Proverbs 9:1-6, Psalms 33(34), Ephesians 5:15-20, John 6:51-58
or
Rev 11:19-12:1-6.10; Ps 45; 1 Cor 15:20-27; Lk 1:39-56
Food for Body, Mind, and Soul
Dear friends, today is the 20th Sunday in Ordinary time. However, in many dioceses, the solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary that occurs on the 15th of August is celebrated. This is to give all the faithful who do not get the opportunity to attend weekday masses a chance to celebrate this important solemnity. To serve all who are blessed by these reflections, I am going to start with a brief reflection on today’s proper readings (20th Sunday Year B), and then reflect on the solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The first reading from the book of Ezekiel presents to us wisdom as a person with her own house who prepares a feast and invites all who are ignorant, and foolish to come and eat. Wisdom is the food for our minds. This means that wisdom cannot impose herself on anyone, he or she who wants her must follow her in her house. Last week I talked about the benefit of eating a balanced spiritual diet. Wisdom does not come to us by default when we are born. God created our minds with the potential to acquire wisdom. Wisdom helps us understand God’s plan and will in our lives.
We must acquire three types of knowledge as we grow up to be wise, whether physical, mental, or spiritual. The first is the inherited knowledge we acquire at home from our parents, siblings, and neighbours. If we get it right here, then the foundation of our life is set strong. The second is the knowledge from the classroom, apprenticeship, or master’s, which needs a lot of discipline to acquire. If we get it right, then our life structure gets strong walls. The third is innovative knowledge which is the combination of the first and the second applied to everyday situations. If these three types of knowledge are present in someone, he or she will manifest wisdom. Unfortunately, many people in the world miss one or the other due to circumstances. Which one of these did you miss?
The psalmist invites us to taste and see that the Lord is good. Yesterday, one of the students in religion class asked me why some of the students do not attend Sunday masses or small Christian community prayer. My answer was that most probably they did not get the opportunity to taste and see how good the Lord is. It was therefore the responsibility of those who attended to demonstrate to them that doing so is the wisest thing to do.
St. Paul urges us to be filled with the Spirit and not wine. Those who fill themselves with the Spirit of the Lord become wise and that becomes evident in their lives. Those who fill themselves with wine/spirit, become the opposite of wise, and that too is evident in their lives. Many individuals and families have wasted their lives on wine. I read on social media one very interesting post that said, “The price of one bottle of wine is 10 USD and the price of one iron sheet is 8 USD, so continue drinking and you will live in a bottle instead of a house”.
Jesus continues to unsettle the minds of the Pharisees with the discourse on the bread of life. They were so stuck on material bread that they could not comprehend the spiritual bread that Jesus was offering them. They wanted easy bread that lasted only for a while. Today too we don’t like getting tired of working for sustainable things in life. We want instant things compromising the quality. Many times, I have pointed out how people do not want long catechism classes to form their spirituality but quick miracles to fix their long-lasting problems. They say, “Easy come easy go”. Next Sunday as Jesus concluded this discourse, many fell back and did not follow him anymore because they could not comprehend him. Do not fear when some people drop out of life, it is because they cannot comprehend your discourse of life.
Dear friends, as we reflect on today’s readings, I want to urge us to invest in real wisdom that endures and make sure that those under our care get proper orientation in their lives. This includes parents/guardians, teachers, religious leaders, etc.
Mary’s Endurance was Rewarded by her Assumption into Heaven
Dear friends, today the entire Church, celebrates the Solemnity of the Assumption into heaven, body, and soul, of the Blessed Virgin Mary mother of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now this is not a simple matter of faith. Many things that the Church believes and celebrates about our Lady need some expounding to reap the benefits they bring to our Christian belief.
Today the Church professes that after her death, Blessed Virgin Mary’s body did not see decay, but she was assumed into heaven body and soul. Jesus ascended into heaven by his own power as the Son of God. Mary was assumed into heaven by the power of God just as she conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit. The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a direct consequence of her role in the salvation of the world. By saying “yes” to the call of God through the angel to become the mother of our Saviour, her painful journey with her son from birth to death on the cross, won her the best place in heaven.
There is no other figure in the entire history of salvation accorded so much devotion as our Mary is. She is the second Eve who, by the grace of God, was able to conquer all temptation and remain faithful to her vocation. There are about 20 different feasts in honour of her.
The Book of Revelation is believed to have been written during the great persecution of the Christians towards the end of the first century and the Beginning of the second century AD. The writer uses very symbolic language to preach the triumph of good over evil. The woman in labour pain and the dragon waiting to devour her child in the first reading prefigures many things in both the history of salvation and the present-day Church.
Translate this text into Swahili: In the story of creation, the devil, in the form of a snake came to destroy the relationship between human beings and God by cheating them. When Mary delivered the baby Jesus, Herod, who represents the earthly powers wanted to kill him. The Church that was born on the day of Pentecost started facing a lot of persecution. Even today, the Church continues to face tremendous persecution from the agents of destruction. There are so many agents of destruction disguised as good people.
However, the entire book of Revelation shows that eventually always the good wins over evil. Evil is destroyed and the good triumphs. It is just a matter of time. Salvation is a costly commodity. It cost our saviour his own life on the cross. We have to be ready to pay the price of our own salvation. There will always be opposition in our journey to heaven until all is accomplished. We are not to give in to persecution in all its forms.
Paul encourages us that Christ, who was the first to conquer death, will also not rest until he has brought those who believe in him to the triumphant end. This is because by persevering to the end of his mission, all things have been subjected to him.
In the Gospel today, Mary prophesies her own triumph in the song commonly known as the “Magnificat”. After the greeting of the angel, Mary sets on her vocation Journey. First, she visits her elderly cousin who, according to the angel, had conceived a child. Mary realizes that the old woman needs a hand during her last trimester of pregnancy. Her visit brings so much joy to Elizabeth that the child in her womb leaps with joy. Second, Mary would make so many tough journeys including the one to Bethlehem to be counted, where she delivered under poor conditions. Soon afterwards, she had to run to Egypt escaping Herod’s wrath. When Jesus was twelve, she had to go journey back to Jerusalem in search of her lost son. She journeyed with Jesus in all his earthly life, seeing her being persecuted, hated, and insulted by those who opposed his mission. Many bad things were said about him and finally the toughest journey to Calvary where she would see her own son being murdered for crimes, she very well knew he did not commit.
This makes Mary the true model of a follower of Jesus that we are all called to emulate. Today we celebrate her triumphant entry into heaven where we all hope to join her. We celebrate and remember her in our prayers and devotions. In the prayer of the Eucharist, she is mentioned before the apostles because she is the greatest of all the apostles.
My dear friends, as we celebrate our Mother in faith, let us ask her to help us to follow her Son Jesus with the same faith and conviction as hers. Let us not run away from persecution but face them with faith and endurance. One day we will also triumph like Mary did.
Have a blessed Feast.
Fr. Lawrence Muthee, SVD
SVD JAMBO KENTAN 