The Word of God – July 4, 2023 Reflection

 

THE WORD OF GOD – JULY 4, 2023 REFLECTION

Liturgical Calendar Day: Saint Elizabeth of Portugal – Memorial

Scripture Text: Gen 19:15-29, Mt 8:23-27

Lot’s wife looked back and she became a pillar of salt. (Gen 19:26)

Lot’s wife, who is not named in the Bible, looked back against the command of the angels, and she paid for her disobedience with her life.

Her turn toward Sodom symbolizes her backsliding, her desire to return to the evil ways of Sodom.

Today’s injunction not to look back is a recurring motif in Scripture.

Forty-five days after leaving Egypt, the children of Israel, for example, complain to Moses and Aaron, “If only we had died by the hand of Yahweh in Egypt when we sat down to cauldrons of meat and ate all the bread we wanted, whereas you have brought us to this desert to let the whole assembly die of starvation!” (Ex 16:3)

In a mighty demonstration of power, Yahweh gifts them daily with bread in the morning and meat in the evening.

Centuries later, Jesus admonishes an aspiring disciple, “Whoever has put his hand to the plow and looks back is not fit for the kingdom of God.” (Lk 9:62)

The author of the Letter of James, traditionally identified as a “brother of the Lord” (Mk 6:3), meaning, one of his close relatives, rebukes Christians who are “of two minds,” saying, “Ask with faith, not doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave driven and tossed on the sea by the wind. Such a person should not expect anything from the Lord, since the doubter has two minds and his conduct will always be insecure.” (Jas 1:6-7)

Doubt is a type of looking backward. It is a turn toward unbelief.

The opposite of “double-mindedness” is single-mindedness—better, single-heartedness—which the early Christians of the desert, the monks, understood as the purity of heart enjoined by Jesus. (cf. Mt 5:8) Purity of heart is the desire to live only for God, according to God’s law.

Saint John Cassian, whose influence extends throughout Christian spirituality, taught that the sole underlying purpose of monastic life is to attain purity of heart. He observed that the entire monastic regimen, which includes prayer, fasting, silence, vigils, spiritual reading, and good works, is conceived and organized to help the monk grow in purity of heart and to fortify him in his struggle to keep his spiritual eye focused on God alone.

The saint has something to teach us about keeping our commitment to our Lord, because the monastic regimen he recommends enables us to focus on serving and loving our Lord.

We, too, can put together our own regular spiritual practices—among them, daily prayer, frequent reception of the sacraments, lectio divina or spiritual reading, works of mercy—to help us attain purity of heart, which is to live only for God, according to God’s law.

“Regular” is derived from regula, the Latin word for “rule.” Our own personal rule of life would be designed to help us reach our final end, the vision of God in the next life, according to Jesus’ promise.

“Fortunate are those with a pure heart, for they shall see God.” (Mt 5:8)