctor of the Church, was both learned and holy. Because of the spirit that filled him and his writings, he was at first called the Devout Doctor; but in more recent centuries he has been known as the Seraphic Doctor after the “Seraphic Father” Francis because of the truly Franciscan spirit he possessed.

Born in Bagnoregio, a town in central Italy, he was cured of a serious illness as a boy through the prayers of Francis of Assisi. Later, he studied the liberal arts in Paris. Inspired by Francis and the example of the friars, especially of his master in theology, Alexander of Hales, he entered the Franciscan Order, and became in turn a teacher of theology in the university. Chosen as minister general of the Order in 1257, he was God’s instrument in bringing it back to a deeper love of the way of St. Francis, both through the life of Francis which he wrote at the behest of the brothers and through other works which defended the Order or explained its ideals and way of life.

Comment:

Bonaventure so united holiness and theological knowledge that he rose to the heights of mysticism while yet remaining a very active preacher and teacher, one beloved by all who met him. To know him was to love him; to read him is still for us today to meet a true Franciscan and a gentleman.

A Voice in the Desert

Friday July 15, 2005 Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Reading (Exodus 11:10-12:14) Gospel (St. Matthew 12:1-8)

In the Gospel reading today, Our Lord tells us that He Himself is the Lord of the Sabbath, and He tells us also that it is mercy He desires and not sacrifice. When we put these two points together with the first reading, we come to some very interesting points of understanding.

First of all, if the Lord is the Lord of the Sabbath, that means He Himself is the one who determines what shall happen on the Sabbath. The Sabbath is the Lord's Day. Ultimately for the Jewish people, the Lord's Day was not merely on Saturday, but the Lord's Day for them was especially the day of the Passover, the most holy day of the entire year. When we think about this in the context of what we just heard in the first reading, we are told that on the Passover the father of each family is to procure for his family a lamb. It is to be a year old, it is to be a male, and it is to be without blemish. They are to sacrifice that lamb at the evening twilight on the fourteenth day of the month, and they are to eat it whole. (In other words, they were not to cut it open and pull out all the entrails before they cooked it. They were not just to cook parts of the lamb, but rather they were to roast it whole with its head, shank, and inner organs all together. Then they had to eat the lamb.) They are to sprinkle its blood upon the lintel and the doorposts, and the Angel of Death will pass over the places where they are. Then we are told that this is to be an everlasting memorial for the people of Israel.

Now if we put that into the context of what Our Lord has just told us in the Gospel, first of all, He says it is mercy He desires and not sacrifice. What we have in the Eucharist is a sacrifice, but it is mercy. It is the perfect act of mercy and it is the perfect act of love and it is the perfect sacrifice. In this, we have both sacrifice and mercy. Scripture tells us that we are not to come before the Lord empty-handed. Sacrifice is part and parcel of religion. It is interesting that until the New Age nonsense of our own day, there were only two religions in the history of the world that did not offer sacrifice, that is, modern Judaism and Protestantism. Those are the only two religions that did not offer sacrifice until the New Age nonsense came to light, and now they do not either. Otherwise, every single religion – even the pagans – understood that sacrifice was part and parcel of religion. The sacrifice is necessary, but it is a sacrifice of mercy that we offer because it is the sacrifice of Christ. The Sabbath now is established according to this sacrifice. So the Holy Day which we celebrate is still the Passover because we still offer the Passover Lamb, not just once a year but perpetually as a continuous sacrifice. That Lamb is a male without blemish. It is the Lamb that our heavenly Father has obtained for His family. The Lamb must be eaten whole. It is not a symbol of the Lamb that we are to eat, nor a piece of the Lamb that we are to eat, but rather we get to consume the entire being of the Lamb.

That is exactly what happens in the Eucharist. In Holy Communion, the full Person of Jesus Christ – Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity – is present. And so we consume the Lamb. We do not consume a piece of the Lamb and we do not consume a symbol of the Lamb, because if the people of Israel had not eaten the lamb, their firstborn son would have died. We must eat the Lamb or we will die. We must also have the Blood of the Lamb sprinkled upon us; no longer the lintel and doorposts of our homes, but rather the lintel and doorposts of our souls. This is what happens when we are baptized. It is what happens when we go to Confession. It is what happens in Holy Communion. The Blood of Jesus is poured upon us so that the Angel of Death will pass over.

We see all of these points and that it is an everlasting memorial. For the Jewish people, the notion of memorial is not "Remember what happened way back when." In our day, they would have to say, if they understood it wrongly, "Remember what happened 3,500 years ago and have a little celebration in its honor." That is not the Jewish notion of memorial. The Jewish understanding of memorial is that it is real and it is to be done still. When the Jewish people celebrate Passover, they are not celebrating an event of 3,500 years before – they are living the Passover today. So too, when we offer Jesus in sacrifice at Mass, we are not remembering what happened 2,000 years ago. He told us, Do this in memory of Me. We are doing it still. The sacrifice of Jesus is the same sacrifice as it was 2,000 years ago. He is not being sacrificed again; He is being sacrificed still. He is the Passover Lamb that is offered for us. He is the Lord of the Sabbath. He is the sacrifice and He is the mercy. All of these things come together in the Person of Jesus Christ.

We must understand the importance of these points from Exodus if we are to understand what we do at Mass, because Jesus is the Passover Lamb that was procured by the Father for His family. He is our Passover. He is our mercy and our sacrifice. He is the Lord of the Sabbath. We have this everlasting memorial that we continue to celebrate and which will continue to be celebrated until the end of time, as Scripture has prophesied. As we celebrate this Mass today, we need to understand what is happening. The only way to understand it is to go back to Exodus and to understand what the Passover Lamb was all about and to apply that to Our Lord as He is sacrificed on the altar today and as we receive the fullness of His Person so that the Angel of Death will pass over and eternal life will be ours.

* This text was transcribed from the audio recording with minimal editing.

The Word Among Us

Friday, July 15, 2005

Meditation
Matthew 12:1-8

The Pharisees seemed to have a legitimate complaint: Why would Jesus allow his disciples to break the Jewish law by “working” on the sabbath? But Jesus, as “Lord of the sabbath,” was less concerned about preserving religious customs for the sake of religious customs. He knew his disciples’ needs and wanted to provide for them.

In fact, Jesus seemed a little irritated at the Pharisees. He rebuked them, as if to say, “What’s the problem? My friends are hungry. Just let them eat.” Quoting from the Book of Hosea— “I desire mercy, not sacrifice”—Jesus hoped to open the Pharisees’ eyes to the nature of God and to the real reason and purpose for the Law of Moses. He hoped to show them that in sticking to their customs, which were rooted in the letter of the Law, the Pharisees couldn’t appreciate the mercy of God, which was at the heart of the Law.

We can see a similar reaction when Jesus told his followers that they must eat his body and drink his blood (John 6). Some who had been with him were scandalized by such a teaching, but Jesus’ thinking was just as direct as in the scandal over sabbath regulations. You can just hear him say, “My people need this food. They need to be fed by me over and over again. I can’t just give myself for them on the cross. I must give myself to them day after day as well.” No matter how odd or scandalous it may sound, Jesus never hesitates to feed us. He will do whatever it takes to fill us with his divine life!

The logic of divine love doesn’t always follow our human script. Things that do not make sense to the world—like followers of a religious figure breaking sabbath customs, or believers eating and drinking the real body and blood of their Messiah—flow perfectly from the merciful heart of God. Who knows our spiritual needs better than he does? And who else so longs to lift us up, restore us, energize us? May we always be open to this divine love—and to the life-changing logic that is behind it!

“Heavenly Father, I am amazed by your love for me! You are willing to go as far as need be in order to reach me and fill me with your life!”

Exodus 11:10–12:14; Psalm 116:12-13,15-18

One Bread, One Body

<< Friday, July 15, 2005 >>

St. Bonaventure

Exodus 11:10—12:14

Psalm 116

Matthew 12:1-8

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MASS EXODUS

“To You will I offer sacrifice of thanksgiving.” —Psalm 116:17

Try skipping all three meals today. How will your body feel tomorrow? Yet why should it be a problem to skip meals today? After all, today is just one day. What difference should one day without food make when you eat regularly every other day? The obvious answer is that our bodies are created to cry out in hunger for food when deprived of nourishment for even a short time.

Many people will skip Mass today. Some wish to attend and are unable, but most simply have no desire to go to daily Mass. Yet God created our spirits to hunger and thirst for spiritual nourishment even more so than our bodies desire food. So why do many folks seem to feel no spiritual hunger if they miss Mass for even one week?

Many are so emaciated spiritually that they don’t realize they are spiritually starving to death. This spiritual emaciation causes a spiritual numbness, which fosters a spiritual indifference, marked by the refusal to give thanks to God (see Rm 1:21ff). Mass is centered on the Eucharist, a word which means “thanksgiving.” In a very real way, a thankless posture toward God can lead to spiritual death.

After the Exodus, the Israelites joyfully thanked and praised God (Ex 15:1ff). They even changed their calendars so they would never forget to thank Him regularly (Ex 12:2). Let’s be like the Israelites and rearrange our schedules and lifestyles so that we give top priority to thanking God. Take the cup of salvation (Ps 116:12). Center your life on the Mass and greet the Lord daily with thanksgiving (Ps 95:2).

Prayer: Father, You give me bread from heaven (Jn 6:32-33). May I desire greatly to eat this bread daily the rest of my life.

Promise: “It is mercy I desire and not sacrifice.” —Mt 12:7

Praise: In being fed by God, St. Bonaventure, in turn, fed others, especially through his gentleness, courtesy, and compassion.

Mt 12:1-8
#	Douay-Rheims	Vulgate
1	At that time Jesus went through the corn on the sabbath: and his disciples being hungry, began to pluck the ears, and to eat.	in illo tempore abiit Iesus sabbato per sata discipuli autem eius esurientes coeperunt vellere spicas et manducare
2	And the Pharisees seeing them, said to him: Behold thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do on the sabbath days.	Pharisaei autem videntes dixerunt ei ecce discipuli tui faciunt quod non licet eis facere sabbatis
3	But he said to them: Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and they that were with him:	at ille dixit eis non legistis quid fecerit David quando esuriit et qui cum eo erant
4	How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the loaves of proposition, which it was not lawful for him to eat, nor for them that were with him, but for the priests only?	quomodo intravit in domum Dei et panes propositionis comedit quos non licebat ei edere neque his qui cum eo erant nisi solis sacerdotibus
5	Or have ye not read in the law, that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple break the sabbath, and are without blame?	aut non legistis in lege quia sabbatis sacerdotes in templo sabbatum violant et sine crimine sunt
6	But I tell you that there is here a greater than the temple.	dico autem vobis quia templo maior est hic
7	And if you knew what this meaneth: I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: you would never have condemned the innocent.	si autem sciretis quid est misericordiam volo et non sacrificium numquam condemnassetis innocentes
8	For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath.	dominus est enim Filius hominis etiam sabbati

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