Scripture Reflection, June 1: Extraordinary Generosity

Scripture Readings:
Deuteronomy 11: 18, 26-28, 32
Psalm 31
Romans 3: 21-25, 28
Matthew 7: 21-27

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A photo was taken last Saturday of a priest laying hands upon the head of a diocesan seminarian who was being ordained. This picture reflects the traditional rite of priestly ordination, where after the bishop lays hands on the one to be ordained, praying for the gift of the Holy Spirit, the other priests who are present do the same. What made this photo special was the bond between the priest who was laying hands and the seminarian (named Joe) who was being ordained.

These two men had become friends in the seminary. The priest was ordained in 2007 for another diocese, and he returned to be present at Joe’s ordination. When Joe was in his first year at the seminary, he was diagnosed with a very rare kidney disease. He had to begin regular dialysis treatments and was in need of a kidney transplant. Joe’s friend joked that maybe he would be the one to donate his kidney. Amazingly, after no family matches were found, Joe’s friend was tested and found to be a near-perfect match. He donated one of his kidneys and Joe is now able to function normally. So the priest laying hands on Joe at his ordination, praying for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, was also the friend who had given his kidney to Joe so that he could live.

It seems clear that the friendship between these two men rests on a sure foundation. It is built on rock. Their bond is one formed by a concrete act of extraordinary generosity. It is a bond that has literally been “enfleshed” in the gift of life.

Think for a moment about the relationships that we really treasure and which endure in our lives. They are based on shared life together. Lasting relationships are not founded on lofty ideals about friendship, or merely eloquent words, but on concrete acts of generosity, care, and support repeated over and over again. Such repeated acts lead us to believe that we can count on one another and, therefore, we gain confidence in the bond that has been formed.

Our Scripture readings for this Sunday’s celebration of the Eucharist contain strong words about putting faith into action. They remind us of what Saint Paul said about “faith working through love” (Galatians 5: 6). The passage from the Gospel of Matthew is found at the end of the Sermon on the Mount (chapters 5-7). Jesus exhorts his disciples to think of the stirring and challenging teachings found in this sermon as more than simply lofty ideals; rather, they are words of wisdom meant to be enfleshed in real life. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.”

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus had announced the Beatitudes, which enshrine the values and attitudes needed to enter into the reign of God. He had spoken of poverty of spirit, moral integrity, meekness, thirst for justice, etc. He had described the community of his disciples as the light of the world and a city set on a hill, emphasizing their mission of bearing witness in the world. He had gone to the heart of traditional teachings against killing, retaliation, and adultery, rooting them not merely in external actions but in the deep recesses of the human heart. Now, in the words of this Sunday’s gospel, he challenges them to build their relationship with God on rock by acting on his teachings. Daniel Harrington, SJ, an expert on Matthew’s gospel, comments on this passage in these words: “The text reminds us that the Sermon on the Mount is not merely an interesting historical document or a stirring piece of rhetoric or an ethical treatise, though it is all these things. Preeminently, it is a practical document – something to be lived out, acted upon and practiced in real life” (America Magazine, May 26-June 2, 2008, p. 37).

I suspect that all of us who are honest with ourselves realize what a struggle it can be to live out the words of the Sermon on the Mount. Our anger just gets the best of us sometimes. We want to be poor in spirit but often find ourselves grappling with forms of greed and jealousy. Our hope is to become truly compassionate people, but sometimes we discover that we have become “compassion-weary.” We cannot hope to enflesh the teachings of Jesus purely by our own power or abilities. The second reading for this Sunday, from Paul’s Letter to the Romans, reminds us of the need for God’s grace in our discipleship. Paul speaks of believers being justified freely by God’s grace, through the redemption that was effected in Christ Jesus. Paul realized that we learn what it means to become a loving person when we come to a realization and acceptance of the depths of God’s love for us in Christ Jesus. He proclaimed the primacy of God’s grace in our lives. He knew from his own experience that it is by allowing ourselves to be embraced by the powerful love of God poured out in the crucified and risen Christ that we are empowered to love God and others as Jesus taught.

As we come to the Lord’s table this Sunday, may we renew our pledge to take seriously the gospel teachings of Jesus and to root our lives in the wisdom he embodied. Let us ask for the grace we need to live out that wisdom in the concrete “stuff” of our lives. In the Eucharist, we experience Christ’s boundless love for us that is enfleshed in the gift of his body and blood. May this wonderful gift empower us to enflesh the love of Christ in our everyday relationships with other people.

Fr. Robin Ryan, cp