11th Week, Ordinary Time, Thursday, June 22
2 Cor 11:1-11 / Matthew 6:7-15
Beware of false prophets; They teach a different gospel.
Charles Colson was a top aide to President Nixon in the 1970s. He was convicted of involvement in the Watergate scandal and imprisoned. While in prison, he had a religious conversion. Today he is a free man, going about the nation preaching a kind of grassroots Christianity. Colson speaks out, especially, against those TV preachers of the far-right who are preaching a "prosperity gospel"— a gospel that "honors excessive wealth as a sign of God's favor and leaves the poor to fend for themselves." Joe Willis
Colson protests their thesis that if you live the Gospel, God will reward you with money and success. Colson says, "God doesn't want our successes. He wants us.
***
How do we interpret Jesus' words: "How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God"? Lk 18:24 Jesus said, "Where your treasure is, there also will your heart be." Lk 12:34
***
Paul pleads to the Corinthians to remain faithful to Christ, who had chosen him to be his apostle and had sent him to Corinth.
***
Feast day June 22
John Fisher was born in England in 1469. After he was ordained a priest, the royal family appointed him tutor for Prince Henry, who became King Henry VIII. In 1504, Fisher became bishop of Rochester and also chancellor of Cambridge University. Fisher paid special attention to people who were poor. He wrote eight books against heresy, and Henry, then king, was proud to be his friend.
All this changed when King Henry claimed that his marriage to Catherine, his brother’s widow, was not valid. Henry had become tired of Catherine and interested in young, attractive Anne Boleyn. Henry’s request for a divorce was refused by the pope, and Bishop Fisher supported this decision. He was strong enough to resist signing the document siding with King Henry, though all the other bishops of England had signed it.
Six months later, Henry had parliament write another document, the Oath of Supremacy, claiming that Henry was supreme head of the Catholic Church in England. Again Bishop Fisher refused to sign. This made the king angry. The bishop was sentenced to prison in 1534 on the charge of high treason. The pope declared the jailed bishop a cardinal. Fisher was kept in prison for 14 months without a trial. In June, 1535, he was condemned to death by beheading.
Thomas More was born in 1477, the son of a lawyer in London. He planned to become a priest but then entered law school. His three daughters, son, and friends helped make his home a happy place.
Besides being a shrewd lawyer, Thomas was a charming, witty man, who won the friendship of the king. Henry VIII began his rule of England as a devout king. Later, King Henry asked Thomas to approve of the divorce he wanted. Thomas refused. Of course, the king became angry. By this time, Thomas had become chancellor of England. Henry wanted Thomas on his side. Then when every bishop except John Fisher signed the Oath of Supremacy, Thomas refused to sign. He resigned as chancellor and retired to his country home, hoping for a quiet life with his family.
Thomas, however, was sent to prison. He was kept for more than a year in the Tower of London. The king tried hard to make him change his mind, but Thomas stood firm. He knew this stand would mean certain death for him and disgrace for his family, but he followed his conscience. Finally, after suffering hunger, cold, and loneliness, Thomas was led out to be beheaded on July 6. Seeing that the masked swordsman was quite nervous, Thomas said, “Be not afraid, for you send me to God.” Then he said to the crowd, “I die the king’s good servant, but God’s first.”
***
What actually happened no one knows. It must have been very serious. The last part of this letter is one big outburst of uncontrolled anger. Paul does not like what he does. He calls it "a little foolishness from me". He asks his readers - and that includes us - to tolerate it. We gladly do. It is consoling for us to see that great saints had weaknesses.
The saints above, the saints we love are bathed in heaven 's glory. The saints below, the saints we know are quite a different story. Paul is for us the saint above. One fact, however, is charitable: he never names his adversaries. We do not know who they were. But his attack is more vehement. In the Old Testament, God's people are called by prophets: the bride of God. Paul will use the expression bride of Christ. Here he accuses his adversaries of having seduced the bride. That is strong.
***
In the words of Jesus, Matthew gives us today a catechesis on prayer. The reason and basis of our prayer should not only be merely that we need something and we should not think that our prayer is more powerful when we use a stream of words. We pray because Jesus asks us to and because we have trust in our Father who knows what we need even before we ask him. In our prayer, we should also place first things first: God and his kingdom, which is manifested and communicated to us by bread, forgiveness and protection.
All prayers turn around the two poles: praise and petition. In the Lord's prayer, every one of the seven petitions contains a praise of the Father, one aspect of what God means for us, and every praise leads to a petition, prayer for what could make one a good man. Every petition tells us what God wants us to be. The holiness of God manifests itself more and more to us. We are fully taken up with God. The more he reveals himself, the greater he is for us, the more we become one mind and heart with God. In him we are safe and secure. He gives us all we need. His demands on us we cannot escape. What he demands is for our good. Yet we often fail but find him merciful and powerful to protect us from all evil. There is the danger that even this prayer becomes babble unless we give it spirit and life through our meditation. Neither will we pray rightly until we stand before God, with all our brothers and sisters and ask God to share his glory with all of us and pray for our bread and forgiveness of the sins of us all.
***
Prayer
Lord our God, you know what we need even before we can ask you. We are sure of this on account of the human experience of Jesus your Son, who was one of us. And so we pray you: Don’t take it amiss when we use too many words to cover the emptiness of our hearts and teach us through your Spirit in us to ask for the things that matter, you and your kingdom, that will last forever and ever. Amen
