[Salvation]

Regnum Christi

The Secret of Growing Closer to God
August 25, 2007





Saturday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time
Father Jason Brooks, LC

Matthew 23: 1-12
Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples, saying, "The scribes and the Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses. Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example. For they preach but they do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens hard to carry and lay them on people´s shoulders, but they will not lift a finger to move them. All their works are performed to be seen. They widen their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels. They love places of honor at banquets, seats of honor in synagogues, greetings in marketplaces, and the salutation ´Rabbi.´ As for you, do not be called ´Rabbi.´ You have but one teacher, and you are all brothers. Call no one on earth your father; you have but one Father in heaven. Do not be called ´Master´; you have but one master, the Messiah. The greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

Introductory Prayer: Heavenly Father and God of mercy, we no longer look for Jesus among the dead, for he is alive and has become the Lord of life. From the waters of death you raise us with him and renew your gift of life within us. Increase in our minds and hearts the risen life we share with Christ, and help us to grow as your people toward the fullness of eternal life with you. We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Petition: Lord Jesus, help me to be a true servant of my brothers and sisters and to take pride in helping them grow closer to you through my words and example.

1. All Their Works Are Performed to be Seen. The fact that the scribes and Pharisees were such hypocrites really upset Jesus. They were turning people away from God. Have you ever turned somebody away from God because you were being too zealous? Have you loaded up heavy burdens on others and neglected to help them bear their burden? Do you practice what you preach? Do you love to be seen by others at Church or at school? Why do you do what you do? These are all good questions to keep in mind. God knows the intentions of our hearts. He is looking for us to be humble servants of each other. He wants us to place greater importance on the way we treat others than on the way that others perceive or judge our actions.

2. Call No One on Earth Your Father. What is Jesus trying to say here? He is not saying that you should not refer to priests or pastors as “father.” St. Paul himself wrote to the Corinthians, “Indeed, in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel” (1 Cor 4:15). You have to take into consideration the context of this dissertation. Jesus is reprimanding the scribes and Pharisees, who were seeking this kind of adulation and esteem. Jesus was reminding the rank-and-file faithful that they owe their allegiance to their heavenly Father and not to any man or institution. Nevertheless, if any man or woman righteously represents Christ and is a member of his Mystical Body, then they can be considered as a brother or a sister in Christ. Moreover, if that man or woman has been entrusted with some kind of authority in the Church, they can be referred to as a father or a mother in Christ.

3. The Almighty Has Done Great Things for Me. The greatest among you must be your servant. This is a tall order and reminds those in authority that they are meant to be servants of the truth and imitators of Christ, who came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. Furthermore, if you want to grow closer to God and experience the bliss of loving him more, then you have to humble yourself and acknowledge the fact that everything you have comes from God. If you try to exalt yourself or try to tell God how good you have been and how much you deserve to have your prayers answered, then you are setting yourself up for a great fall. We can all learn a great lesson from the Blessed Mother, who said, “The Almighty has done great things for me and holy is his name” (Luke 1:49).

Conversation with Christ: Christ Jesus, thank you for the great example that you have given us. Help me to imitate your example and to remember that I have been called to love others as you loved me. Make my heart more like yours so that I can be a humble servant of the gospel and an authentic witness of your goodness to my brothers and sisters.

Resolution: I will perform some hidden act of charity for a loved one.

[Salvation]

Vultus Christi

Et Deus tuus Deus meus

Saturday of the Twentieth Week of the Year I

Ruth 2:1-3, 8-11; 4:13-17
Psalm 127: 1-5
Matthew 23:1-12

A Virtuous Woman

The book of Ruth is one of the most charming in all of Sacred Scripture. Its tone is quiet and reflective. Ruth, the book’s heroine, is possessed of a gentle charm. Although she is a Moabitess and not an Israelite, Ruth has all the virtues of a woman pleasing to God. She is humble, tender, faithful, and courageous. When her mother-in-law Naomi was not only widowed, but also left bereft of her two sons, and this in a foreign land, Ruth was moved to compassion and chose to remain united to her mother-in-law, and to return from Moab to Bethlehem with her.

Thy God My God

Ruth’s words to Naomi are among the most beautiful expressions of friendship in the Bible. “Be not against me, to desire that I should leave thee and depart: for whithersoever thou shalt go, I will go: and where thou shalt dwell, I also will dwell. Thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God. The land that shall receive thee dying, in the same will I die: and there will I be buried.” (Ruth 1:16-17).

Boaz Marries Ruth

In today’s reading, the two women have arrived in Naomi’s country of origin where Ruth asks leave of Naomi to go and glean in the field of Boaz. Boaz is smitten by the young widowed Moabitess and takes her as his wife. The child born of this union is Obed, the father of Jesse, and the grandfather of David.

The Genealogy

The names recalled in today’s reading are familiar to us from the genealogy of Our Lord Jesus Christ given by Saint Matthew (Mt 1:1-17). This is the genealogy that the Church reads on December 17, the first day of the Great O Antiphons, and again at the solemn Night Office that precedes the Mass of Christmas during the night. The Church’s musical tradition has graced this text with a chant melody that renders the long list of names strangely moving and memorable.

The Great-grandmother of David

Ruth, the great-grandmother of David, while not an Israelite by birth, is numbered among the ancestors of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is through Naomi that she is brought mysteriously to confess and to cling to the Lord, the God of Israel. Again, it is through mysterious circumstances that she meets Boaz and, through him, takes her place among the ancestors of the Messiah. In all of this we see Ruth’s true vocation unfold.

The Humility of Ruth

Why was God able to do with Ruth according to His will and pleasure? She was simply and profoundly humble, so humble that God was able to lead her, step by step, into the perfection of His plan. In her humility, Ruth, the ancestress of Jesus, resembles His Virgin Mother. We see here just how closely humility and faith are intertwined. Ruth’s religion was not even that of Israel; she was a Moabitess, a pagan, but her humility won for her the gift of Israel’s precious faith. Because she was humble, she was able to receive God’s gift of faith. Only the humble can let go of the things they cherish in order to receive even better things from the hand of God. Ruth let go of her native country, her customs, her gods, and her people in order to go with Naomi into something strange and unknown. Ruth humbled herself, and God rewarded her magnificently by making her an ancestress of David’s son, the Christ. This was her exalted vocation.

Prayer

Our Lord teaches us in the Holy Gospel that we have but one teacher, and that we are all brethren. We have but one Father, our Father in heaven. We have but one Master, the Anointed One, the Christ. It is to Him that we must address the words of the humble Ruth today:

Entreat me not to leave Thee, O Jesus,
or to return from following Thee (Ruth 1:16),
for to whom shall we go?
Thou hast the words of eternal life;
and we have believed, and have come to know
that you Thou art the Christ, the Son of God (Jn 6:68-69).
Where Thou shalt dwell, I also will dwell (Ruth 1:16)
for in your Father’s house are many rooms (Jn 14:2).
Thy people—those who follow the Lamb wherever He goes (Rev 14:4)—
shall be my people,
and Thy God my God (Ruth 1:16).

Hosanna to the Son of David

In Holy Mass, our prayer is answered, our desires wonderfully fulfilled. In the Eucharist, David’s royal Son draws us after Himself. The proud are scattered in the imagination of their hearts; those of low degree are lifted up (Lk 1:51-52). We leave behind the land of Moab and pass over, like Ruth, to Bethlehem, to the “House of Bread.” There we need not glean in the field of one unknown to us for its pleases the Father to give us “the true bread from heaven” (Jn 6:32). There, made one body by the Holy Spirit, we are the one Bride of whom Rachel, Leah, and Ruth were figures and shadows. “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” (Mt 21:9).

Posted by Father Mark on August 25, 2007 4:51 AM | Permalink