Faith

Mea maxima culpa- Saturday, 21st Week in ordinary time- Matthew 25:14-30

This final parable in the lectionary of the Gospel of Matthew (on Monday we begin with the Gospel of Luke) has many things to ponder about. We could ponder on the final judgment, or the generous trusting master, the Christian disciple’s service, the patience of the master, the character of the master etc.

But parables are never written for us to bring our agenda to a narrative but rather let the narrative’s agenda be communicated to us. Matthew has a single agenda as he winds down his fifth and final discourse and before he launches into the passion narrative, he wants to communicate the characteristics of the Parousia, the second coming of Jesus.

Jesus has left the temple and is sitting on the Mount of Olives (24:3). He is now teaching His disciples privately who want to know more about the Parousia. This He does by weaving descriptions, comparisons, examples and parables. Jesus describes the signs of the end of age in tumultuous terms. Persecutions and false messiahs will be the order of the day. There will be a cosmic upheaval which will help one to rightly identify the prophecies of the Parousia. 

After describing the events surrounding the Parousia, Jesus describes the state of readiness and alertness that the disciple needs to have. This He communicates via three parables; the ‘faithful and unfaithful servant’, the parable of the ‘ten bridesmaids’ (a feminine version of the first) and finally today’s Gospel of the ‘parable of the talents’.

Of the three parables, this last parable would make most of us extremely uncomfortable. The man in the parable is a clear allusion to Jesus. He is trusting yet harsh, he gives according to each one’s ability and demands accountability, he is generous yet condemnatory.  But then again, the parable is not about the man or about Jesus; it is about the accountability of the disciples at the Parousia.

Perhaps, as we have said before, Matthew’s community has lost hope in the Parousia. The eagerness with which they gathered on the first day of the week, anticipating His coming, now seems to have dimmed. The ‘joy of the master’ ( verse 21 and 23) is  absent in the disciples and they are filled with mediocrity.

Jesus had not left His disciples with no resources. The three ‘servants’ were left with a total of eight talents. A talent was actually a measurement of weight; it did not have a constant value. A talent of gold, for example, would be worth a whole lot more than a talent of bronze. Some scholars estimate that a talent, at the least, was equivalent to twenty years labour. In short, the master (Jesus) was very trustworthy when he left his servants (disciples) with ‘all his possessions.’

The parable highlights the trust of the master in leaving not simply an unrealistic responsibility but a carefully thought out one, for each is given “according to their ability.” The point being made is that the Parousia will be a moment of accountability; that which has been carefully thought out and handed over to the disciples who should bear fruit.

The third servant was by no means treated unfairly. He had a fifth of the responsibility compared to his brothers who had to account for five times and twice more. He was trusted with a staggering amount of twenty years wages. Hence his condemnations stem from the fact that he was “lazy” by nature and “wicked” in thought, when he defended himself. It is not the master who is “harsh” nor is it the master who unduly “reaps where he does not sow” but the servant’s wicked characterization of the master, in order to get out of a bad situation. The wicked servant tarnishes the good name of his trusting and generous master to get out of a bad situation.

Earlier in Chapter 11, Jesus condemned the cities of Capernaum, Chorazin and Bethsaida because they had seen the miracles that Jesus had worked within their walls, they should have chosen to repent; they chose rather, to do nothing. The judgment of Jesus passed on the Galilean cities and now on the third servant is harsh because they chose to do nothing. Think about it, we spend so much of our lives repenting the things we have done, not the things we have failed to do!

Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa

Fr Warner D’Souza

Spread the love ♥
7      
7
Shares
Continue Reading
Faith

Access denied; the parable of the ten virgins.  Friday, 21 st week in ordinary time- Matthew 25: 1-13

The reason why the parable of the wise and foolish servants is followed by the parable of the wise and foolish bridesmaids or virgins, is simply to reiterate a point; the need for readiness for the day of the Lord. These two parables form part of a series of four Matthean parables that illustrate the Parousia and the final judgment.

Matthew, like the Old Testament prophets, employs nuptial imagery to describe the relationship between God and His people (remember the book of Hosea). Clearly the ten bridesmaids are representatives of the disciples whose love grows dim because of the delay of the Parousia (the second coming of Jesus).

The parable which is more of an allegory, employs a number of images that Matthew’s community would have been most familiar with. The Nuptial imagery was further heightened by the banquet imagery, symbolic of messianic banquet at the end times when the blessed would share a meal with the Messiah. Then there was the imagery of the ‘bridegroom,’ symbolic of Jesus Himself.

Wedding festivities lasted several days in the time of Jesus. The bride and groom would make a long journey home. This journey was not long because of the length that needed to be traversed, but because the bride and groom would feel obliged to respond to several invitations to stop and celebrate their joyous occasion with friends and family. This parable is a bit of a tricky one for we don’t know if the groom is headed to the bride’s home or is accompanying his bride to his home. There is no mention of the bride at all simply because that’s not the focus of the parable.

The disciples who lived in the last two decades of the first century had grown weary of waiting for the second coming of the Messiah. The Parousia now seemed no longer immanent, but perhaps a distant reality. Complacency had begun to set in among the disciples and hence the parable set in ink, served as a warning. The intention was clearly to remind them that their tardy attitude would be met by severe punishment should they be caught napping.

Spread the love ♥
9      
9
Shares
Continue Reading
Faith

Hell is my neighbour- Thursday – 21st week in ordinary time- Matthew 24:  42- 51

For some reason the lectionary takes a huge leap and plunges right into the sixth and last discourse of Matthew’s Gospel. Comprising of Chapter 24 and 25, the Eschatological discourse or the discourse on the end times preoccupies itself with the Parousia or the Lord’s second coming.

The Gospel of Matthew was penned somewhere after 80 AD. By this time the apostles had been martyred and so were many of the inner circle of Jesus. The Early Church had constantly lived in the hope that the second coming of Jesus or His Parousia was an imminent reality. That unfortunately did not seem to happen and hope among the followers of Christ was fading fast.

Many of the disciples now began to hanker for a more relaxed form of Christian discipleship as opposed to the more rigorous devotion that had once enthused the community. The desire to ‘work’ for the Church seemed to be lost in materialistic desires. The ‘eating and drinking’ is now in the company of drunkards (verse 49) and fellow Christians are treated like slaves.

Matthew wants to send a clear message of warning to his community; shake off lethargy and shrug off the hopelessness that had set in. The Lord would come as He promised even though He did not come as soon as they imagined or wished for. The disciples need to be watchful like a householder who watches over his home, protecting it from thieves. The message to the community is crystal clear, “you too must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.”

Spread the love ♥
9      
9
Shares
Continue Reading
Faith

Blood on the dance floor- Memorial of the Passion of Saint John the Baptist- Mark 6: 17-29

At first the news that trickled out of Herod Antipas’ imposing fortress, Machaerus, was met with disbelief.  His disciples refused to believe that Herod Antipas had beheaded a man whom he considered ‘righteous and holy’; but then again Herod was a people pleaser and a spineless ruler.

John’s body now had to be prepared for burial according to Jewish customs but getting his body was not going to be an easy walk in the park; literally!  Machaerus was a fortified hilltop palace on the eastern side of the Dead Sea. It was special to Herod Antipas for His father; Herod the great had built this palace in 30 BC over the ruins of the earlier Hasmonean fortress.

It was designed to be a defence outpost; its smoke signals of warning could be seen all the way to Jerusalem. It was Herod the great who extensively renovated this defence centre into a lavish palace now inherited by his son, Antipas.

Herod the great chose the peristyle courtyard to be his pièce de résistance. Set within beautiful ionic columns with capitals draped in volutes, this courtyard which saw many great banquets also became the court where treachery and cunningness played out.  It was here that Herod Antipas watched his step daughter, Princess Salome, dance the deadly dance that cost him the life of a man he feared yet protected.

But that day, in 32 AD, saw the blood of an innocent man drip off the platter on which his head was carried. It was a prized but bloody trophy that Herodias had longed to have and now that blood matched the tiles of the roof of the courtyard. It seemed like the colour of blood was everywhere except on the soul of Herodias; for that had long been blackened by sin.

Perhaps if Herod had only anticipated the deviousness that he knew his wife to have, he might have not committed to such a reckless oath. Herod must have surely been intoxicated with power if not with wine for he swore on oath to give even half his kingdom as a prize for a dance that so enchanted him and his guests.

It was an awful affair, for Herod’s birthday was to be John’s death day and while Galilee and Perea were plunged in mourning for John the Baptist, Herodias was planning a victory party. Her long time enemy was dead and she would not have to hear his condemnation of her illicit relationship.

Spread the love ♥
26      
26
Shares
Continue Reading
Faith

When the converted became perverted – Memorial of St Augustine of Hippo- Monday- 21st Week in ordinary time – Matthew 23: 13-22

Chapter 23 can well be compared to round twelve in a boxing match. The Pharisees and scribes have been sparring with Jesus in chapter nine and now the gloves are off.  It seems like a fight to the finish. Jesus, in verse 1-12 has already delivered a jab; and with it He has picked a few good scoring points, but then He launched into a combination of punches; seven of them to be precise.

The Bible records these series of straight punches as the seven ‘woes’ against the Pharisees and scribes.  The Greek word for woe is ‘ouai’. It is hard to translate this word for it communicates not only wrath, but also sorrow. Jesus is not just throwing a star tantrum here; this is ‘righteous anger’ tinged with sorrow. This anger, followed by sorrow, is clearly seen when Jesus brings to a close chapter 23 with his lament over Jerusalem.

It is not Israel, His ‘lost sheep’, that is denounced by Jesus but the focus is on the Scribes and Pharisees whom Jesus calls ‘hypocrites’; hupokrites in Greek. A ‘Hupokrite’ in its original context meant one ‘who answers’ to a statement in a dialogue.  In its more popular context it came to mean one who ‘acts a part’’. In the truest sense of the word, a hypocrite is an actor but not  a genuine one who immerses himself into a role; rather he is one who ‘pretends’ and merely puts on an act. In calling the Pharisees and Scribe hypocrites, Jesus uncovered their masks, thus baring their true thoughts and feelings.

 The Gospel text of today covers the first three woes. Consider them to be three good powerful straight punches thrown in a classic “one-two” combination. Before the Pharisees or scribes knew what hit them, He will deliver the ‘knock out’ in verse 29; the last of the woes. But for now the first three punches hit the Pharisees and Scribes where it hurt them the most. They did not see them coming so they could not even ‘slip’ or ‘sway’ and so guard themselves.  

Spread the love ♥
14      
14
Shares
Continue Reading