(Optional Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary)
On Saturdays in Ordinary Time when there is no obligatory memorial, an optional memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary is allowed.[1] Mass texts may be taken from the Common of the Blessed Virgin Mary, from a Votive Mass, or from the special collection of Masses for the Blessed Virgin Mary. Suggested for this date: # 39. Holy Mary, Queen and Mother of Mercy, I, II.
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| “Crucifixion” by Pierre-Paul Prud'hon, 1822 |
Commentary:
Reading I: Ezekiel 18:1-10, 13b, 30-32
Commentary on Ez 18:1-10, 13b, 30-32
Although the idea of individual responsibility for sins did not originate with Ezekiel (see 2 Kings 14:6, Jeremiah 31:29 and Deuteronomy 24:16), he gives the most detailed and explicit meaning to the concept. The proverb he quotes is believed, by some scholars, to be a rather cynical formulation of Exodus 20:5 (see Exodus 34:7). His statement refutes the interpretation of other parts of the Law of Moses (specifically Exodus 20:5, Leviticus 26:39-40, and Deuteronomy 5:9) that indicate that God would hold a son accountable for the father’s sins. The new hope of personal accountability is exhorted by the final call to conversion in the final verse of the selection – “Return and live!”
CCC: Ez 18:5-9 2056
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 51:12-15, 18-19
R. (12a) Create a clean heart in me, O God
Commentary on Ps 51:12-15, 18-19
Psalm 51 is the fourth and most famous of the penitential psalms. The psalmist sings, in these verses, that only God can reverse the awful effects of sin. Through this action, taken by the Holy Spirit, God’s salvation is made manifest in the repentant and contrite heart.
CCC: Ps 51:12 298, 431; Ps 51:19 1428, 2100
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Gospel: Matthew 19:13-15
Commentary on Mt 19:13-15
In this passage from St. Matthew’s Gospel we see Jesus inviting everyone to come to him, this time including the children. There are two important lessons here. First we remember that the Lord said earlier in the Gospel that the Kingdom of God belonged to those who possessed the faith of a child. The Lord continues to teach his disciples, in this case combining the reality and the metaphor of little children. Second, this account is understood by some as justification for the practice of infant baptism. That interpretation is based principally on the command not to prevent the children from coming, since that word sometimes has a baptismal connotation in the New Testament (see Acts 8:36ff). The children are claimed for Christ in that sacrament.
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Reflection:
We must begin by addressing the elephant in the room. Once more the Church in America is rocked by scandals resulting from her failure to protect her children, the very group addressed by our Lord in the Gospel. Many of us are enraged asking: “How could such a broad failure of leadership occur among men who dedicated themselves to serving Jesus Christ?” Others of us, especially the priests and deacons, who serve the church faithfully, are ashamed of being clerics in an organization which has tolerated this reprehensible behavior.
Yes, we can say we are sorry for the acts, current and (mostly) historical, on the part of various (and apparently many) of our brothers in the presbyterate and episcopate. The shepherds responsible for the flock (to whom we clerics have sworn obedience) have not only failed to defend it, but have, by their actions, facilitated disgraceful acts perpetrated on the most vulnerable members. Sorry is not enough. In the coming months we will see the response of the United States Conference of Bishops. In their response we will see if their actions reach the level of atonement that can restore some modicum of trust. I don’t know what that can be, but I think the Chilean option must be on the table (all of the bishops of Chile recently offered their resignations).
We continue to pray for the victims and the Church. Sin and forgiveness are hard tasks in our faith.
The two great poles of our lives in faith are sin and forgiveness. Sin pulls us away from God who is at our spiritual center, and forgiveness leads us toward him. It sounds so very easy when put into those simplistic terms. If forgiveness leads us to the Father, then we should always choose to forgive, and allow ourselves to be forgiven.
If the forces of sin and forgiveness were static, if they always had the same value and presented themselves in the same way, it would be easy. But that is not the case. Sin and forgiveness are dynamic. They find avenues of resistance and acceptance that are as different as life’s changing circumstances. No matter how much we detest sin and choose to avoid it (and its near occasion), sin seems to find us. Even though our hereditary association with man’s fallen nature was destroyed in baptism, the expression of sin in the world impacts us, tempts us, derails our choices to love, and substitutes hatred, vanity, envy, lust, and sloth.
We look at these failings and see our human frailty, repulsed by it, even as our baser instincts are attracted to those hedonistic impulses. In our hearts we know Jesus forgives us, and has opened the doors to paradise for us through his sacrifice. Yet there is a barrier to his forgiveness: that is of course, our own inability to forgive ourselves. Even as we struggle to accept Christ’s forgiveness, in the recesses of our logical mind, we think – I will sin again.
What then is our solution? We must not give up. The founder of the Oblates of the Virgin Mary, Venerable Bruno Lanteri, is famously quoted as saying “Saints are sinners who refused to give up.” His motto, “Nunc Coepi” or “Now I begin,” refers to this recognition, that we will never be perfect. We will fall, but it is our opportunity to begin again, washed clean in the Blood of the Lamb.
Today our prayer is simple. We ask for the prayers of all the saints, those who always got up after a fall, that they may lend us their strength and grace so we too may say, “Nunc Coepi,” now I begin, again.
Pax
[1] General Norms for the Liturgical Year and the Calendar Miscellaneous Notes no. 5.
[2] The picture is “Crucifixion” by Pierre-Paul Prud'hon, 1822.
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