Friday July 31, 2009

Friday July 31, 2009 of the 17th Week in Ordinary Time
The Feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola
Readings: Leviticus: 23: 1, 4-13, 15-17, 34-37 Psalm 81: 2-6, 10-11ab
! Corinthians 10: 31- 11: 1 Matthew 14: 54-58
Psalm Response: “Sing with joy to God our help”

The book of Leviticus is an orderly prescription, mandated by God, for the celebration of the many feasts established thousands of years prior, and known to us in the present age.
The actual writing down of the prescriptions didn’t occur until the Jews were in exile in Babylon from 587BC to 538BC, a period of 49 years, seven weeks of years.
Although Christians celebrate Easter near the date of the Jewish Passover, nowadays, the feasts Yom Kippur and the Day of Atonement mentioned, in today’s reading, usually are dated in September/October.
The purpose of the readings is to establish the Tradition of the Leaders of the Church to be the originators of the feast days and the rituals as from the time immemorial. We are the heirs of these Traditions and we honor the right of the Church to set feast days and ritual because God, in the person of Christ, mandated it to His disciples

Paul, in writing to the Corinthian community, suggests they do everything for the honor and glory of God. How do they go about complying? Imitate Paul! The former of the Society of Jesus, the Jesuits, would spin in his grave at the antics of some of the order’s leaders of today, who defy the Church as though it didn’t exist or have the mandate of Christ to lead the flock according to the direction of the Holy Spirit.

When Jesus came to His home town, they were astonished at His wisdom and healing powers. After all they knew Him as a boy who might have thrown a stone through their window or committed some boyish antic when He was among them.
It is almost a dogma! People remember what the want and not what they’ve learned.
Jesus knew this misconception and as a result of their lack of Faith, He didn’t show His power except to heal a few faithful ones.
This passage is often used by Protestants to deny the perpetual Virginity of Mary. Didn’t He have brothers and sisters?
To isolate a passage without acknowledging the rest of Scripture is eisegesis, making the words fit the premise.
Reading further in the Passion narrative would have shown Mary, the wife of Clopas,
(John 19: 25) the mother of James and Joses, and Salome ( Mark 15: 40b) supposed sisters and brothers of Jesus and.naturally, the children of Mary.

The Bible literalist, John Calvin, in his commentary;John Calvin's Verse Commentary
Mt 13:55
Is not this the carpenter’s son? It was, we are aware, by the wonderful purpose of God, that Christ remained in private life till he was thirty years of age. Most improperly and unjustly, therefore, were the inhabitants of Nazareth offended on this account; for they ought rather to have received him with reverence, as one who had suddenly come down from heaven. They see God working in Christ, and intentionally turn away their eyes from this sight, to behold Joseph, and Mary, and all his relatives; thus interposing a veil to shut out the clearest light. The word brothers, we have formerly mentioned, is employed, agreeably to the Hebrew idiom, to denote any relatives whatever; and, accordingly, Helvidius displayed excessive ignorance in concluding that Mary must have had many sons, because Christ’s brothers are sometimes mentioned.

Even the first protestant Martin Luther proclaimed and believed in the perpetual virginity of Mary. Therefore, the fallacy of the present day literalist is to be protested and prayers should be offered for their enlightenment.

Even so, we tend to remember the long-ago past better than recent manifestation of conversion. Remember, Christ also was the bane of His closest neighbors, perhaps for some boyish prank.