August 22, 2023
Morse

Today we celebrate the memorial of the queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which occurs on the octave of the celebration of her assumption into Heaven.  Mary, the theotokos, is the Queen Mother of our Lord.  As Jesus reigns forever as King, so does his mother enjoy a favored position, interceding for us and dispensing graces that come from her Son’s redemptive work. 

Today’s readings begin with an encounter with the “angel of the Lord”, which in scripture often means a theophany or appearance of God.  Gideon and his father Joash were part of the Abiezrite tribe.  Gideon suggests in this passage that his tribe (family) was among the lowliest, not the mightiest or most eminent. Gideon also thought of himself as the least significant in his father’s house.  He was in the barn threshing out wheat to save it from the Midianites, who were already dominating them. The Midianites had probably already taken their grapes, which explains the empty winepress.

You can sense that Gideon is dismayed. “My Lord, if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us?”  Many of us can relate to this honest question.  He is wondering why his people, chosen by God, are experiencing domination rather than deliverance.  (I recall with fondness Tevye’s humorous lament in Fiddler on the Roof: “I know, I know.  We are your chosen people.  But, once in a while, can’t you choose someone else?”)

Gideon was down but he was not out. Despite his honest befuddlement, something that we all experience in the midst of trouble in this world, he continued to act in faith, bringing a sacrifice. He received confirmation that would empower him to lead his people to overcome the Midianites, ultimately bringing peace to his people.  That victory had not yet happened, but he built an altar to celebrate it, knowing that God’s hand would bring this gift using Gideon’s own weak hands. He embraced the “not yet” in the now, knowing God would do as he promised.    

In today’s gospel, the disciples’ question asking how anyone can be saved is also filled with dismay.  This all seems so difficult!  Peter’s discourse reflects his own struggle.  We have sacrificed and followed you, but will all of this effort amount to nothing?  Sometimes we feel this way, too.  Human nature is very stable over time – there are few surprises.  It has been said that history may not repeat itself, but it often rhymes.

Like Gideon, our Lord calls us to respond in faith to the reality of the “not yet”.  Remember that things are not always as they seem! Many who think they are first will be last, and vice versa.

What is the foundation for this faith?  It is not our subjective will, putting your head down and “fake it ‘till you make it”.   Faith comes from the objective reality of the nurturing graces that flow to us through the church, the sacraments, and prayer – our own as well as the prayers of others.  Those now living and those who have passed into the cloud of witnesses are helping us in ways we do not understand.  Our Blessed Mother is among them.
From time to time, our wills may become weakened and weary.  But do not fear. Grace is real.  Pray for one another, seek the prayers of others including the saints, and be nurtured regularly by the sacraments.  Thanks be to God.