As they were rejoining the disciples they saw a large crowd round them and some scribes arguing with them. At once, when they saw him, the whole crowd were struck with amazement and ran to greet him. And he asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?” A man answered him from the crowd, “Master, I have brought my son to you; there is a spirit of dumbness in him, and when it takes hold of him it throws him to the ground, and he foams at the mouth and grinds his teeth and goes rigid. And I asked your disciples to drive it out and they were unable to.”
“You have heard how it was said: Eye for eye and tooth for tooth. But I say this to you: offer no resistance to the wicked. On the contrary, if anyone hits you on the right cheek, offer him the other as well; if someone wishes to go to law with you to get your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone requires you to go one mile, go two miles with him. Give to anyone who asks you, and if anyone wants to borrow, do not turn away.
I urge the elders among you, as a fellow-elder myself and a witness to the sufferings of Christ, and as one who is to have a share in the glory that is to be revealed: give a shepherd’s care to the flock of God that is entrusted to you: watch over it, not simply as a duty but gladly, as God wants; not for sordid money, but because you are eager to do it. Do not lord it over the group which is in your charge, but be an example for the flock. When the chief shepherd appears, you will be given the unfading crown of glory.Read More
He called the people and his disciples to him and said, ‘If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me. Anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. What gain, then, is it for anyone to win the whole world and forfeit his life? And indeed what can anyone offer in exchange for his life? Read More
At that time Jesus and his disciples left for the villages round Caesarea Philippi. On the way he put this question to his disciples, ‘Who do people say I am?’ And they told him, ‘John the Baptist, others Elijah, others again, one of the prophets.’ But you,’ he asked them, ‘who do you say I am?’ Peter spoke up and said to him, ‘You are the Christ.’ And he gave them strict orders not to tell anyone about him. Read More
Remember this, my dear brothers: everyone should be quick to listen but slow to speak and slow to human anger; God’s saving justice is never served by human anger; so do away with all impurities and remnants of evil. Humbly welcome the Word which has been planted in you and can save your souls. But you must do what the Word tells you and not just listen to it and deceive yourselves. Read More
Blessed is anyone who perseveres when trials come. Such a person is of proven worth and will win the prize of life, the crown that the Lord has promised to those who love him. Never, when you are being put to the test, say, ‘God is tempting me’; God cannot be tempted by evil, and he does not put anybody to the test. Everyone is put to the test by being attracted and seduced by that person’s own wrong desire. Read More
My brothers, consider it a great joy when trials of many kinds come upon you, for you well know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance, and perseverance must complete its work so that you will become fully developed, complete, not deficient in any way. Any of you who lacks wisdom must ask God, who gives to all generously and without scolding; it will be given. Read More
In that time Jesus said, ‘Do not imagine that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete them. In truth I tell you, till heaven and earth disappear, not one dot, not one little stroke, is to disappear from the Law until all its purpose is achieved. Therefore, anyone who infringes even one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be considered the least in the kingdom of Heaven; but the person who keeps them and teaches them will be considered great in the kingdom of Heaven. Read More
In those days, Jeroboam thought to himself, ‘As things are, the kingdom will revert to the House of David. If this people continues to go up to the Temple of Yahweh in Jerusalem to offer sacrifices, the people’s heart will turn back again to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will put me to death.’ So the king thought this over and then made two golden calves; he said to the people, ‘You have been going up to Jerusalem long enough. Here is your God, Israel, who brought you out of Egypt!’ He set one up at Bethel, and the people went in procession in front of the other one all the way to Dan. In Israel this gave rise to sin, for the people went to Bethel to worship the one, and all the way to Dan to worship the other. He set up shrines on the high places and appointed priests from ordinary families, who were not of levitical descent. Jeroboam also instituted a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth of the month, like the feast kept in Judah, when he offered sacrifices on the altar. This he did at Bethel, offering sacrifices to the calves which he had made and, at Bethel, installing the priests of the high places which he had set up. Jeroboam did not give up his wicked ways after this incident, but went on appointing priests for the high places from the common people. He consecrated as priests of the high places any who wished to be. Such conduct made the House of Jeroboam a sinful House, and caused its ruin and extinction from the face of the earth.
Today’s reading presents us with an abuse of religion for political matters; or, rather, for one’s own ambition for power. This is a more than evil thing, because what is most sacred is being abused for one’s own interests. So it is not only a spiritual confusion of the person, but an elementary fraud against God and the believing people. And this is evidently happening with a more or less clear consciousness.
How can one get so far away from God?
In the story of Solomon, we heard that it was the seduction of his women that made him fall into idolatry. Evidently, his weakness towards the beauty and eroticism of women became his downfall. This is reminiscent of the sin of his father David, who deeply repented before God and was forgiven by him.
In Jeroboam’s case, we see the fear of losing power, as well as the fear of losing his own life. The combination of these two elements constitutes a lethal danger!
The seduction of power lives deep within man, and connects him spiritually with the rebellion of Lucifer against God. Obviously, the power seems to convey something like own greatness and quasi “divinity” to the human being. One gets intoxicated with power and it puts man into an unreal existence, consisting of the belief that, by virtue of his own power, one could do practically everything, without being accountable to God and, in some way, to people as well.
Lucifer did not want to serve, but wanted to have the power of God Himself. So it has something to do with a delusion, in which one enters a sick world, the product of one’s own illusions, which greatly exalt the own person.
In Jeroboam’s case, there is not only the fear of losing power; but, in the loss of power, he sees his own life threatened. This makes his actions even more thoughtless and blind to the reality of God. Thus Jeroboam becomes a seducer of the Israelites, and even institutes as priests all those who wish to do so, thereby perverting this noble ministry.
The result: the house of Jeroboam was destroyed because of sin. It is sad to hear that no one stood up against him and that the priests followed his instructions to worship idols.
So far the biblical report…
Even more tragic than weakness is pride, and the ambition for power that results from it! It is easier for a person to become aware of his weakness – sometimes shamefully – than to realize his striving for power and prestige. To want to be great for oneself is a tremendous evil! This does not always have to take the extreme forms as in the story of Jeroboam, but can be very finely settled in the heart of the people.
The Lord has given us the remedy to this evil in His person and in His Word: true dominion, as it is pleasing before God and as God Himself exercises it, is service out of love. For us human beings, this means taking responsibility for every moment of our life before God.
Here it is necessary to be very attentive to ourselves, asking the Lord to overcome in our hearts all striving for power and pride, so that no flattery, whether from the outside or the inside, can corrupt us. The daily interiorization that everything is given to us by God and the humble recognition of our own limitations, make us realistic, thus freeing us from the delusion of our supposed greatness. How beautiful were the words we heard some days ago in the testimony of Roy Schoeman, when the Virgin Mary, as he was in ecstasy before her beauty, said to him: “You do not understand anything! I am nothing. I am a creature. He is everything!”
Looking at and imitating Mary is a remedy for “Jeroboam’s sickness”. Instead of seeking one’s own greatness and not wanting to serve, like Lucifer, Our Lady says, “Behold, I am the handmaiden of the Lord. It shall be done unto me according to thy word.” (Lk 1,38); and further on: “My soul magnifies the greatness of the Lord… on the lowliness of his handmaiden he looked upon” (v. 46.48).
This is the answer to all manner of egoism, Luciferian power and all forms of self-indulgence!
Feast of Cathedra Petri
