In the reading from the Book of Revelation St. John presents a picture, a glance into heaven; the great multitude, 144,000 (12x12x1000) - the Scriptural way of stating a number beyond any count. This multitude stands before the Lamb and cries out, “Salvation comes from our God, who is seated on the throne and from the Lamb!”
Sometime in the 17th century, the poet Richard Baxter described a common experience when he wrote:
They want not friends that have thy love, And may converse and walk with thee,
And with thy saints here and above, With whom forever I must be.
His experience was that God first loved him, and invited him to deeper friendship with him. When he responded by trying to rid himself of every obstacle to God’s love, he discovered that not only was God his friend, but all the friends of God became his friends, both on earth and in heaven: “thy saints here and above”, he calls them. And as we heard from our retreat master this past week, when the friends of God come together, they form the basis of a community, in which one person can learn from the experience of the community, and the community can learn from the experience of the person.
“Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Psychologists say that a common symptom of depression is grandiosity. When we feel downcast, undervalued or diminished, we often develop an inflated persona, one which is proud, magnificent, garbed in flashy colors. And that is how the disciples approach Jesus today. Their question is so blatantly proud – “Lord, who among us is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” – that what lies underneath can only be the disciples huge lack of confidence, self-value and meaning in their lives. Because they felt so poor and empty, they built this self-image where they are worthy of the kingdom of heaven.
Ps 128 begins: “O blessed are those who fear the Lord and walk in His ways.”
This ‘fear of the Lord’ is proclaimed requently in the Scriptures, especially in
the Old Testament, and it has nothing to do with terror or fright. Fear of the
Lord is a profound reverence, and encompassing grace of regard for our God,
in a word, a love for God which marks the life of one who ‘walks in His ways’
a believer - us - fearers and walkers.
According to Jewish law, a woman had not many rights in society. She could not testify in a civil process; she could not divorce her husband and her participation in the liturgy was certainly secondary when compared to Jewish men. But Jesus was not happy with such a poor treatment of women, and he chose them to take a privileged part in his Incarnation, in his ministry and during his Passion. All these women had a characteristic in common: they were all marginal Jews, set aside because of their sins – especially against chastity. In fact, in Jesus’ genealogy, we find 5 women: Tamar, involved in an incestuous relationship with her father-in-law; Raab, a prostitute; Ruth, a pagan; Bathsheba, an adulteress; and the Virgin Mary, whose immaculate conception would seem a scandal for anyone who did not know that Joseph was not the biological father of her son.
In all four Gospels the account of Jesus’ passion and death is rather brief; there are few details because it was not written for the sake of curiosity. Rather it is the proclamation of the Good News to bring people to faith in Jesus Christ; theGospel accounts tell us all we need to know.
In the opening verse of today’s Gospel, St Luke says that “Jesus departed to the mountain to pray, and he spent the night in prayer to God”. That shows us that even Jesus needed time to get away for a while, to gain separation from the noise and distractions of the world. That’s good to know, because it means that those who follow Jesus will also need time away to pray to God. And not only monks.
Some people gripe about all the rules in the Catholic Church. They want to be able to pick and choose. They feel all the rules inhibit their freedom and keep them from becoming mature adults. They see rules and guidelines as something negative. Similarly, monastic life has many further rules and guidelines. For someone who is a free spirit it may feel somewhat smothering, but the rules are a helpful tool for what to leave in and what to leave out.