Hebrews 7:1-3, 15-17 / Mark 3:1-6
Abraham meets Melchizedek; Abraham gave him a tenth of his booty.
Most people over 40 remember the comedian Jack Benny. A recurring Jack Benny theme was his violin playing. Another was his stinginess. In one of his radio shows a thief put a gun to Benny’s head and said, “Your life or your money?” Benny didn’t answer.
The thief repeated, “Your life or your money?” Again, Benny didn’t answer. Now the thief became impatient, saying, “I said, ‘Your life or your money?’ Which will it be?” Benny replied, “Give me time; I’m still thinking.” A recent survey showed that a lot of Catholics are like Jack Benny when it comes to giving to their church. For example, Catholics under 30 and over 50 give half as much to their church as do Protestants. U.S. Catholic****
How generously do we give to our church? “Give and gifts will be given to you.” Luke 6:38
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Hebrews gives us an example of rabbinical reasoning that compares the absence about data of the origin of Melchizedek with the divine origin of Jesus. The priest Melchizedek comes as if from nowhere, without any levitical, human genealogy mentioned. Likewise, Jesus has no levitical, human genealogy; he is eternal.
We sometimes reduce our religion to a matter of casuistic laws: Is it permitted to heal on Sundays? When does it become a mortal sin if I am late for Mass? Is it wrong if I do not raise my hands for the Our Father? We sometimes behave like immature kids. God wants us to grow up in our faith. Where is the good news of Jesus? Where is our love for the Lord and for people?
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As disciples of Jesus, we are called to be in the world but not of the world. We are to bear witness to the love and truth of Jesus and not to assimilate the sinful and immoral practices of the world. So the wheeling and dealing, and the scheming and stabbing practices of the world have no place in our lives and our work. It also has no place in the sacred place of worship and prayer.
But as we heard in the gospel, when Jesus went into the synagogue on the Sabbath, there were some people who were watching Him to see if He would cure the man with the withered hand on the Sabbath and hence find something to use against Him. Eventually they went out to plot against Him and discussed how to destroy Him.
What makes it all so shocking and disgusting is that all this was happening in the sacred place of prayer, right there in the synagogue, and from there the evil grew and multiplied. As we come into the House of God to offer worship and praise and thanksgiving, let us cleanse ourselves of sin and all evil thoughts and that was what we did at the beginning of the Mass.
Let us also let the Word of God purify us with His love and truth as we come into union with His in Holy Communion. And as we go off, let us keep Jesus in our hearts and bring the Good News of God's love to the world to heal the world of sin and evil.
Yes, we are called to be in the world, but let us always remember that we belong to Jesus. In this wheeling and dealing, scheming and stabbing world, it is our mission to bring God's love and truth to counter it.
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Opening Prayer
Gracious and holy God, you have chosen us to be your kingdom of peace and mature love. But we have to acknowledge with shame that there is still much room for growth. Make our love richer, more sensitive; Complete the work you have begun in us, that we may have a permanent place in your heart and reflect the adult, healing goodness of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Saint Margaret of Hungary
Margaret was born to Béla IV, king of Hungary, at a moment when the country was threatened by enemies. So the king promised God that if things reversed in his favor he would dedicate his little princess to the religious life. The prayer was answered, and Béla put Margaret in the care of the Dominican Sisters at Veszprém. When Margaret was 12, Béla built a convent for her on an island in the Danube near Buda. There the young teenager professed her vows.
A young woman of extraordinary beauty, St. Margaret attracted the attention of suitors even though she was a nun. Ottokar, the king of Bohemia, was determined to marry her. For political reasons, Béla liked the idea. He asked Margaret to get released from her commitments and marry Ottokar. Béla had not bargained for the steely resistance of his strong-willed daughter. She responded to his request with defiance:
When I was only 7 years old, you tried to espouse me to the Polish Duke. You will remember my answer then. I said that I wished to serve him only to whom you had espoused me at my birth. As a child, I would not yield to your will in opposition to God’s claims on me. Do you think that I am likely to give in to you now that I am older and wiser? And am I more capable of grasping the greatness of the divine grace that has been given me? Then, my Father, stop trying to turn me from my determination to remain a religious. I prefer the heavenly kingdom to that which has been offered me by the King of Bohemia. I would rather die than obey these commands of yours that will bring death to my soul. Mark my words. If matters ever come to such a pass and I am driven to it, I will surely put an end to the whole affair by mutilating myself, so that I shall never again be desirable to any man.
So Béla backed down. Witnesses say that had he persisted, gritty Margaret would likely have fulfilled her threat. Margaret punished herself with extreme self-abnegation that some observers call “self-crucifixion.” She undertook the most menial and repugnant tasks. Butler’s Lives of the Saints says that she performed “marvelous” service to the sick, so nauseating that its “details cannot be set out before the fastidious modern reader.” Out of sympathy for the poor, Margaret also imitated their squalor. She so neglected all personal hygiene, for example, that she repulsed her sisters. And for long periods she denied herself food and sleep. Since she was a princess and the convent was built for her, no one seems to have been able to temper her excesses. Her utter disregard for her body certainly shortened her life. Margaret died on January 18, 1270 at the age of 28.
The church recognizes Margaret of Hungary as a saint in spite of the traces of willfulness and pride that seem to have marked her life. But she excelled in charity, and “love covers over many a sin” (1 Peter 4:8 NJB). Those of us who want to be holy, but have many “in-spite-ofs” to contend with, can be glad for that.
