Would that those who report the news and those who offer commentary find it necessary to provide us with the truth, unvarnished and unstained by the fickle brush of bias and disdain. Too often the meaning or intent of the oratory or the written word conflicts with ‘modern sensibilities’ resulting in a spin far different from what was intended.
The Late President Ronald Reagan was once advised that “The Russians like to talk in proverbs. It would be nice of you to know a few. You are an actor—you can learn them very quickly.” One of the first soon became his signature phrase whenever he discussed U.S. relations with the Soviet Union: “Doveryai, no proveryai”, “Trust, but verify.”
Not too long ago my wife retired. For much of the past twenty years her work has kept her away from home, traveling across the country and beyond the border into Canada. While having her home full time has been and is a true blessing, as you may well imagine some adjustments have been necessary on each of our parts.
The Lord’s Prayer is both a hymn of praise to our heavenly Father and a sincere supplication for his providential grace. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus responds to his disciples request to teach them how to pray.
In the Gospel Martha invited Jesus into her home; I wonder why? What was her reason for asking? Was her motivation centered on Jesus and what he might have to say? Or was it centered on herself; perhaps a desire for prestige, recognition, or personal gratification?
Long ago, while not so distant such that it should be forgotten, yet well before the present age of techno-induced catatonic stupor, there were to be found oddments strewn hither and yon which were identified strangely enough as neighborhoods. Not ‘hoods’ mind you, but neigh-bor-hoods, where everyone knew their neighbor and their neighbor’s neighbor, doors were but an impediment for pests and foul weather, and help was never more than a shout away.
Benjamin Franklin is often noted to have said, “Those who would trade a little liberty for a little added security, deserve neither and will lose both.”
Jesus sent seventy-two disciples “ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit” and told them to travel light, without any means of support. In fact, he explicitly told them “Go on your way; behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals; …”
It is difficult at times to understand Jesus. There are times when what he says pricks like barbs on a rose. When called by Jesus, a potential disciple responds “Lord, let me go first and bury my father” to which Jesus replies “Let the dead bury their dead. But you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Such callousness in the face of grave personal loss seems so unlike Jesus—so what are we missing here?
There is that unanswerable question, an enigma if you will, that comes to mind as we reflect upon the readings for this 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time: “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?” A similar question can be raised from the Gospel: “Which came first, the woman’s love of Jesus or his forgiveness?”
Today we observe the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. We believe in one God in three Persons, “the one infinite source of all that is: eternal, omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, uncreated, uncaused, perfectly transcendent of all things and for that very reason absolutely immanent to all things.”1 All that is, was, and ever shall be has been created, exists and sustained in its existence by God. It is perhaps our greatest challenge as creatures made in his image and likeness to comprehend his nature for God cannot be deciphered, circumscribed, or captured through human thought. So in a very real way we cannot hope to ever understand the Trinity of Persons that is God.
Yet, God help us, we try.
