Month: July 2020

The Talmud is filled with ancient Jewish teachings that existed as an oral tradition at the time of Christ. It describes the details of an unusual event, a miracle, that was said to occur annually as the High Priest officiated in the Temple on Yom Kippur. Like the readings for today, this miracle encourages us to reconcile ourselves with God while we have the chance. It shows that the battle for our salvation is simultaneously a love affair that revolves around the transformative power of God’s mercy.

Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, has historically been regarded as the most solemn day of the year for the Jewish people. On this day and on this day alone, the High Priest would enter the Holy of Holies where God’s Spirit was said to dwell. Having searched his conscience and repented of his sins, he would step behind a veil and offer up the blood of calves and goats for the sins of Israel and her priests.

While the High Priest was officiating, the people would pray outside. The Talmud says, “Originally they used to fasten the thread of scarlet on the door of the [Temple] court on the outside. If it turned white the people used to rejoice, and if it did not turn white they were sad.” In other words, if the thread turned white, the people knew they were forgiven, but if it remained red, they believed that their sins had been too great and had therefore not been expiated by the sacrifice of the priest.

The Talmud also says that “[f]or forty years before the destruction of the Temple the thread of scarlet never turned white but it remained red.” The Temple was destroyed in 70 A.D. Approximately forty years prior, the great veil protecting the Holy of Holies was torn from top to bottom when Jesus died. Both the ripping of the temple veil and the miracle of the scarlet thread symbolize the spiritual reality that the Jewish sacrifices were fulfilled by Jesus’ self-offering on the cross (Heb. 9:1-10:14).

In the new covenant forged in Christ’s blood, the Holy of Holies still exists but it is given a new name: The Bride of Christ. In the Book of Revelation, the Apostle John was shown “the Bride, the wife of the Lamb,” who appeared as “the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel” (Rev. 21:9-11). An angel produced a measuring rod to prove that the city’s “length and breadth and height [were] equal” (Rev. 21:16). This rather odd detail is significant because the Holy of Holies had been a perfect cube. By describing the Bride of Christ in such a way, the author was saying that the Bride will attain perfect intimacy with God, something those under the old covenant could scarcely imagine.

Here on earth, however, the Bride of Christ is still “[making] herself ready” (Rev. 19:7). This is the subject for today’s Gospel reading. Jesus likened his kingdom to a field in which wheat and weeds grow up together. He emphasized that this coexistence of good and evil which is so familiar to us will not last. The world will eventually end; in the meantime, our individual worlds will end when we die.

Christ taught us that the only way to survive death was by accepting God’s gift of mercy. In Revelation 7:14, St. John saw the souls in heaven who had “come out of the great tribulation,” and they were exalting in God having “washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” Mercy transforms us just like the miracle of the scarlet thread. As the Lord said in Isaiah 1:18: “[T]hough your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” May the Lord give us the grace to believe in and enter into a love that is truly miraculous.

For more information on the miracle of the scarlet thread, please see Roy Schoeman’s book, Salvation is from the Jews, pp. 130-132.

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Today is one of those days where we can feel chastised by the readings. We first hear of how the Lord will “allow the pride of Judah to rot, the great pride of Jerusalem” (Jeremiah 13:9). By the time we finish the Psalm, we have heard “You have forgotten God who gave you birth” four times (Deuteronomy 31:18). Not exactly the most encouraging words for a Monday morning. The passages are clearly about idolatry, but we still hear the words as meant for us.

While we might not be worshiping idols of wood and stone, we still turn to things other than God to fulfill us. For many, sweets, games, or sexual pleasures fill the void. For others, it is the good things that are loved beyond their worth: food, conversation, travel, the list goes on. In both cases, something else, whether good or evil, is put in place of God. We forget the Lord and put created things in His place.

We often forget the Lord when things are looking bleak. Faced with a tragic situation like the death of a loved one, some come close to worship of the deceased, placing them at the center of all thoughts, words, and prayers. Others become angry with God, living as if He did not exist. When in crisis, we can either turn toward God or hide from Him. This is the difference between praying for healing and failing to pray at all during a pandemic. One response acknowledges the power and goodness of God, while the other pretends that He is powerless, or at least uninterested, in time of trial.

On the other hand, we can forget the Lord when things are looking up. In times of prosperity, we can easily forget the struggle and the grace which enabled us to reach such heights. Having received glory, wealth, or power, we begin to rely on it and it alone to remain secure. We forget that without the Lord’s constant care, holding all things in existence, our good fortune would pass away. When we do not think we need help, it is easy to forget that God continues to act.

Though we can feel chastised, today is also one of those days when we feel confident that we are on the right track. After all, we follow the Lord’s commands when we hear them. We are more like the mustard seed or the yeast, humbly yielding to the growth which the Lord intends for us. We remember to rely on the Lord both in time of trial and time of peace. We can lean on God in distress and thank Him in prosperity. Even so, when we hear readings such as these we must be careful not to become too complacent. We must look for the truth in both feelings – shame and confidence –arriving at a view of reality that is balanced and accurate.

Our Gospel can help us to synthesize these reactions. Both the mustard plant and the leaven begin small. If neglected at this stage, they will remain minuscule, shriveling up and rotting like Jeremiah’s loincloth. If we forget God when we feel insignificant and downtrodden, we will only sink to lower depths. With the grace of God, we can move out of this state, just as the seed and yeast begin to grow with a little care. Though we cannot always see the growth happening, the end result is magnificent. The plant becomes a home to the birds of the sky, and the yeast becomes a large batch of dough. On the other side of the struggle, we see the constant providence of God and can rest in His peace.

Still, this time of prosperity is not the end. We can still forget the Lord, bringing us to a worse state than the first. A dead plant is worse than a live seed, and stale bread is worse than active yeast culture. It is not as if the mustard plant can become a seed again, or the loaf of bread can become yeast again. If we do not continue to cultivate our relationship with God in times of prosperity, we can stagnate and grow cold.

The first reading and Gospel remind us of the power and presence of the Lord. He is always there, watching us and providing the growth until the end of the age. Even when we turn away from Him, He cares enough to call us back. Though we can forget these things, we know that God never forgets us.

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What is our mission as Christians? You might respond by quoting Matthew 28:19-20, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” And you would be correct.

In other words, then, our goal, our mission is to make the Kingdom of Heaven present here on earth. But, in order to do that, it is helpful to first understand what the Kingdom of Heaven is.

But there is no possible way for us to understand what the Kingdom of Heaven is like, what with our tendency toward sin and our limited human minds. So what are we to do?

Listen to Jesus, of course! He would know better than anyone what the Kingdom of Heaven is like. He also knows better than anyone just how best to teach us – his followers – and so he employs the help of parables.

We’ve heard a number of parables over the past few Sundays, which taught us about a number of different things. Today, though, we hear about the Kingdom of Heaven being like buried treasure and also like a pearl of great price. How does that help our understanding of the Kingdom of Heaven and so help us on our mission?

The person who finds the treasure buried in a field and buries it again – he goes and sells all that he has in order to purchase the field with the treasure. Same goes for the merchant. Once he finds the pearl of great price, he sells all that he has in order to buy that particular pearl.

We, as humans, understand money and the value attached to items based on their price. Both the land containing the buried treasure and the pearl must have been very expensive – so much so that both the seekers had to sell everything that they had in order to obtain the treasure and the pearl.

This is a harsh reality, one we also understand. Could you imagine emptying your bank accounts and trading in all your assets to purchase one single, solitary item? It’s unthinkable in today’s world and probably just as crazy in ancient times too.

That’s how precious the Kingdom of Heaven is. It is worth more than anything we could ever own or ever imagine and, yet, it is a possession promised to each and every one of us through our Baptism and Jesus’ death on the cross. It is our reward and our end goal – eternal life with God in Heaven – and we must give up all that we have and all that we are in order to achieve the holiness necessary to get there, which involves following in the footsteps of Jesus, preaching His Gospel and performing works of mercy and love.

God never said it would be easy, just like I’m sure it wasn’t easy to sell everything to purchase the land with the treasure and the pearl of great price. Yet it was still done with joy because the beholder knew the true value of the gift he was seeking. May we strive to build the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth with the same joy!

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