Monday of 21st Week in Ordinary Time
Memorial of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary
At the end of the Marian Year in 1954, Pope Pius XII established this feast with his encyclical, Ad Caeli Reginam. Mary is Queen because of her divine maternity and because of her association with Jesus’ redemptive mission. Today’s feast is linked with that of the Assumption, celebrated eight days earlier, and it highlights Mary’s spiritual motherhood in the Church. Her queenship is one of love, exercised in hearts, and reminds us that “if we persevere, we also shall reign with him” (2 Tm 2:12) as members of Christ’s “royal priesthood” (1 Pt 2:9). Mary as queen is the eschatological icon of the Church in glory.
“From this day on, all generations will call me blessed,” sings Mary. What does it mean, to call Mary, the humble virgin, blessed? It means nothing else than to be filled with admiration and to adore the marvel which God worked in her, to read from her that God looks to the humble one and lifts her up, that God’s coming into this world does not seek the heights but the depths, that God glory consists in making great what is small. To call Mary blessed means, together with her to ponder admiringly the ways of God, who lets his Spirit blow where he wants, to obey him and with Mary humbly to say: “As you have spoken, so be it.” (Bonhoeffer)
Reading – 2 Thessalonians 1:1-5, 11-12
I, Paul, together with Silas and Timothy, greet the church of the Thessalonian Christians in the name of God our Father and our Master, Jesus Christ. Our God gives you everything you need, makes you everything you’re to be. You need to know, friends, that thanking God over and over for you is not only a pleasure; it’s a must. We have to do it. Your faith is growing phenomenally; your love for each other is developing wonderfully. Why, it’s only right that we give thanks. We’re so proud of you; you’re so steady and determined in your faith despite all the hard times that have broadsided you. We tell everyone we meet in the churches all about you. All this trouble is a clear sign that God has decided to make you fit for the kingdom. You’re suffering now, but justice is on the way. When the Master Jesus appears out of heaven in a blaze of fire with his strong angels, he’ll even up the score by settling accounts with those who gave you such a bad time. His coming will be the break we’ve been waiting for. Those who refuse to know God and refuse to obey the Message will pay for what they’ve done. Eternal exile from the presence of the Master and his splendid power is their sentence. But on that very same day when he comes, he will be exalted by his followers and celebrated by all who believe—and all because you believed what we told you. Because we know that this extraordinary day is just ahead, we pray for you all the time—pray that our God will make you fit for what he’s called you to be, pray that he’ll fill your good ideas and acts of faith with his own energy so that it all amounts to something. If your life honors the name of Jesus, he will honor you. Grace is behind and through all of this, our God giving himself freely, the Master, Jesus Christ, giving himself freely.
Gospel – Matthew 23:13-22
“I’ve had it with you! You’re hopeless, you religion scholars, you Pharisees! Frauds! Your lives are roadblocks to God’s kingdom. You refuse to enter, and won’t let anyone else in either. “You’re hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You go halfway around the world to make a convert, but once you get him you make him into a replica of yourselves, double-damned. “You’re hopeless! What arrogant stupidity! You say, ‘If someone makes a promise with his fingers crossed, that’s nothing; but if he swears with his hand on the Bible, that’s serious.’ What ignorance! Does the leather on the Bible carry more weight than the skin on your hands? And what about this piece of trivia: ‘If you shake hands on a promise, that’s nothing; but if you raise your hand that God is your witness, that’s serious’? What ridiculous hairsplitting! What difference does it make whether you shake hands or raise hands? A promise is a promise. What difference does it make if you make your promise inside or outside a house of worship? A promise is a promise. God is present, watching and holding you to account regardless.
Prayer
Lord our God,
the unpretentious mother of your Son
wanted to be nothing more
than your humble servant.
Allow us to honor her as our model and queen
of sincere, deep faith
and unassuming faithful service
of your plans with your Son and the world.
May her prayers imbue us with her spirit.
We ask this through her Son,
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Reflection:
22 August 2022
Matthew 23:13-22
Woe to you…
Today the Church celebrates the feast of the Queenship of Mary. Pope Pius XII established the feast of Queenship of Mary in the liturgical calendar in 1954. Mary is Queen because she is the Mother of Christ, the King, and she participated in Jesus’ redemptive mission. Today’s feast highlights Mary’s spiritual motherhood in the Church and reminds us that “if we persevere, we also shall reign with him” (2 Tm 2:12) as members of Christ’s “royal priesthood” (1 Pt 2:9).
This passage from the Message version of the Bible better conveys Jesus’ frustration with Pharisees and Scribes’ stiff-necked behaviour. The words of Jesus are to be understood as a reflection of our Christian communities and how we behave.
Today and in the coming two days, we will listen to the list of seven ‘Woes’ or the seven ‘griefs’ that Jesus places against corrupt religious leaders. They are contrasting the list of beatitudes proclaimed by Jesus on the Sermon on the Mount.
The first of the woes is levelled against those who shut up the Kingdom of Heaven in people’s faces…v.13 . The criticism of Jesus about these Pharisees was not about the power they enjoyed, but about the wrong way of exercising power by placing impossible burdens on the shoulders of those who were not capable of carrying them. Matthew, while writing the Gospel for the Jewish Christians, was perhaps referring to the stiff resistance of the Jews to accept faith in Jesus. Therefore, on the one hand, this can be seen as a reference to their rejection of Jesus. On the other, it can also mean that they made the observance of the Law impossible with their complex interpretations of the Thora.
Many people within the Church communities claim to believe in Jesus, but their behaviour both blocks people’s access to Jesus and is far from him. They would not mind walking the extra mile or sailing across far-off places to promote their distorted catechism, creating a wrong understanding of Jesus and his teachings.
How often do we encounter ‘Catholic’ leaders who use foul language to describe the Pope, bishops or priests? They regard themselves as custodians of faith, creating hatred towards the vicar of Christ and creating division in the Church. Situations that prevailed in the time of Jesus and the challenges that confront the Church today are very similar.
We see the abuse of authority and power every day, whether in the Church, government, or business, leading to all kinds of greed and corruption. Positions of service are turned into instruments of personal gain, often at the expense of the weakest and the neediest.
The Church, too, can find itself in excessive concern over money matters at the expense of its pastoral mission. A Church and its wealthy institutions in a world of poverty and need is a stumbling block to the authentic preaching of the Gospel.