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Mal 1:14-2:10, Matthew 23:1-12

Our first reading is taken from the second oracle in the collection of oracles attributed to Malachi. The literary structure of each of the oracles is that of a disputation, which is a ‘catechetical structure consisting of a) an affirmation of God or the prophet, b) a question arises from the people, usually a complaint or reproach and c) God or the prophet responses with an argument. This oracle is generally referred to as Sins of the Priests, and tackles the misuses and abuses that the priests have been committing. (Collegeville Bible Commentary, Order of St Benedict, Collegeville, Minnesota, 1992).

In the gospel, Jesus begins by addressing the faults and failings of the guardians and teachers of the faith as well. He does not blame the priests for faulty teaching, but states that their actions don’t fall in line with what they say. They seek the status and the trappings of status that their position of authority brings them. After explaining the issue, Jesus proposes that an attitude of humility will right the wrongs of such actions. 

The words humility and human and humor are all rooted in the Latin word humus, meaning earth; we are made of the dirt, dust and clay. Jesus reminds them that there is one father, one rabbi, one master, and that is not themselves. They are to understand that everyone is their brother, i.e. their equal. 

Humility is not so much a lack of pride and haughty arrogance, but understanding priorities and relevance, i.e., the big picture. Honors and titles, respect and regard, do not animate our lives, are not the spark, the breath which brings life to life. In other words, we strive to remain consciously aware and awake to the fact that only because God is God can a human be a human. 

Jesus concludes this passage by saying, “The humble will be exalted.” In other words, those who remember that they are in a lower position than others will be brought to a higher one. They will literally be up-lifted.

Both these old and new testament conversations occurs in the context of our behavior as a spiritual and religious authority figures. While they both urge ethical and moral behavior, Jesus goes further by mentioning that our ultimate destination is the Kingdom. It is there that we will be uplifted to a higher position. Because we have been entrusted to function as spiritual authority figures here on Earth, we need to likewise, uplift those in our care to the Kingdom, as well. In other words, we must bring others with us! 

 Journal Questions:

• How do I see humility exemplified by others? Do I observe a difference between human-orientated humility and God-orientated humility?
• When have I forgotten God is God, and I human? Where else do I see this mistake in play?
• How does the alternative definition of the word exalt resonate with me? What nuances and layers are added to my understanding of this passage?

Mt 22:34-40

I think the Lord made humans for the same reason I got a cat. I didn’t need a cat. The Lord doesn’t need living creatures, although, CS Lewis wrote a great book about this, the Four Loves, and theologians debate this point frequently enough. Maybe we both wanted something, someone to love and fuss over and delight in?

The first reading makes it clear that Moses and his people understand this as well. According to my college Bible-as-Lit professor, many cultures at the time were monotheistic. What made the Jewish people’s beliefs unique was that they believed that the One God loved and cared about them personally. Just as people care about each other. We are made in His image, so of course we love others and God loves us. It seems a bit of a no-brainer …

Ancient societies, the Romans, Israelites, Greeks, Assyrians, Babylonians, Egyptians, etc had all developed sophisticated societies based on common understandings of how people should live together. It was radically important that everyone was on the same page. As civilization developed, people specialized in specific occupations. This in turn lead to increased dependence on each other. Personal survival hinged on people adhering to commonly accepted behaviors, roles, and rules. In fact, like the Israelites and their Ten Commandments, many of these peoples wrote their rules and laws down. Over time, the rules and laws themselves became more important than the behavior they were aimed at promoting, mainly, treating each other kindly and fairly. 

The Pharisees were the keepers of the law for the Israelites. According to biblical commentary by William Barclay, they took their task of knowing and safe-guarding these laws and rules very seriously. To many, they had become the linchpin and cornerstone of their faith tradition. Jesus is not just reminding people to be kind to each other, He is reminding them, that the Creator created them out of love and personal interest. First things first —love God.The second flows from the first, love other people and treat them right. If one loves, then the rules aren’t really as complicated as all that. He is offering a code of conduct which is simple enough that no expertise to be and do right is required. 

It all — by all, I mean the big bang, the universe, life on earth, and each of our own individual lives — starts and ends with love. When my cat drops a toy at my feet so we can play, or I’ve spied a humpback whale and its baby off the coast, or when I see my seven year old neighbor trot down the front walkway to the car for a 6:30am school bus run, my heart stills and quiets. At the same time, it sort of leaps with a love for humanity, for Creation and Creator, for the Universe. Love is targeted and specific, but all-encompassing and wide-sweeping at the same time. 

Journal Reflection Exercise

Recall a time when you felt love as is described in the above last paragraph. Use as many sensory details as possible. Write it both in prose and poetry. 

Mt 22:15-21

When I was a kid, I collected foreign coins… that a little chunk of metal could represent a people’s history, culture and values was fascinating. An article written by Peter Preskar published by Short History and posted on the website Medium, stated the following:

“(Julius Caesar) received exclusive rights to mint coins, recognizing the political power that comes with controlling the money supply. To further solidify his authority, Caesar began minting coins with his own image, a significant departure from tradition. By producing coins with his own image, Caesar effectively used coins as a propaganda tool to bolster his image and authority among the people of Rome.”

The Israelites thought the new Messiah would be a king and ruler, along the lines of David. The pharisees were asking, in a sly way, if Jesus was disputing the power of Caesar and if He was going to attempt to dethrone Caesar as the new ruler. Many Jewish people, the pharisees among them, thought it was wrong to pay taxes to a foreign king, for the Lord was their King. The Herodians, who were also there, were aligned with the ruling class. If Jesus had agreed with the pharisees, the Herodians would have jailed him for sedition. The presence and collaboration of these two groups, typically at odds with each other, indicates the serious, no-win situation Jesus finds himself in. (Barclay, William. The Gospel of Matthew, Daily Study Bible Series, 1977).

Also according to William Barclay, the Roman government exacted three different kinds of taxes. The tax in question here is a poll tax, which is typically paid with the denarius or tribute coin that Jesus refers to. Also referred to as a ‘head or census tax, it is a tax levied on each man and woman simply because they are alive and live in Roman territory. While some paint Roman occupation as a civilized affair, many wars and battles were fought with the Romans because people did not want to be their subjects. In other words, people did die at the hands of the Romans. Lots of people. So we could call this a ‘be glad your alive tax.’ 

It is natural to want to fight against such oppression. But here Jesus indicates that these are two separate issues. Money and the power to demand others give it to you, does not connect or relate to Jesus or the Lord. To paraphrase, Jesus says rather bluntly, “This is a red herring, and I ain’t biting. The power of Caesar belongs to this world, my Kingdom lies elsewhere. Determine for yourself what of you belongs to this world and what belongs to the Lord, and act accordingly.” 

Reflection Journal Questions

Recount a time when someone else was goading you into an argument. Expand on the before and after, exploring the motivations behind the pot-stirring. 

Mt 22:1-14

Every time I hear this gospel, I wonder, What’s wrong with these people that they don’t want to go to a wedding!? But then I have to laugh— how many of us good-hearted folk have bailed on a party? Oh, there are going to be people I don’t know and I’m going to have to make small talk and I’ve got a huge to-do list that the cat is just ignoring! I’ll have to take a shower and find some party clothes… 

I heard a wonderful homily about it this weekend: we are required to change as preparation for the eschaton so we are ready for the Parosuia. In other words, we are required to change to prepare for the end of it all, so we are ready for the Kingdom, Heaven, which we will experience after it’s all over. It does take effort to prepare for event, such as a party or a wedding. We need to change our doings and our thinking. We need to don a different attitude.

I’ve bumped into lots of people in my life who hate change; they like everything to be ‘like it used to be.’ These folks have the attitude that they are dressed appropriately for all occasions, so they don’t need to change. Perhaps they have always been good Christians, open, kind-hearted folks. But different work requires different clothes; there is no way to be always appropriately dressed, regardless. 

The parable’s call for a change of heart, the kind which leads to a change of behavior (Metanoia ) is brassy, unmistakable and compelling. And don’t we all, as individuals, understand our need to change? Of course we do … hence confession and dinner-our-treat, roses and hastily composed, apologetic texts… 

While many are not comfortable with any changes what-so-ever, many who accept the need for personal change are uncomfortable with the idea that an institution may be called to alter some of their practices. In many cases, because there are countless gaps in our knowledge of the past, these so-called new ideas may not be new at all. We just don’t know all the facts about past practices.

We can learn a lot about the Lord’s expectations and hopes for our ability to change when we examine of our feelings and perceptions about individual, personal change vs institutional change. 

Reflection Questions

1. Recall a time when you had to repent and change your ways. Detail the before and after, as well as pinpointing the moment of recognition of the need to change.
2. Recall a time when you heard that an institution you are involved was going to be making a ‘change.’ Imagine all the possible ‘whys’ and detail the effect that these institutional changes had on individual lives. 
3. Compare your thoughts and feelings in each of these situations to each other. Are there any conclusions you can make about your own attitudes towards change? How might these insights impact your preparations for the Parosuia? 

Mt 21:33-43

Got to love Matthew… where a parable about some ill-behaved tenants is really about the end of the world! The disciples and early church genuinely believed the end of the world was imminent. I imagine such cosmic worry about the end of humanity, all life on earth, and the universe would lead everyone to teeter on the edge of a stressed-out baseline of angst and anxiety. That is a hard way to live, but that sense of generalized, urgent panic is not new. I’m sure many felt this during the world wars, particularly if they lived in Europe, during the Cold War when the threat of nuclear annihilation became a reality to so many. The early days of the pandemic caused this sort of widespread, baseline panic as well. 

So, while as a society perhaps we’ve faced such worries before, generally, every year when we visit the eschatology readings as we prepare for Advent, many of us think about our own end times. We know not the day or the hour. Matthew is clear that who will be saved and who will not be, cannot be manipulated or engineered by human beings. People cannot buy their way to being saved when the end comes. Reward and Punishment is not ours to determine. Still, the Early Church members appeared to have had a sense of duty to introduce others to Christ before the apocalyptical end befell them all. 

But not everyone is worried about either the personal or the cosmic end. Many feel that this is it. They might as well take what they want, get what they are owed in the here and now as there is no ‘later.’ This is the attitude of the tenants in today’s gospel parable. We are automatically on the side of the landowner, and thinks its awful that they killed his servants and his son. But they probably felt they were owed. They worked the land, after all, and some absentee landlord wants to swoop in and take what he didn’t labor and toil for… he did not endure the hot sun, the bending and stooping for ten hours, six days a week, dust in the lungs.

There I days where I catch myself … as if I am owed quiet neighbors when I want to think, friendly drivers when I make a last minute turn, or help when I am overwhelmed and frustrated. Often our wishes become expectations, and like the tenants, we think it should just go that way. Sometimes, we don’t even remember that the Lord, our Landowner and Boss, exists and that we are answerable to Him. Maybe we forget accidentally on purpose. Sometimes, perhaps, we are angry and resentful that someone else is in charge, so like the laborers, we go ahead and take our reward in the here and now. Jesus, Matthew and Shakespeare remind us, “There are more things in heaven and Earth, Horatio, / Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.“

Journal for Reflective Prayer

Like dreams, we are every character in each parable. Recall a time when you felt you were owed, misunderstood and under-appreciated. What did you do, what do you wish you did, and what would you do now? Write the situation as if it’s a scene, adding dialogue where appropriate. Finally, once that scene is laid out in your mind’s eye, read today’s second reading, to the you in the scene.