Hebrews 7:1-3, 15-17 / Mark 3:1-6
Abraham meets Melchizedek; Abraham gave him a tenth of his booty.
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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.
