Yesterday was our first day of homeschooling. English, literature, algebra, science. Then came the one I was excited for, the religious element. The program we are using uses the Baltimore Catechism. That’s something that many Catholics were taught growing up. So, we spent about 30 minutes discussing the first five questions and answers and the logic, reason, and deep meaning behind those simple statements.
1. Who made us?
God made us.
2. Who is God?
God is the Supreme Being, infinitely perfect, who made all things and keeps them in existence.
3. Why did God make us?
God made us to show forth His goodness and to share with us His everlasting happiness in heaven.
4. What must we do to gain the happiness of heaven?
To gain the happiness of heaven, we must know, love, and serve God in this world.5. From whom do we learn to know, love, and serve God?
We learn to know, love, and serve God from Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who teaches us through the Catholic Church.
What does that have to do with today’s reading? Well, number four tells us that happiness is not gained by created things alone. History and experience have shown us clearly that neither riches, nor honors, nor glory, nor reputation, nor power, nor pleasure, nor knowledge, nor any worldly goods can fully satisfy man’s longing for happiness. Only in God, and through God, can we attain lasting happiness. So the first reading has this weird story about the trees. The rest of the forest keeps calling out to the trees for a king.
The Haydock commentary goes through each tree and shows that it’s essentially the same human problem we all struggle with. We want to find a way to have that happiness, but too many want to replace God with something else. We want to force something else in there, and for a time, that might seem to make us happy. So they turn to worldly pleasures and experiences, all of which simply cannot fill up the God-shaped longing in our hearts. Only He can.
Haydock tells us the olive tree produces oil, which is used to strengthen the body, rubbed on the skin by soldiers and gladiators, and placed into lamps to provide light. Spiritually he says, it represents the grace of God and peace of the soul. The fig tree he says represents the sweetness of following God’s law, of obeying the moral precepts of the Church. It produces good words, which we find don’t just feed others but in some ways create sweetness in our own hearts and lives. The vine then is the fruit of the spirit, producing works and noble actions for the kingdom’s sake and not for outward show. True humility in which we allow God to shine forth through us into the world.
But the buckthorn. The buckthorn was a worthless weed. Not only did it not provide shade, but it was also bramble and extremely flammable. So while Jotham was clearly poking at Abimelech, he also revealed a truth about the human condition. The wild briar represents all the things that we often put in place of God. Even though they seem to bring us happiness for a time, they simply prick at us and eventually cause us to crash and burn.
Because here is the real issue in this parable of sorts. The man who understands that God is where the source of grace and strength comes from, like the olive tree, also understands that true freedom comes from doing what we ought to do, not whatever we want. So that man has tasted the sweetness of the fig by obeying God and following Jesus Christ’s teachings. He has come to know that the fruit of the spirit is where true happiness lies and that the works we do come from that connection to the vine. He doesn’t want to be King. He knows that the one true King is God Himself.
On the same note… it’s the man who tries to place himself as King, without any connection to the vine or access to the Sacramental graces of God, that finds himself like the briar. His dignity hidden by the thorns prevents anyone from ever receiving any fruit but only harms others that get too close. Eventually, his surroundings are going to burst into flames and come crashing down.
Back to the Baltimore Catechism which states it so eloquently in number 5:
5. From whom do we learn to know, love, and serve God?
We learn to know, love, and serve God from Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who teaches us through the Catholic Church.
It boils down to this: only by putting on Jesus Christ can we ever live a life of fulfillment and joy. Anything less is like trying to live in a briar patch during a dry season with sparks flying all over the place. It’s uncomfortable, dangerous, and just causes more pain.
A reflection on the readings for Wednesday of the 20th Week in Ordinary Time: August 18th, 2021