Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A Author: Fr. Eamonn O´Higgins, LC Source: sacerdos.org Green Stole and Gospel Readings: Isaiah 22:19-23; Psalm 138; Romans 11:33-36; Matthew 16:13-20 THEME OF THE READINGS There is a striking parallel between the reading from the prophet Isaiah and St. Matthew’s Gospel. The prophet denounces the master of the palace, Shebna, and says that the Lord will place another, the more worthy servant Eliakim, in his place. Eliakim will have binding authority over David’s House, and the Lord will make him secure. He will be a father to all. St. Matthew’s Gospel portrays a similar investiture of power. Jesus gives the earthly power and authority of his kingdom to Simon, in the future to be known as the foundation stone of the new Temple: the Church. Simon is renamed kepha, an Aramaic word meaning a sizable rock, one suitable as a foundation stone. Several promises are made: that it is on and through Peter that Jesus will build his Church on earth; that Peter is to have binding moral, temporal and spiritual authority over the Church; that evil will not withstand the Kingdom. Curiously, all this is to be done discreetly by Jesus and his disciples until after Jesus has accomplished his earthly mission. St. Paul is clearly aware of the active wisdom of God working in the world. The depth of God’s wisdom and purpose are a marvel to St. Paul. St. Paul is aware of God’s action which, for the most part, goes beyond human understanding. Psalm 138 also seems to acknowledge the effectiveness of God’s action, as the psalmist thanks the Lord for prayers answered, for God’s kindness, and especially for having “built up strength within me” (v.4). DOCTRINAL MESSAGE Church Authority: The Old Testament contains many examples of God’s authority entrusted to particular human leaders. There are various points to be made about this human investiture of God’s power. In the first place, each chosen instrument is required to be faithful to God’s purposes, which are not generally easy to accomplish and seem to be more commandments than satisfying explanations. Through his infidelity, the chosen leader can lose God’s favor (as, for example, with King Saul). God’s chosen leader is given God’s special favor and enjoys a rare degree of intimacy with God. God communicates with his people through these human instruments, and it is through these instruments that God works his purposes. These instruments often suffer the concerted attacks of evil and have to preach unpopular truths. They often suffer for their role of authority; it is no honor, but a selfless and, at times, thankless task. We also see in the development of Old Testament history a progressive understanding of authority that moves from material concerns to spiritual ones. The Gospel investiture of temporal, spiritual power in the person of Peter is along the lines of this Old Testament tradition. The symbolic language used by Jesus, the image of a foundation stone, the keys of authority, the building of a temple, all refer back to the glorious days of King David and King Solomon. Jesus is transforming the visible kingdom of David and Solomon, now in ruins under Roman rule, into the real, spiritual Kingdom of Heaven. Peter is now to assume the role of the earthly authority of the Kingdom, and, after Jesus’ death, it will be through Peter that God will continue to build the Kingdom. Catechism references: paragraphs 857-896 refer to the apostolic nature of the Church and the hierarchical constitution of the Church; paragraphs 915-916 refer to the evangelical counsels as Christ’s proposal to every disciple. PASTORAL APPLICATIONS In an age of liberty and expansion, anything that resembles authority and obedience seems an intolerable burden to many people. Even more so, in matters of religious belief and practice we consider it of vital importance to choose to do what we want. Decisions of authority that appear to deny this freedom seem to restrain our necessary freedom. Obedience, the deliberate following of another’s indications, appears as a servile attitude that inhibits our self-determination. It seems to demean us. We can and necessarily have to negotiate personal desires with others. We are prepared to tolerate certain limits, but are we up to the real, active and total seeking of another’s will that real obedience implies? It is not easy to unravel the inner obstacles to Christian obedience today. We need to discard the caricatures of obedience that linger in our minds, as something rigid, implacable, unreasonable, serving no real purpose. What may be underneath our easy rebellion against authority (and our agreement with all those who happen to be against anything, for it is much easier to be against something than for anythingsomething) is an undeveloped use and experience of freedom. It is a characteristic stage of adolescence (perhaps a necessary phenomenon) to know better what we are against, what we do not want, rather than what it is we are in favor of. Rebelling against parents is a sign of a burgeoning independent will that does not yet know what it wants but knows that it wants to assert itself. Its first sign is often the rejection of what another decides, because it is another who decides. Some people may stay as adolescents all their lives. They never move beyond the experience of wanting to be free to the experience of knowing how to be free. They knew what they wanted to be free from, but never found out what they wanted to be free for. Independence brings their cause to an end. A true education awakens a true human experience in freedom. We discover the reality of our lives and of the world, and, especially, the experience of God working through the world and through our lives, as Pope Benedict XVI reminded us (before becoming Pope): …(T)the deep, divine message in man can be buried and disfigured, but it breaks out again and again and creates a path for itself. In this context, we must also note that a new desire for recollection, for contemplation, for true sacrality, indeed, for contact with God is perceptible. This development leads one to discover for oneself, and in freedom, the full content of our wanting that takes us beyond ourselves to the affirmation of others and of God. It is in this context, that authority is understood not as a limitation of freedom, but as a way to fulfillment. This is the positive meaning of obedience. For someone who has learnt to look for the Kingdom of God, the spiritual keys of Peter are the welcome solution to one’s search.
Posted on: Sun, 17 Aug 2014 23:56:44 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015