Tuesday in the Twelfth Week of Ordinary Time, June 23, 2020

I’m on vacation this week.  People may wonder, What does a priest do on vacation?  Well, many of us catch up on our sleep.  Some guys sit out on the beach or in the mountains and just look.  Some travel to see family.  I drove down to spend time with my sister, who lives north of Richmond.  We often vacation together.

Matthew 7:6, 12-14

Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not give what is holy to dogs, or throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them underfoot, and turn and tear you to pieces. Do to others whatever you would have them do to you. This is the Law and the Prophets. Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many. How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few.”

Jesus says, “Do not give what is holy to dogs, or throw your pearls before swine.”  The Jews referred to the Gentiles as dogs.  We see the Phoenician woman abasing herself to Jesus in order to win help for her daughter, when Jesus at first refuses: “Even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the master’s table” (Matthew 15, 27).  In the Ancient Near East, dogs mostly roamed about wild.  They were carrion, eating the flesh of soldiers killed in battle as well as the bodies of people or animals that were left outside to rot.  As a result, they were considered disgusting, and were both hated and feared.  With this in mind, it might seem unnecessary for Jesus to command his disciples not to “give what is holy to dogs”, but we have to consider what did Jesus mean by “what is holy” and who he meant by “dogs”.  In the case of the Phoenician woman, we see Jesus saying to her in his refusal, “It is not good to take the bread of the children, and to cast it to the dogs” (Matthew 15, 26).  He is saying, It is not good for me to take the bread of the grace of God that I am feeding to the children of Israel, and feed the Gentiles with it.  A careful reading reveals that Jesus was identifying himself as the One who fed Israel, and so it was he who decided who was included in “Israel”, that is, who was worthy.  After this woman showed her faith in him, calling him “Lord”, he judged her worthy of the miracle she sought.  From this, we can see that what Jesus says to the disciples is, Do not give what is holy to those who are undeserving — in fact, to those who, like wild swine, would destroy it and threaten them.  

Now, while Jesus commissioned his Apostles to spread the Gospel throughout the world, he also said that they would find people who would reject the Gospel (cf. Luke 9, 5), and thus prove their unworthiness.  The Apostles were to leave these folks to themselves, and move on to others who would be receptive to the message of salvation.  The Apostles were not to waste their precious time.

St. Matthew seems to simply present brief sayings of Jesus in this section of the Gospel, and they are not necessarily related.  This is the case with the words our Lord utters next: “Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.”  This is the so-called Golden Rule.  It is another way of saying, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  While the wording is very simple, the meaning is surprisingly complex when we examine it. For instance, suppose I would have others give me money.  But because I would have them do this for me, I should do this for others.  The questions then arise: Do I give money to every person I meet?  Do I give money that I need to feed myself and my family?  Do I give money to people who give evidence that they would use it to harm themselves or others?  Do I take out loans in order to continue giving away money?  The answer here is to understand this in Christian terms.  “Do unto others as you would have them do to you” means to do what is good for the person’s salvation, first of all.  It means to share with those who are in need, secondly.  It does not mean to give away money necessary for my good and that of those for whom I am responsible because I would not, as a Christian, want anyone to describe themselves in this way for my sake.  Similarly, as a Christian we apply the virtue of prudence to our giving so that our limited resources may do the most good, beginning with ourselves and family members.  The Golden Rule must be understood within the Christian context in order for it to be actually beneficial.  As an example, the Good Samaritan pays for the severely wounded man’s medical care and lodging, but he does not offer to replace the property he lost.  He is a generous man, but Jesus does not say that he was a particularly wealthy man so that he could do this.

Lastly, in the Gospel reading for today, we hear Jesus speaking of the narrow way.  On various occasions, as recorded in the Gospels, people come to Jesus and ask him if only a few people will be saved.  Of course, the question they are actually asking is, Will I be saved?  Jesus consistently emphasizes the “narrow way” or narrow “gate” one must travel through in order to be saved. His answer is that while many souls may be saved, the number will be a small percentage of all souls.  This is both an encouragement and a warning.