21 July 2014
Monday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time
God is always greater. In Latin: Deus Semper Maior. Jesus today makes clear that “there is something greater” among His listeners than just another Jonah or Solomon. The implication is that He is the One who is greater than these figures in Jewish history. Jesus casts this revelation in stark terms. He warns about the collective rejection of His greatness, of His primacy in the lives of His listeners. We all have areas of great insecurity or shame that we cannot seem to shake. Our readings invite us to find that God is greater than these. He is greater than our personal weakness and sin. He is also greater than our abysmal social injustices. Only through His greatness can we dare to face and seek to remedy such global dysfunction.
How in our lives do we need to be reminded that God, that Christ, is always greater? Greater than our highest ambitions? Greater than our deepest longings? Greater than our most impressive successes? Greater than our most miserable failings? Greater than ourselves? Greater than the whole world? Our God, who is perfect Love, is always greater.