The Feast of the Trinity – Ex. 34:4-6, 8-9: 2Cor. 13:11-13; & Jn. 3:16-18 You may recall that while Moses was on Mount Sinai conversing with God andreceiving the Ten Commandments the people of Israel had fashioned a golden calfand were worshipping it. On his return from the mountain Moses, in anger, threwdown the two tablets of stone, on which the Commandments were written, andsmashed them. In our First Reading he has been summoned by God to bring twofresh stone tablets back up the mountain. God descends in the form of a cloud andreveals the Godself as a God of, “Tenderness and compassion, slow to anger, rich inkindness and faithfulness.” God is the direct opposite of the faithless people whohad strayed so quickly and had been worshipping a golden calf. Moses asks forforgiveness on behalf of the People – a forgiveness readily offered by the God ofthe Covenant behind the Commandments. St Paul begins and ends his letters with greetings and prayers. In our SecondReading we are given some verses at the end of his Second Letter to thecommunity in Corinth. He prays for unity and peace, among a very fracturedcommunity remember, and ends with a greeting – referring to all three persons ofthe Trinity - with which we are very familiar as one of those designated as agreeting at the beginning of Mass. Jn. 3:16 is one of the most famous quotations from St John’s Gospel. Theoverwhelming love of God for humankind is what we have been celebratingthroughout Lent and Easter. Now we are in Ordinary Time but reminded, as weleave the high liturgical seasons behind, that the message of God’s love remainscentral.

Reflections on theReadings for the Trinity and Week 10

Monday Week 10 – 1 Kgs. 17:1-6 & Mt. 5:1-12 Suddenly, completely out of the blue, the prophet Elijah makes his appearance.Stories about him will dominate the next few chapters of one of what we Christianscall the “Historical” books of the Old Testament, but which Jews refer to as “TheEarly Prophets” (“The Later Prophets” being people like Amos and Isaiah, whosewritings appear later in the Scriptures). He will become the archetypal prophet,representative of the whole tradition of prophecy in Israel. Today we are simplyoffered an introduction to Elijah but is important to know what has been going onin Israel at the time of his arrival on the scene. The Kingdom ruled by David andSolomon has now been divided into two: Israel, in the North, and Judah, in theSouth. The Northern King, Ahab, had married a pagan princess, Jezebel. She hadbrought with her the worship of her local gods, the Baals. These were associatedwith the coming of much needed rain for farmers, but also with a very stringentclass system wherein the powerful landowners subjugated the peasant masses.Elijah will be a champion both of true worship of the one God, and of justice(inherent in the Jewish farming system). Today we begin our journey with St Matthew in his account of Jesus’ PublicMinistry. This year, of course, we are also offered a similar journey in our SundayGospels of Ordinary Time. We begin with the Sermon on the Mount and it begins, ofcourse, with the Beatitudes. Books have been devoted to reflecting on theseBeatitudes. Certainly, far too much for a short reflection on an ordinary weekday.Pope Francis offers an extended reflection on them in his “Call to Holiness inToday’s World” – Gaudete et Exsulate (§ 65-94). Today we might simply look at thefirst Beatitude, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, theirs is the kingdom of heaven”. Atthe beginning of his reflections the Pope notes that this is basically a call to leaveroom for God, not to think that we haveeverything we need and are self-sufficient. Leaving room for God to enter and towork is something we need to reflect on at the start of any prayerful reading of theGospels.

Tuesday Week 10 – 1 Kgs. 17:7-16 & Mt. 5:13-16 The instruction to Elijah, “Up and go to Zarephath,” seem innocuous enough to us, but it is atown in the land ruled by Jezebel’s father where the Baals were worshipped. Today we hear ofa miraculous feeding from almost non-existent resources. The widow who shares her meagreresources with the Prophet recognises the “Lord God” (of Israel) and is rather more obedient tohis commands than many of the Kings of Israel. Sadly, we miss out on the following passage inwhich the Prophet raises the young son of another widow to life, a story reminiscent of thestory of Jesus raising the son of the Widow of Nain in St Luke’s Gospel (7:11-17). Speaking directly to his disciples, as he does throughout this Sermon on the Mount, Jesuslikens their witness to his teachings to salt and light, both essential elements for the flourishingof life. The point of their witness, however, is not to draw attention to themselves, rather that,“seeing your good works, they may give the praise to your Father in heaven.” Discipleship is notabout self-glorification, but to give glory to God. Wednesday Week 10 – 1 Kgs. 18:20-39 & Mt. 5:17-19 Today we have one of the most famous stories of the Elijah Cycle – his contest with theProphets of Baal. The land has been suffering from a severe drought. Ahab, prompted by hiswife Jezebel, believes that Baal is the god(s) who will bring rain back to the land, so Elijah setsup a contest. For all their long and arduous incantations and self-harm, the prophets of Baalshout to no avail. In contrast, even though soaked by water, Elijah’s sacrifice to the true God ofIsrael is accepted and he is triumphant. His troubles are, however, only beginning, once Jezebelgets to hear of what happens, Elijah has to flee, as we will soon hear. Jesus makes it clear in this passage in the Sermon on the Mount that everything to which theLaw of Moses and the prophets pointed is fulfilled in him: in his words and in his actions. Themission of the disciples listening to his words is to live this same teaching and to teach othersabout it. Thursday Week 10 – 1 Kgs. 18:41-46 & Mt. 5:20-26Now that Elijah has offered sacrifice to the one, true God rain comes to the land. He sent KingAhab home ahead of the rains that might clog up the wheels of his chariot and follows him tohis palace in Jezreel, where he will come across the wrath of Jezebel whose prophets he hasdefeated. The consequence of this will be the focus of tomorrow’s extract. Jesus main problem with the Pharisees was that they failed to practice what they preached.Today we have the first of three saying by Jesus in which he gives a new interpretation to anold law, in this case the commandment not to kill. Not only is killing against the law so, also, isanything that leads up to it, including anger and bad-mouthing another. The reference to “hellfire” needs some explanation here. The Greek word used is “Gehenna”. Gehenna was a valleyoutside Jerusalem where all the waste of the city was dumped. It was always smoulderingaway, with noxious smoke and fumes rising from the stinking piles of rubbish. It is thoughtthat, in pagan times, it had been a place where child sacrifices had taken place. It was,therefore, a place of horror from which God was said to be absent. Hence the great threat thatthe disciples would have instantly recognised when Jesus refers to it.

Friday Week 10 – 1 Kgs. 19:9, 11-16 & Mt. 5:27-32 Between our Reading yesterday and today’s extract Elijah had been scared by Jezebel’s angertowards him and had fled for his life. Miraculously sustained by food that appeared as he slept,he walks for “forty days and forty nights” (notice the number 40 that keeps recurring in theBible) and reaches Mount Horeb. Elijah takes refuge in a cave and is invited to meet the Lordwho, as the hymn ‘Dear Lord and Father of Mankind’ puts it, was not in the earthquake, windor fire, but in the “still small voice of calm”. The Lord is in the “gentle breeze” but his message isblunt. Elijah’s work is far from done. He must go back, in spite of the danger to himself, andconfront those who have abandoned the Covenant and worshipped the Baals, but he is not tobe alone. Others are now named as people to help in this task. In the second re-interpretation of the Jewish Law – in this case the Commandment againstadultery – once again Jesus condemns all behaviour leading up to that act. His command tolose eyes and limbs is not one that the Christian Community has (usually) taken literally! It is adeliberately startling suggestion designed to stir his disciples into realising the importance ofwhat he is saying. The saying on re-marriage after divorce is also not taken literally, in thesense that St Matthew adds a clause offering an exception to the blunt rule, which is not foundin St Mark’s version of this saying. Apparently, people found the stark command toochallenging even in the early Christian Community, and already a mitigating circumstance isadded.  Saturday Week 10 – 1 Kgs. 19:19-21 & Mt. 5:33-37 On leaving Mount Horeb Elijah comes across the man who will succeed him in his propheticministry, Elisha. The immediacy of his call – no opportunity to say farewell to his parents andburning his “boats” (in Elisha’s case this is his plough and the oxen) – is reminiscent of the callto discipleship Jesus will make to disciples in his ministry. Jesus’ final re-interpretation of the Jewish Law concerns the taking of oaths. Apparently otherpeople, presumably the Pharisees were among them, liked to make a great display of theoaths they swore, invoking all manner of apparently worthy things, but Jesus calls for uttersimplicity in such matters, “All you need say is ‘Yes’ if you mean yes, ‘No’ if you mean no.” Allthree of the re-interpretations of Jewish Law offered by Jesus bring things back to basics: thefundamental behaviour by which these laws may truly be observed.