What on earth does the Lord’s ancient command to the Israelites to “write these words (the law) upon the mezuzot (doorposts) of your house and upon your gates” (Dt 6:9) have to do with your family’s homebound COVID-19 saga of 2020?
The answer to this question, I suggest, can be found by reimagining something as commonplace as our doors, and building a simple and small habit around them.
I spent the morning rummaging around in the basement, looking for a box marked “virtue letters.” It contains wooden letters that spell out various virtues. Over the years, I’ve propped the letters on the mantel, rotating them out each month and adding seasonal decorations to go with them. Every September, I spell out “diligence.” September is for buckling down, setting goals, setting about one’s work, getting it done. I found the letters, and then I realized that despite having many fireplaces in our new house, we have few mantels. So, virtue letters set aside, we began our school year by taking a good look at Scripture.
It’s a shocking scene. Peter, just having heard Jesus foretell his coming suffering, death and resurrection for the first time, takes Jesus and rebukes him. “God forbid, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” It seems like a loving concern the disciple has for his Master. But Peter is thinking as men do, not as God does. He does not realize the true nature of Jesus’ mission and that it involves suffering, dying and rising again.
In the late spring of 1945, as World War II was drawing toward a close, a novel called “Brideshead Revisited” made its appearance in Britain; its first U.S. edition came out the following January. Whatever else might be said of it — and a great deal has been said — three-quarters of a century later this book by Evelyn Waugh remains easily the most popular Catholic-themed work of fiction in the English language.
I think it’s safe to say that people have been a little on edge lately.
A fierce storm blew through my new village last week. They say we were on the dirty side of the storm —mighty winds that peeled huge trees as if they were overripe bananas, but barely enough rain to dampen the birdbaths. In the aftermath, the garden was a tangle of leaves and twigs and some rather large appendages of stately oaks and elms. We lost power.
The feast of the Queenship of Mary is celebrated Aug. 22. The role of the queen-mother has deep Biblical roots that may be best understood in light of the kingdom of God as it is anticipated in the Old Testament.
I’ve tried to keep some sense of normal for my family throughout the summer. I look outside my window and see the bright sun shining and a gentle breeze blowing in a late shower to ease the punishing humidity. It’s been a busy day. My kids have been riding bikes, playing games and eating me out of house and home. With the new school year beginning, we need to refocus on their education. What do we want our children to learn — even beyond their school curriculum?
Imagine taking a walk with Jesus and a crowd of his disciples and watching him stop suddenly, turn around, look you in the eye, and ask you, “Who do you say that I am?”
A roadmap to resolution
In this week's installment of Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus gives us the famous roadmap to resolving conflicts and setting healthy boundaries. The entire passage presumes that Christian believers should be at harmony with each other. Why? Because we are in the presence of Christ, and by our baptism are grafted into the prince of peace himself. After all: “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”