Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Priest

Title

God is Serious about his Call to Trust

Outline

Our Gospel today has a reality check

John the Baptist has rebuked Herod’s ethics

But in so doing he rebuked the political aspirations of Herodias

Herodias wants to kill John - he is dangerous, and more so because Herod listen to him

Herodias finds a way via her daughter - not Herod’s daughter - to trap Herod between his honor status and executing John

But now the specter arises of John risen from the dead - and now he has mighty powers

Yet Jesus will not use his mighty powers to get back at Herod; instead he will use them to change the world through self-giving and trust

That is where our first reading comes in

Ever year the Day of Atonement rolled around - it was the day of John’s message - repent

Every 50th year Atonement led to redemption, to release and freedom, a type of Messianic jubilee, even if the term itself is anachronistic

It is a year of liberty for the land and its people - no work

It is a year of trust in God - while they may eat of what the land produces without cultivation, they basically trust God to provide in the previous year

It is a year when Israelite slaves were released and debts were forgiven (although that happened every 7 years)

It is a year when people returned to the ancestral land God had given them - one could not accumulate vast landholdings in Israel

This is a meaning of a sacred year, and it formed the economy and power-relationships

(Think of what it would mean in the USA if on a day of repentance title to ancestral lands was handed back to Native Americans)

God’s rule is unlike human rule and has at its root not security in capital but security in God

Sisters, we have to realize two things

First, the moral demands of the kingdom are contrary to the values of this age and will result in persecution - the world feels threatened because it does not get it

And yet it is a witness to which those with open hearts are attracted, as Herod was

This, of course, only happens if we do not use the politics and values of this world and try to establish kingdom values through earthly means - the Zealots would be understood by the Herods and Romans only too well

Second, God functions through giving, through love, through releasing

This is upside down to the world for it functions through taking, keeping, accumulating

The true mark of our inward release, our experience of atonement is our release of others and each one’s returning to their true inheritance

Readings

Catholic Daily Readings 7-31-2021: Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Priest

FIRST READING

Leviticus 25:1, 8–17

1 The LORD said to Moses on Mount Sinai:

8 You shall count seven weeks of years—seven times seven years—such that the seven weeks of years amount to forty-nine years. 9 Then, on the tenth day of the seventh month let the ram’s horn resound; on this, the Day of Atonement, the ram’s horn blast shall resound throughout your land. 10 You shall treat this fiftieth year as sacred. You shall proclaim liberty in the land for all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to your own property, each of you to your own family. 11 This fiftieth year is your year of jubilee; you shall not sow, nor shall you reap the aftergrowth or pick the untrimmed vines, 12 since this is the jubilee. It shall be sacred for you. You may only eat what the field yields of itself.

13 In this year of jubilee, then, each of you shall return to your own property. 14 Therefore, when you sell any land to your neighbor or buy any from your neighbor, do not deal unfairly with one another. 15 On the basis of the number of years since the last jubilee you shall purchase the land from your neighbor; and so also, on the basis of the number of years of harvest, that person shall sell it to you. 16 When the years are many, the price shall be so much the more; when the years are few, the price shall be so much the less. For it is really the number of harvests that the person sells you. 17 Do not deal unfairly with one another, then; but stand in fear of your God. I, the LORD, am your God.

Catholic Daily Readings 7-31-2021: Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Priest

RESPONSE

Psalm 67:4

4 May the peoples praise you, God;

may all the peoples praise you!

PSALM

Psalm 67:2–3, 5, 7–8

2 May God be gracious to us and bless us;

may his face shine upon us.

Selah

3 So shall your way be known upon the earth,

your victory among all the nations.

5 May the nations be glad and rejoice;

for you judge the peoples with fairness,

you guide the nations upon the earth.

Selah

7 The earth has yielded its harvest;

God, our God, blesses us.

8 May God bless us still;

that the ends of the earth may revere him.

Catholic Daily Readings 7-31-2021: Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Priest

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION

Matthew 5:10

10 Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

GOSPEL

Matthew 14:1–12

1  At that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the reputation of Jesus 2 and said to his servants, “This man is John the Baptist. He has been raised from the dead; that is why mighty powers are at work in him.”

3 Now Herod had arrested John, bound [him], and put him in prison on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, 4 for John had said to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” 5 Although he wanted to kill him, he feared the people, for they regarded him as a prophet. 6 But at a birthday celebration for Herod, the daughter of Herodias performed a dance before the guests and delighted Herod 7 so much that he swore to give her whatever she might ask for. 8 Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.” 9 The king was distressed, but because of his oaths and the guests who were present, he ordered that it be given, 10 and he had John beheaded in the prison. 11 His head was brought in on a platter and given to the girl, who took it to her mother. 12 His disciples came and took away the corpse and buried him; and they went and told Jesus.

Notes

Catholic Daily Readings 7-31-2021: Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Priest

SATURDAY, JULY 31, 2021 | MEMORIAL

SAINT IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA, PRIEST

YEARS 1 & 2 | ROMAN MISSAL | LECTIONARY

From Saturday of the 17th Week in Ordinary Time

First Reading Leviticus 25:1, 8–17

Response Psalm 67:4

Psalm Psalm 67:2–3, 5, 7–8

Gospel Acclamation Matthew 5:10

Gospel Matthew 14:1–12

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