The first step in dealing with hatred and evil is to recognize it, as Isaiah does by telling his people and as Jesus does with the Pharisees. The second step is to recognize that God is our salvation, as Isaiah reveals in his prophecy of God's destruction of the wicked and as Jesus shows with his acts of love and his miracles.
Image by Engin Akyurt
By Norm McGraw
Saturday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Micah 2:1-5
Mattew 12:14-21
In some of my previous reflections, I’ve linked current events to incidents presented and writings contained in Holy Scripture. One of today’s most quoted commentators, Dennis Prager, once remarked that the answers to all the major problems we experience in the world today are described in the book of Genesis.
The most recent assassination attempt of a former President at a public rally and the tragic death of a firefighter in attendance, along with two others critically injured at the event, indicate that we face a considerable amount of hatred and evil in our times. Saturday’s readings present a Biblical approach to dealing with it.
The first reading is from the second chapter of the Book of Micah. A contemporary of prophets Isaiah, Amos, and Hosea, Micah was from Moresheth, a small rural area in southwest Judah. His oracles were written between 735 and 700 B.C. He prophesied the destruction and, later, the future restoration of the Judean state. (The southern kingdom of Judea fell to the Babylonians in the 6th century.)
The reading focuses on those who would be party to the coming destruction of Judea. In the second chapter, Micah states: “Woe to those who plan iniquity and work out evil on their couches; in the morning light they accomplish it when it lies within their power.” Later, he prophesizes the destruction of the wicked by God: “Therefore I strike with a grievous blow, making you desolate because of your sins. You shall eat, but not be satisfied, and there will be hunger within you.” Still later, he explains more fully that God is a loving God: “He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love.”
The second reading, from the 12th chapter of the gospel of Saint Matthew, presents another example of hate and evil prevalent in the world. To understand this passage, it is necessary to read the previous passage where the Pharisees questioned Jesus on allowing his disciples to eat grain on the Sabbath. Jesus answered, stating that in the past, King David and those with him entered the house of God and ate on the Sabbath when they were hungry. Moreover, he added, “The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”
Challenging them, he asked, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” Then, he healed a man with a withered hand.
The response from the Pharisees is at the core of Saturday’s reading. Theirs was to plot his death.
Matthew explains that Jesus withdrew from the Pharisees but continued his ministry, including curing many. Thus, he fulfilled the words of Isaiah (42nd chapter): “Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom I delight, I shall place my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations.”
Both readings reveal that the first step in dealing with hatred and evil is to recognize it, as Isaiah does by telling his people and as Jesus does with the Pharisees. The second step is to recognize that God is our salvation, as Isaiah reveals in his prophecy of God's destruction of the wicked and as Jesus shows with his acts of love and his miracles.
We can combat and rise above hatred and evil if we act as God wishes. Remember the words of Isaiah: “He (God) does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love.”
God wants us to mimic him. Saint Paul states in 2 Corinthians 9:19: “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.”