As humans, we possess a tendency to do unto others what they do, or are most likely to do, to us. We understand the “tit for tat” rule of Moses and are instinctively inclined to love those who love us. The Readings of this weekend’s Liturgy show how diametrically apart these human theories of morality and justice are from God’s thoughts. We may see justice as giving to each individual what they deserve; God gives to us, not what each person deserves, but what pleases His Divine will.

In his letter to the Romans, St. Paul declares, “But God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). This sacrificial act of love for us while we were captives of disobedience is what affected our redemption and shows how ridiculously extravagant God’s mercy is towards us. Having enjoyed God’s mercies, albeit unmerited, we are under every obligation to show mercy to others. This is exactly what the Readings at the liturgy this weekend set out to inculcate in us.

Mrs Jamie Bescak, Principal of St. John Bosco School, likes to sign her emails with these words from St. Paul, “Do everything in love” (1 Corinthians 16:14). This is a very good summary of what the Readings this weekend invite us to internalize and practice.

In the First Reading, the Prophet Ezekiel, called to prophesy to Israel during the Babylonian exile, is designated a “watchman” over Israel and intimated on the seriousness of his task. If he refuses to dissuade the sinner from his sinful way despite receiving word from The Lord, he (the Prophet) shall be held responsible for the death of the sinner. This is a scary warning for anyone to whom the prophetic ministry is graciously given. We, believers and witnesses, are the watchmen/women of our time and community. God desires that His will be done on earth, that His kingdom be firmly established and sustained among all people.

Anyone who elects to live by and preach Christian ideals should be prepared to face a sustained persecution from “the kingdom of this world.” This is largely because the ways of the Lord are usually at odds with the ways of people who love the “freedom” from the “tyranny of the decalogue” offered by the devil. When persecution or the promise of it becomes imminent, there is always the temptation to lament or even reconsider our loyalty to the gospel. Even a great prophet like Jeremiah was not spared such humiliating experiences. God required the Prophet to say things that were true, yet quite offensive to many, especially the powerful in the course of his prophetic ministry. As a direct consequence, the Prophet had very few friends and found himself in trouble more often than not. His reaction was to lament about how God had “duped” him and how he had let himself be “duped” as a result of which he had to endure mockery and even bodily harm. Jeremiah’s lamentation is true of every ardent preacher and witness to the Gospel of Christ.

In both the Old and the New Testaments, God has always chosen individuals and conferred on them the authority to teach, to correct and to govern His people. In the Old Dispensation, these offices were distributed among the priests, the prophets and the kings. In the New Dispensation, Christ conferred these privileges on the Apostles and, in a particular way, on Simon Peter and his successors. In a way, we are safe to observe that the Readings for this weekend demonstrate God’s faithfulness to His covenant with David. While God pledged to replace an overbearing steward whose prideful actions threatened the integrity of the Davidic dynasty in the First Reading, in the Gospel passage Jesus appointed and conferred authority on Simon Peter to become the Royal Steward of the renewed Kingdom of David in the New Israel called ekklesia, the Church.

The Mother Church of the Via Christi Society in Makurdi, Nigeria, is dedicated to, and called, the Church of God the Father of All Mankind. This name is both unique and true; it is the only church I know which bears that name, and the name aptly describes God. In Holy Scripture, there exist numerous prophetic declarations that clearly suggest God’s intention to effect a change in the covenant economy that would create room for the Gentiles, non-jews who were originally not part of the First Covenant, to become beneficiaries of a second and universal Covenant. The First Reading is one of such scripture texts.

This weekend, the Readings from Holy Scripture remind us that though we journey in a troubled world full of difficult times and experiences, God’s benevolent and reassuring presence is guaranteed for all who call onto Him for help. We are also exhorted not to be distracted by the transient and spectacular manifestation of material things in our search for purpose, but to seek the presence of God in faith.

In the First Reading, Elijah the prophet was threatened by Queen Jezebel, a foreigner and idolatress, who brought into Israel the worship of Ba’al, a foreign deity. He suffered tremendously and was on the verge of despair when he arrived at Horeb (Mount Sinai), the mountain of God where Moses encountered God. His intention was to seek the face of God in the midst of a stormy life and national situation. The prophet soon discovered that the Lord was not in the spectacular manifestations of a heavy wind, an earthquake or fire that preceded the coming of God. Rather, God came to him in a tiny whispering sound.

The Transfiguration of Jesus on the mountain is one of the few events where Jesus revealed His Divine glory for the benefit of those who were privileged to behold it. Recall that at His birth, Jesus revealed His glorious Divinity to the whole world through the visit of the Magi who brought Him prophetic gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Again, the Divine Redeemer manifested Himself to His Disciples at the event of His Baptism at the hands of John the Baptist at the River Jordan, where Trinitarian collaboration was visibly manifested to the amazed spectators. The transfiguration of Jesus Christ, the feast we celebrate this weekend, is also a self-manifesting event of our Lord Jesus Christ.

You may have noticed that the whole Chapter 13 of Matthew’s Gospel provides different parables with which Jesus explains the mysteries of the Kingdom of God. You may also have noticed that during this part of Ordinary Time in Year A, the season of growth in our knowledge of God, the Church is pursuing a lectio continua (continuous Reading, Reading in a particular order) of both Paul’s Letter to the Romans and the Gospel of Matthew. The Readings of the previous Sunday were themed around the seamless application of God’s mercy and justice. This weekend, the Church invites us to meditate on what actually constitutes true wisdom and what we need to do in order to gain it.

Jesus presents us with three parables in the Gospel this weekend to explain the nature of the Kingdom of God and those who merit to enter it. Some of us who experience weeds in our gardens or lawns may relate well to these parables. However, the parables communicate a much deeper message: they speak to the reality of the coexistence of good and evil in the world. Many beautiful inventions in the world, like sowing good seeds, were created with good intentions; however, the devil knows how to sow weeds. For instance, the invention of the internet and social media was a wonderful breakthrough in human history, but the devil has sown weeds into the minds of people who now use them for harm and deceit. The invention of money was a beautiful thing, but as St. Paul says in his letter to Timothy, “The love of money is the root of many evils” (Tim 6:10). Medical advancements are wonderful, but we have seen how the devil has used the same avenue to destroy many lives. Originally, weapons were developed for hunting food and personal protection, but we see how they are now used as weapons of mass destruction. As a result, we kill ourselves more than any other species in the world.

Four key images: Rain, soil, seed, and fruit, are used in the First Reading and the Gospel this weekend to explain the impact the Word of God has on our lives. In the First Reading, God speaks through His prophet Isaiah, saying the Word that goes out from his mouth shall not return to him empty. The parable of the sower that Jesus gives in the Gospel today is about the only parable where He explains its meaning to His disciples. The parable compares the teaching of God’s Word to the sowing of seeds. The seeds fall on different types of soil: the pathway soil, the rocky soil, the thorny soil, and the good soil. Jesus’ explanation of the parable shows that both the seeds and the soil represent the different disposition of our hearts to receiving the Word of God and what we do with it. However, the key difference here is that while the seed and soil cannot help being what they are, we can.

The account presented in today’s First Reading occurred approximately one century after the Israelites returned from exile and rebuilt their Temple. Prophet Zechariah offers words of hope and comfort to the people to strengthen their aspiration for the fulfillment of God’s promise of the coming of the Messiah. Zechariah prophesied the coming of an eschatological king who would return to Jerusalem to end the war and division, to proclaim peace to the nations. He describes the Messiah King as riding on a donkey as a demonstration of humility in contrast to the image of a warrior king on horseback. In the New Testament, we see the fulfillment of this prophecy when Jesus entered Jerusalem, riding on a donkey (Mt 21:5), a sign of a humble King who comes to bring peace on earth.

The stories in the First Reading and Gospel today remind us that in welcoming ministers and strangers into our homes, we inevitably welcome God. In the First Reading, the widow of Shunem and her husband welcomed the Prophet Elisha to their house. They were kind to him and provided for him without expecting any reward. Prophet Elisha, on the other hand, paid attention to their deepest need and prayed for them asking God to grant them a son. In the Gospel, Jesus reminds the people, “Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward.”