Commentary

Saturday, 6/20/2020, Immaculate Heart of Mary

They Worshipped Idols

First Reading Commentary: 2 Chronicles: 17-25

2 Chronicles 24:1-16 tells the story of the temple being rebuilt at the direction of King Jehoiada. Today’s first reading tells the story of what happened after the king’s death.

The princes of Judah went and paid homage to the new king, Joash who listened to them. We have to ask ourselves what the word “listened” means in this Scripture. Does it mean that Joash made a deal with the princes of Judah? Does it mean that the princes surrendered to whatever the new king said and/or believed? We are all more willing to obey those who listen to us as opposed to those who could care less about what we have to say. We tend to like those who listen to us and dislike those who do not. We tend to follow people that we like.

Any of those reasons could have given the princes cause to conduct themselves in the way that they did but they were totally wrong in their actions. The princes forsook the temple of the LORD and practiced idolatry.

There are two sins here. First, the princes turned their backs to the temple—the LORD’s house. This means that they did not use the temple to pray and worship the LORD. Who knows what they used it for or if they even went there? We commit the very same sin when we deliberately turn our backs on going to church when we know that we should.

We must remember that Jesus went to the temples all throughout His life. He declared His divinity in the temple when after reading the Scripture He said, “Today, this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” Luke 4:21    

Jesus set an example for us to follow by spending so much time in the temple. If Jesus did not mean for us to go to our place of worship, He would not have spent so much time in the temple Himself. Sometimes it is not possible to attend church but deliberately turning your back on church is wrong which makes it a sin.

The second sin is a most grievous sin. That is the sin of idolatry. Not only did the princes commit the act but they completely and willingly disobeyed the First Commandment: Thou shall honor the Lord thy God…and thou shall not put false god’s before Him.

The people followed the princes in suit. Prophets were sent but the people did not listen. Then the LORD sent the prophet Zechariah to ask the people why they were transgressing against the LORD. He told the people that because they had abandoned the LORD, they were abandoned by the LORD. Not only did the people refuse to listen to Zechariah; they stoned him.

How often do we follow the lead of a sinner or group of sinners? Too often! We have all done it and we continue to do so. Why? Because it is easy. Because we want physical satisfaction and we do not want to wait for it.

The spiritual satisfaction that we all need is always there for us. All we have to do is choose it. But spiritual satisfaction is not available according to our time clock. God works on His time and His time is not our time and that is the problem. Don’t get it twisted. It is not God’s problem. It is our problem. God does not have to work on our time. We have to have faith and trust God’s time. When we deliberately fail to do that, God has no time for us. This is what happened to the people.

What does any of this have to do with the Immaculate Heart of Mary? Mary is our mother in heaven and our greatest intercessor with God through her Son—Jesus who is our intercessor with the Father.

Not only has Mary come to warn us just like Zechariah in her apparitions, she constantly prays for us and does everything that she can to protect us. It is a shame that so many people do not recognize her relationship with us and with God. Because Jesus came into this life through her, Mary is the Mediatrix of all Grace meaning that all grace from God comes through her.

It is through her Immaculate Heart that Mary does her work. The grace of God’s mercy comes through Mary’s Immaculate Heart. The grace of every single blessing that we receive from God comes through the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Without Mary and her Immaculate Heart, we are lost. But because of Mary’s Immaculate Heart, we are able to enjoy the blessing of salvation from her Son. In fact, if it were not for Mary and her Immaculate Heart, Jesus would not have been born! Think about that!

This is the day that we set aside to celebrate the Immaculate Heart of Mary but the celebration should be ongoing every day. Amen.

The Third Dolor and the Fifth Joyful Mystery

Gospel Commentary: Luke 2: 41-51

It was the custom of the Holy Family to travel to Jerusalem every year for Passover. When Jesus was twelve years old, He remained in Jerusalem, but not knowing this, Mary and Joseph thought that He was somewhere else in the caravan. When they discovered that Jesus was missing, they went back to Jerusalem to find Him.

In those days, it was common for a child to be with other friends or relatives when traveling together in a caravan so it was not out of character for Mary and Joseph to not realize that Jesus was not with the caravan when it left Jerusalem. We must also take note that in those days, Jews always went to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover unless for some reason, it was not possible for them to make the trip. We are reminded here that Jesus was born a Jew, lived His life as a Jew and practiced His religion as a Jew.

Jesus being missing presented a great sorrow to Mary and Joseph, and this is the third of Mary’s Seven Dolors. Parents understand very well how agonizing it is whenever one of their children is missing. They worry about where the child is, if they are okay and if they are safe. If you are a parent who has ever experienced this agony, imagine how much more intense it must have been for Mary knowing how special her Son was. Imagine too, the terror that must have gone through Joseph whom God had entrusted to care for Mary and Jesus.

You could say that they should not have worried considering the fact that Jesus is the Almighty. But we must remember two things. 1- Jesus was one hundred percent human as well as one hundred percent divine. As a human, Jesus experienced and was vulnerable to everything that we are. 2- From the moment that Jesus was born, His life was in jeopardy. Remember that this is why the Holy Family fled to Egypt right after Jesus was born. That, by the way, is the second dolor. Joseph must have worried intensely about the well-being of Jesus while He was missing.

Mary and Joseph did not know it but the divinity of Jesus was at work which brings about the fifth Joyful Mystery of the Rosary, the Finding of Jesus in the Temple.

At the moment that a missing child is found, a parent experiences an emotional roller coaster ride that hits them so fast that they go into shock. They may be upset with the child for wandering off but they are so happy to see the child being okay, that all they can do is give the child a hug. Yes, that child might get a well-deserved scolding but any parent who has been through this knows very well that joy and love will win the day.

Now remember how much more intense the agony must have been for Mary and Joseph while Jesus was lost? That’s how much more intense their joy must have been when Jesus was found. I wonder how many times a minute their hearts were beating.

Mary said to Jesus, “Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.” When a parent is upset with a child for something, it is very common for the parent to ask the child, “Why.” Mary, being the mother that she is, was upset and she wanted Jesus to know how much He had put them through.

Jesus said, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” Mary and Joseph did not understand this answer but you can bet that they stopped being upset. Sometimes a parent can be upset with a child for doing something but when they find out that the child had nothing but the very best of intensions in heart and mind and that they were doing what they truly thought was the right thing to do, the parent stops being upset and becomes very proud.

This had to be Mary and Joseph when Jesus answered them knowing what Jesus was doing in the temple. Luke says that, “After three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions, and all who heard him were astounded at his understanding and his answers.”

The teachers did not expect the questions and answers that Jesus gave to come from a twelve-year-old. But then, they also did not know who Jesus was. This was not just another curious twelve-year-old talking to them. As I said, the divinity of Jesus was at work and for the first time in His life, we see Jesus doing His Father’s business.

With what happens next, I feel that I must mention once again that Jesus is one hundred percent human and one hundred percent divine. Some people look at Jesus as half and half. There is nothing half and half about God.

Jesus went back to Nazareth with Mary and Joseph and was obedient to them, Mary kept these things in her heart and Jesus grew up wise and in favor before God and man. Mary kept many things in her heart and we all know what Jesus went on to do for our salvation. But the ending to this gospel gives us an opportunity to see something else.

Jesus was obedient to Mary and Joseph. Jesus, the man, obeyed the commandment of honoring our mothers and fathers. This is important to note because Jesus never asked us to do anything that He did not do or was not willing to do Himself. He never commanded us to obey a law that He would not obey Himself. Jesus did not just teach and preach on how we should live our lives. What Jesus preached, He also lived.

Jesus never told us to disrespect legitimate authority. Jesus is the second person of the Trinity but as a child, he was in the care of Mary and Joseph. He humbled Himself to respect that authority and obey them. If Jesus, who certainly did not have to obey anyone on earth, was obedient, we should be too. Now one might argue that Jesus was obeying His Father who told Him to obey Mary and Joseph. I will not disagree but that is all the more reason for us to be obedient to God. As the Son was obedient to the Father, we should be obedient to our parents and to God.

Reading 1          Lamentations 2:2, 10-14, 18-19

The Lord has consumed without pity all the dwellings of Jacob; He has torn down in his anger the fortresses of daughter Judah; He has brought to the ground in dishonor her king and her princes.

On the ground in silence sit the old men of daughter Zion; They strew dust on their heads and gird themselves with sackcloth; The maidens of Jerusalem
bow their heads to the ground.

Worn out from weeping are my eyes, within me all is in ferment; My gall is poured out on the ground because of the downfall of the daughter of my people,
As child and infant faint away in the open spaces of the town.

In vain they ask their mothers, “Where is the grain?”
As they faint away like the wounded in the streets of the city, And breathe their last in their mothers’ arms.

To what can I liken or compare you, O daughter Jerusalem?
What example can I show you for your comfort, virgin daughter Zion?
For great as the sea is your downfall; who can heal you?

Your prophets had for you false and specious visions; They did not lay bare your guilt, to avert your fate; They beheld for you in vision false and misleading portents.

Cry out to the Lord; moan, O daughter Zion!
Let your tears flow like a torrent day and night; Let there be no respite for you, no repose for your eyes.

Rise up, shrill in the night, at the beginning of every watch; Pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord; Lift up your hands to him for the lives of your little ones Who faint from hunger at the corner of every street.

Responsorial Psalm          Psalm 74:1b-2, 3-5, 6-7, 20-21

R. (19b) Lord, forget not the souls of your poor ones.

Why, O God, have you cast us off forever?
Why does your anger smolder against the sheep of your pasture?
Remember your flock which you built up of old, the tribe you redeemed as your inheritance, Mount Zion, where you took up your abode.
R. Lord, forget not the souls of your poor ones.

Turn your steps toward the utter ruins; toward all the damage the enemy has done in the sanctuary.
Your foes roar triumphantly in your shrine; they have set up their tokens of victory.
They are like men coming up with axes to a clump of trees.
R. Lord, forget not the souls of your poor ones.

With chisel and hammer they hack at all the paneling of the sanctuary.
They set your sanctuary on fire; the place where your name abides they have razed and profaned.
R. Lord, forget not the souls of your poor ones.

Look to your covenant, for the hiding places in the land and the plains are full of violence.
May the humble not retire in confusion; may the afflicted and the poor praise your name.
R. Lord, forget not the souls of your poor ones.

Gospel          Luke:2:41-51

Each year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover, and when he was twelve years old, they went up according to festival custom.
After they had completed its days, as they were returning, the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it.
Thinking that he was in the caravan, they journeyed for a day and looked for him among their relatives and acquaintances, but not finding him, they returned to Jerusalem to look for him.
After three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions, and all who heard him were astounded at his understanding and his answers.
When his parents saw him, they were astonished, and his mother said to him, “Son, why have you done this to us?
Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.”
And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me?
Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”
But they did not understand what he said to them.
He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart.