33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time C Malachi 3: 19-20; 2 Thessalonians 3: 7-12; Luke 21: 5-19
As we approach the end of the Church year next Sunday on the feast of Christ the King and then await the first Sunday of Advent the following Sunday it is good to ask some questions basic of which is: What am I afraid of? Today’s readings focus in on the end-times. This can bring much consternation. What is the end of the world going to be like? When will it happen? So many movies, TV programs deal with this and somehow a ‘savior’ comes on the scene to ‘save the day.’ Do I ever look at Jesus and see that He is our Savior? Jesus has lived this, preached this, died to show this and rose from the dead to prove this. Jesus is my Savior sent by God to keep me and each person on track to our final goal: living with God forever in heavenly eternity. Am I looking at Jesus’ teaching and life to see how I am to prepare for the end of my days and the end of eternity? Do I look on these events knowing that Jesus told each of us that we are His friends? Do I hear Him say that I am loved, redeemed even in spite of my sinfulness? Am I allowing myself to be overwhelmed by the predictions: what is happening to our world, it’s evil and conniving…is there no hope for our future? We turn to our readings telling us to trust in the Lord, follow His directions and know that each person is loved and graced by God to receive all the help that is needed.
Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament. He paints a picture of life of the Jewish community after there return for years and years of ‘slavery’ in Babylon. The author gives very sharp criticism to the priests and rulers of the people. Because of this, he never signed his name to these prophecies rather using the word ‘Malachi’ which means messenger. The priests and leaders had dishonored God by their pagan sacrifices. They had allowed intermarriages. It seemed that the wicked were leading blessed lives because they not only were prospering but seemed to escape any punishment for their evil ways. ‘Malachi’ asked the question: Where is the God of justice?’ He tells us in todays first passage that “the day is coming," the day of the Lord. But first the forerunner must come who prepares by prescribing repentance and true worship. The Gospel writers point out that John the Baptist is the forerunner who announces “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” (Matthew 3:2) Matthew tells how Jesus ushers this in as He began His Galilean ministry, “From that time on, Jesus began to speak and say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” Even though Malachi is preaching ‘doom and gloom,’ he concludes that the justice of God will shine like the rays of the sun and bring blessings for the faithful ones who lived their lives faithfully. “But for you, who fear (respect) my name, there will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays.” So how am I to live as I await these predicted days? Paul shares what is to be done in his letter to the Thessalonians.
Paul is telling the believers in Thessalonica that they had read Malachi and assumed that the ‘day of the Lord’ had already arrived so they had just stopped working. Why work if the end of it all was coming. Their lives had become messy, cluttered in disarray. “We hear that some are conducting themselves among you in a disorderly way, by not keeping busy but minding the business of others.” Paul suggests that when he was with them he lived the true life of a Christian so they should imitate his example. “…in toil and drudgery, night and day we worked, so as not to burden any of you…rather we wanted to present ourselves as a model for you, so that you might imitate us.” People of faith are to help others, forgive others, care for others and live as Jesus. Am I doing this? Do people leave our presence realizing that they have been touched by a person who is God’s like? Am I what I say I am? Do people see Jesus is me?
Today’s Gospel reading is Luke’s reflection on Mark’s chapter 13 that emphasizes the tremendous urgency of preparing for the final days. But there is a huge difference in the two. Mark was convinced that the end time and Jesus’s second coming had already happened and because of this there was a great urgency to react and be prepared. When Luke wrote today’s Gospel many years later, Jerusalem had been destroyed by the Romans but Jesus’ second coming had not come. As a result Luke is not as concerned in the urgency of living but of how people should be living each day: have a plan; know that God is with you and God loves you. Luke is writing in preparation for the destruction that has already come but this will not bring about the final end. He tells us how Jesus is warning his audience not to be deceived by what they see around them: wars and natural catastrophes. People are taking advantage of ‘bad times’ by predicting they know what this means and they have insight and revelations form God that these are indicators of what will happen. Jesus says “See that you not be deceived, for many will come in MY NAME, saying, ‘I am he,’ and ‘the time has come.’ Do not follow them?…By your perseverance you will secure your lives.” The earth is a strange place. Every different section of the world has natural disasters that occur after a pattern: snow in the North, heat in the South, tornados in the Central, earthquakes in the West. There seems to be no end to these famines, diseases and wars. These are signs from nature and from distorted humanity. I can so easily be the predictor of evil, or signs from God. Luke is telling each of us that we must find ways to encourage people not to be afraid and to focus on those things over which we have some influence. Living the Word has a beautiful summation paragraph today: “If we are busy about God’s business known throughout prophets like Malachi, or God’s Son, Jesus Christ, or preachers like Paul, we may still experience opposition, but we will not be destroyed. We will work until the Lord returns, whether at the end of all time or the end of our time on earth. We will be an example for those who experience injustice oppression, fear, or doubt. Busy about God’s business, the Son of Justice will heal our hurts, calm our fears, and set the world on fire with the healing warmth of God’s everlasting love. Make your bodies busy by imitating Jesus Christ.”
So I reflect on: • What thoughts and feelings of today’s reading about ‘end-times’ evoke in me? • How can I be busy about God’s business today? • I reflect on Proverbs 3: 5-6: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, on your own intelligence rely not; in all your ways be mindful of Him, and He will make straight your paths.” • When I come before the judgment seat of God at my death, what do I think God will ask of me? To what standards will I be held? • The gospel challenges me to rely on Jesus’ grace and power. How do I feel about this? Where does it frighten me? Does it give me hope? Why?
Sacred Space 2019 states: “It is remarkable that Jesus’ prophecy is being fulfilled in our own time. The level of unrest among people and even innate itself is frightening. The Christian message of ‘love your neighbor as yourself’ stands out in complete contrast to this scene. The little we can do is not in vain. Pope Francis has highlighted the need for compassion in our dealings with one another. We can see this intervention by Pope Francis as coming from Jesus when He said in the text above, ‘I will give you words and wisdom that none of your opponents can withstand or contradict.”
Saturday, November 16, 2019
Saturday, November 9, 2019
November 10, 2019
32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time C 2 Maccabees 7: 1-2, 9-14; 2 Thessalonians 2: 16 - 3:5; Luke 20: 27-38
Do I understand what faces me after death? Do I believe that God has described the place as being heaven and that God intends that every person has a place in heaven? Do I accept this? Do I believe that heaven is for the nice people that I believe are there and hell for the rotten people? Am I too simplistic with these thoughts? Do I want heaven to be an end of all my pain and sufferings or do I want it to be filled with the source of life and love? Am I afraid of what lies after life ends because I don’t know what awaits me?
Paul’s letter to the Romans chapter 8: 38-39 tells us: “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life,, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Msgr. Chet Michael felt that J.B. Phillips The New Testament in Modern English translated Paul’s letters most accurately. His translation of the above passage states: “I have become absolutely convinced that neither death nor life, neither messenger of Heaven nor monarch of earth, neither what happens today nor what may happen tomorrow, neither a power from on high nor a power from below, nor anything else in God’s whole world has any power to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord!”
Do I realize that this is God’s promise to each person? Do I realize that Jesus’ entire life tells us that God’s love is forever, specific and individualized for each person because everyone is special to God? The readings today zero in on these subjects telling us that the teachings of Jesus about the reign of God can be distorted even by well-intentioned Christian believers. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that the ‘coming Reign of God will be a kingdom of love, peace, and justice. Justice is defined as a virtue whereby one respects the rights of all persons living in harmony and equity with all.’ Jesus lived this reign and showed us how to do this. Heaven is its total forever fulfillment.
We look at the readings today starting with Maccabees. Today’s remarkable astounding passage shows a God-less ruler is bent on breaking the faith of true believers in God. A mother and her seven sons are given a terrible ultimatum to either choose to violate the dietary laws of their Jewish faith or choose to die. First they were tortured unmercifully (read the full passage in Chapter 7). Not only were they unwavering in their faith but they gave testimony to their total belief and love of God. All were horribly put to death and the last one proclaiming her love by dying was the mother. Their testimony challenged the earthly king because of his thirst for power. All power comes from God, the King of the Universe who has the power to raise all life to eternal life. The fourth son adds a warning that the wicked persecutors will not enjoy the resurrection to new life. I’m reminded of ISIS and its atrocities in one incident when three boys maybe ten or eleven where beheaded. As they died they said that they would not deny their faith in Jesus. Is my faith that precious and important to me?
Paul tells the Thessalonians that “…our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting encouragement and good hope through His grace, encourage your hearts and strengthen them in every good deed and word.” In this way people will see God’s glory. Paul Claudel, a spiritual writer,
has a wonderful passage says that ‘Jesus did not come to take away our suffering but to fill it with His presence. Paul also assures the people that the Lord’s second coming will happen. No one knows the time it will happen. But everyone must be ready for it by living the life of faith, hope and constant love. God will give everyone the strength needed to remain faithful . How am I doing in this? The scriptures remind us constantly and Jesus in His parables remind us not to slacken in our daily living of love. Am I taking the easy way encouraged always by the devil?
Today’s Gospel Jesus is addressing a different group, the Sadducees. They are mentioned so infrequently that we are not exactly clear who they are. They seem to be a very conservative aristocratic group closely associated with the Temple. They totally disagree with the Pharisees who believed in the resurrection of the dead; death is not the end. The Sadducees maintained very strict adherence to the Law which assured their purity. Today they attempted to embarrass Jesus by posting an impossible situation based on their own ignorance of bible teachings. Deuteronomy 25:5-10 states how a childless widow is to be protected by her husband’s oldest brother so that a male heir might be produced. So at the Resurrection of the dead they didn’t believe in whose wife the woman would be if seven brothers married her and there were no children? Resurrection is not where a person receives his or her life back. Jesus points out that the great patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are all referred to as belonging to the God of the living. Jesus’ example says that the rules governing our earthly behavior will become irrelevant when we experience resurrected life. Again, we see this in Paul’s letter to the Romans: “…eye has not seen nor ear heard…” Death is about life with God when God will be everything to us. Sunday Homily Helps offers three reflections: • “Our faith says that death brings an engagement with God whose face-to-face presence will be so to speak, ‘heaven’ — when God will be everything to us. • If God becomes, at death, our all in all,’ it would seem odd for someone who is experiencing God directly to say, ‘this is pretty good, but I can’t wait to get my husband/wife back.’ • The Paradox that Christian faith presents is that only through death can we experience the ultimate encounter with the living God, whose presence is eternal life.” • What would it take for me to have the courage of the three young boys? Of the seven brothers? Of the mother? • How do I stay focused on Christ each day to find strength and hope? • When it comes to heaven, we cannot understand we can only imagine. • When life is good, it is easy and my faith seems very strong. When life is filled with pain, suffering, even persecution and death I waver and am afraid. Lord it is only You who can fill me with Your grace.
Sacred Space 2019 states: “By answering the exaggerated story of the Sadducees, who did not believe the resurrection, Jesus points out that the resurrected state is a new creation by which we are sharing in the divine life of God. It is different from our present life but a continuation nonetheless of our personalities, as molded by our present life. To believe in your own personal resurrection is a wonderful gift in this life. It gives meaning to all that makes up your life. It is expressed also in our prayers that we offer for the repose of the souls of all those who have gone before us, which we emphasize during this month of November.”
Do I understand what faces me after death? Do I believe that God has described the place as being heaven and that God intends that every person has a place in heaven? Do I accept this? Do I believe that heaven is for the nice people that I believe are there and hell for the rotten people? Am I too simplistic with these thoughts? Do I want heaven to be an end of all my pain and sufferings or do I want it to be filled with the source of life and love? Am I afraid of what lies after life ends because I don’t know what awaits me?
Paul’s letter to the Romans chapter 8: 38-39 tells us: “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life,, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Msgr. Chet Michael felt that J.B. Phillips The New Testament in Modern English translated Paul’s letters most accurately. His translation of the above passage states: “I have become absolutely convinced that neither death nor life, neither messenger of Heaven nor monarch of earth, neither what happens today nor what may happen tomorrow, neither a power from on high nor a power from below, nor anything else in God’s whole world has any power to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord!”
Do I realize that this is God’s promise to each person? Do I realize that Jesus’ entire life tells us that God’s love is forever, specific and individualized for each person because everyone is special to God? The readings today zero in on these subjects telling us that the teachings of Jesus about the reign of God can be distorted even by well-intentioned Christian believers. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that the ‘coming Reign of God will be a kingdom of love, peace, and justice. Justice is defined as a virtue whereby one respects the rights of all persons living in harmony and equity with all.’ Jesus lived this reign and showed us how to do this. Heaven is its total forever fulfillment.
We look at the readings today starting with Maccabees. Today’s remarkable astounding passage shows a God-less ruler is bent on breaking the faith of true believers in God. A mother and her seven sons are given a terrible ultimatum to either choose to violate the dietary laws of their Jewish faith or choose to die. First they were tortured unmercifully (read the full passage in Chapter 7). Not only were they unwavering in their faith but they gave testimony to their total belief and love of God. All were horribly put to death and the last one proclaiming her love by dying was the mother. Their testimony challenged the earthly king because of his thirst for power. All power comes from God, the King of the Universe who has the power to raise all life to eternal life. The fourth son adds a warning that the wicked persecutors will not enjoy the resurrection to new life. I’m reminded of ISIS and its atrocities in one incident when three boys maybe ten or eleven where beheaded. As they died they said that they would not deny their faith in Jesus. Is my faith that precious and important to me?
Paul tells the Thessalonians that “…our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting encouragement and good hope through His grace, encourage your hearts and strengthen them in every good deed and word.” In this way people will see God’s glory. Paul Claudel, a spiritual writer,
has a wonderful passage says that ‘Jesus did not come to take away our suffering but to fill it with His presence. Paul also assures the people that the Lord’s second coming will happen. No one knows the time it will happen. But everyone must be ready for it by living the life of faith, hope and constant love. God will give everyone the strength needed to remain faithful . How am I doing in this? The scriptures remind us constantly and Jesus in His parables remind us not to slacken in our daily living of love. Am I taking the easy way encouraged always by the devil?
Today’s Gospel Jesus is addressing a different group, the Sadducees. They are mentioned so infrequently that we are not exactly clear who they are. They seem to be a very conservative aristocratic group closely associated with the Temple. They totally disagree with the Pharisees who believed in the resurrection of the dead; death is not the end. The Sadducees maintained very strict adherence to the Law which assured their purity. Today they attempted to embarrass Jesus by posting an impossible situation based on their own ignorance of bible teachings. Deuteronomy 25:5-10 states how a childless widow is to be protected by her husband’s oldest brother so that a male heir might be produced. So at the Resurrection of the dead they didn’t believe in whose wife the woman would be if seven brothers married her and there were no children? Resurrection is not where a person receives his or her life back. Jesus points out that the great patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are all referred to as belonging to the God of the living. Jesus’ example says that the rules governing our earthly behavior will become irrelevant when we experience resurrected life. Again, we see this in Paul’s letter to the Romans: “…eye has not seen nor ear heard…” Death is about life with God when God will be everything to us. Sunday Homily Helps offers three reflections: • “Our faith says that death brings an engagement with God whose face-to-face presence will be so to speak, ‘heaven’ — when God will be everything to us. • If God becomes, at death, our all in all,’ it would seem odd for someone who is experiencing God directly to say, ‘this is pretty good, but I can’t wait to get my husband/wife back.’ • The Paradox that Christian faith presents is that only through death can we experience the ultimate encounter with the living God, whose presence is eternal life.” • What would it take for me to have the courage of the three young boys? Of the seven brothers? Of the mother? • How do I stay focused on Christ each day to find strength and hope? • When it comes to heaven, we cannot understand we can only imagine. • When life is good, it is easy and my faith seems very strong. When life is filled with pain, suffering, even persecution and death I waver and am afraid. Lord it is only You who can fill me with Your grace.
Sacred Space 2019 states: “By answering the exaggerated story of the Sadducees, who did not believe the resurrection, Jesus points out that the resurrected state is a new creation by which we are sharing in the divine life of God. It is different from our present life but a continuation nonetheless of our personalities, as molded by our present life. To believe in your own personal resurrection is a wonderful gift in this life. It gives meaning to all that makes up your life. It is expressed also in our prayers that we offer for the repose of the souls of all those who have gone before us, which we emphasize during this month of November.”
Saturday, November 2, 2019
November 3, 2019
31st Sunday in Ordinary Time C Wisdom 11:22 - 12:2; 2 Thessalonians 1:11 - 2:2; Luke 19: 1-10
How does God feel about me? How do I feel about myself? Do they agree? I easily get a swelled head and prize my gifts higher than they are worth. I can easily put myself down. I can carry this image of myself before God that is based on fear of my sins and do not take into consideration God’s mercy. My former spiritual director who is now with the Lord would say ‘What is God best at?’ and then he would respond definitively, ‘His mercy’ So often we take an unrealistic view of ourselves which is contradicted by today’s readings. I have also heard colleagues say that some people’s sins are so great that they do not deserve God’s mercy. I wonder why they have a problem with God’s mercy, tenderness and forgiveness that are seen all throughout the pages of Scripture? Maybe this originates from the fact that all people struggle with forgiving people who have hurt them. The honest reflection that comes back to me is am I praying for those who hurt me, even hate me? Am I praying for people who are hurting, abusing, killing others in word or in deed? Why not? Do they not need my prayers as I do when I hurt others? We look at today’s readings to set us on the right track with the Good News Jesus constantly proclaimed that God loves all.
What is God like? Today’s passage gives a refreshing and detailed description of God’s mercy. It comes from God’s power, “But You have mercy on all, because You can do all things; and You overlook people’s sins that they may repent.” What a wonderful sentence; each line today holds a powerful reflection point into how God feels about me; when I’m at my best or at my worst. God is unlike earthly kings who act out of cruelty or with the threat of death to those who oppose them. God is not afraid of being conquered or overthrown. Rather God’s motivation is one of love for every bit of His creation. “For You love all things that are and loathe nothing You have made… O Lord and lover of souls.” The author shares how the world would cease to exist if God did not continually sustain it with His care and love. So what does God do when people, you and me, sin? He puts “reminders” into our heads and souls of His love so that we can abandon our wickedness and believe in Him and love as He needs us to love. The author gives God a unique title “lover of souls," What a wonderful way to describe our God who is constantly offering the opportunity for sinners to repent, reform their lives and make progress in their love for God and His creatures and creation. How am I doing?
Paul is sharing with the community at Thessalonica an example for everyone: that he is praying for them as we should pray for everyone, even those who are difficult. Paul tells them that God has chosen them. This is a special calling and they are not to be upset by the second coming of the Lord. God’s grace is constantly with us and is there to help us in any difficulty. God is not to be feared. Even at the end of our lives. If we have lived and loved as Jesus showed us, we are on the pathway to everlasting happiness. The Thessalonian Christians were alarmed since there was a false report that this second coming had arrived and they missed it. Paul states emphatically that no one knows when that coming will take place. The goal of every person is to continually live lives of love and be ready for this time of the Lord.
The story of Zacchaeus is a wonderful story which is filled with so many ‘hidden’ messages that are rich in meditation material. First of all the name Zacchaeus means ‘clean’. The Jewish people regarded tax collectors as anything but clean. Their profession was known for graft, dishonesty and crimes against the poor. But if we read this story carefully, the opposite is true. Now Zacchaeus really wanted to see Jesus, Luke doesn’t tell us why. Yet he was so determined, and he was short, he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see what Jesus looked like. This must have been quite a sight for this rich man to do such an embarrassing thing, but Zacchaeus didn’t see it in this way. Another interesting point, is that Jesus saw Zacchaeus first and tells him to come down because Jesus is staying at his house that day. The people had to be deeply confused. They knew that because of his occupation he was a sinner and worked for Rome and the Temple and why would Jesus support this ‘bad person’? But they are wrong. How often do we make judgments at first encounters and later realize it was ‘we’ who were wrong. Then we hear a true confession that the people observing certainly didn’t know: Zacchaeus boldly declares that he gives half of his possessions to the poor and if he has cheated anyone, he repays this four times over. The people were so set on condemning Zacchaeus because of their own prejudiced opinions they were not open to the truth. (Special note: the verbs are in the present tense, not in the future as they are frequently translated) Throughout the story we are called to reflect on seeing and not seeing. How often I am sightless by what I assume is right or what I want to be right while I am actually blind. Those who are accused of being blind actually see the truth. The last line of the story sets the major theme: “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost.” Zacchaeus was the recipient…each one of us is invited to receive the same love, mercy and forgiveness.
Some reflective points: • Do I accept or resist the description of God provided in Wisdom? Why? • When has awareness of God’s mercy changed me in a significant way? • We are completely known by God. God knows us intimately and thoroughly and loves us all the time. Do I believe this? • God knows all our struggles and brokenness and limitations better than we do and God loves us and helps us. Am I listening? • God knows that our weaknesses are not the whole story because God knows what we are capable of doing. Do I ask God for help or do I feel I can handle it myself? • At our Baptism, God calls each one to holiness, that we are on a sacred journey of being a saint. Do I give God access to those hidden parts of my struggle? • Are we willing to follow Jesus with our whole lives as Zacchaeus did even if some people don’t understand or mock me for my choices to love as Jesus did?
Sacred Space 2019 states: “Prayer helps us to strike up a deep relationship with Jesus, and He calls us by name. Life is never the same again after Jesus enters your house and builds up a friendship that is far more valuable than you could ever ask or imagine. Today, will you welcome His presence? Jesus accepts and praises Zacchaeus’s efforts to repair the damage he has done. He seems happy enough that he was giving one half of his money to the poor and did not ask him to give it all up. I ask Jesus to help me believe He accepts my poor efforts, as He proclaims that I too am a child of Abraham.”
How does God feel about me? How do I feel about myself? Do they agree? I easily get a swelled head and prize my gifts higher than they are worth. I can easily put myself down. I can carry this image of myself before God that is based on fear of my sins and do not take into consideration God’s mercy. My former spiritual director who is now with the Lord would say ‘What is God best at?’ and then he would respond definitively, ‘His mercy’ So often we take an unrealistic view of ourselves which is contradicted by today’s readings. I have also heard colleagues say that some people’s sins are so great that they do not deserve God’s mercy. I wonder why they have a problem with God’s mercy, tenderness and forgiveness that are seen all throughout the pages of Scripture? Maybe this originates from the fact that all people struggle with forgiving people who have hurt them. The honest reflection that comes back to me is am I praying for those who hurt me, even hate me? Am I praying for people who are hurting, abusing, killing others in word or in deed? Why not? Do they not need my prayers as I do when I hurt others? We look at today’s readings to set us on the right track with the Good News Jesus constantly proclaimed that God loves all.
What is God like? Today’s passage gives a refreshing and detailed description of God’s mercy. It comes from God’s power, “But You have mercy on all, because You can do all things; and You overlook people’s sins that they may repent.” What a wonderful sentence; each line today holds a powerful reflection point into how God feels about me; when I’m at my best or at my worst. God is unlike earthly kings who act out of cruelty or with the threat of death to those who oppose them. God is not afraid of being conquered or overthrown. Rather God’s motivation is one of love for every bit of His creation. “For You love all things that are and loathe nothing You have made… O Lord and lover of souls.” The author shares how the world would cease to exist if God did not continually sustain it with His care and love. So what does God do when people, you and me, sin? He puts “reminders” into our heads and souls of His love so that we can abandon our wickedness and believe in Him and love as He needs us to love. The author gives God a unique title “lover of souls," What a wonderful way to describe our God who is constantly offering the opportunity for sinners to repent, reform their lives and make progress in their love for God and His creatures and creation. How am I doing?
Paul is sharing with the community at Thessalonica an example for everyone: that he is praying for them as we should pray for everyone, even those who are difficult. Paul tells them that God has chosen them. This is a special calling and they are not to be upset by the second coming of the Lord. God’s grace is constantly with us and is there to help us in any difficulty. God is not to be feared. Even at the end of our lives. If we have lived and loved as Jesus showed us, we are on the pathway to everlasting happiness. The Thessalonian Christians were alarmed since there was a false report that this second coming had arrived and they missed it. Paul states emphatically that no one knows when that coming will take place. The goal of every person is to continually live lives of love and be ready for this time of the Lord.
The story of Zacchaeus is a wonderful story which is filled with so many ‘hidden’ messages that are rich in meditation material. First of all the name Zacchaeus means ‘clean’. The Jewish people regarded tax collectors as anything but clean. Their profession was known for graft, dishonesty and crimes against the poor. But if we read this story carefully, the opposite is true. Now Zacchaeus really wanted to see Jesus, Luke doesn’t tell us why. Yet he was so determined, and he was short, he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see what Jesus looked like. This must have been quite a sight for this rich man to do such an embarrassing thing, but Zacchaeus didn’t see it in this way. Another interesting point, is that Jesus saw Zacchaeus first and tells him to come down because Jesus is staying at his house that day. The people had to be deeply confused. They knew that because of his occupation he was a sinner and worked for Rome and the Temple and why would Jesus support this ‘bad person’? But they are wrong. How often do we make judgments at first encounters and later realize it was ‘we’ who were wrong. Then we hear a true confession that the people observing certainly didn’t know: Zacchaeus boldly declares that he gives half of his possessions to the poor and if he has cheated anyone, he repays this four times over. The people were so set on condemning Zacchaeus because of their own prejudiced opinions they were not open to the truth. (Special note: the verbs are in the present tense, not in the future as they are frequently translated) Throughout the story we are called to reflect on seeing and not seeing. How often I am sightless by what I assume is right or what I want to be right while I am actually blind. Those who are accused of being blind actually see the truth. The last line of the story sets the major theme: “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost.” Zacchaeus was the recipient…each one of us is invited to receive the same love, mercy and forgiveness.
Some reflective points: • Do I accept or resist the description of God provided in Wisdom? Why? • When has awareness of God’s mercy changed me in a significant way? • We are completely known by God. God knows us intimately and thoroughly and loves us all the time. Do I believe this? • God knows all our struggles and brokenness and limitations better than we do and God loves us and helps us. Am I listening? • God knows that our weaknesses are not the whole story because God knows what we are capable of doing. Do I ask God for help or do I feel I can handle it myself? • At our Baptism, God calls each one to holiness, that we are on a sacred journey of being a saint. Do I give God access to those hidden parts of my struggle? • Are we willing to follow Jesus with our whole lives as Zacchaeus did even if some people don’t understand or mock me for my choices to love as Jesus did?
Sacred Space 2019 states: “Prayer helps us to strike up a deep relationship with Jesus, and He calls us by name. Life is never the same again after Jesus enters your house and builds up a friendship that is far more valuable than you could ever ask or imagine. Today, will you welcome His presence? Jesus accepts and praises Zacchaeus’s efforts to repair the damage he has done. He seems happy enough that he was giving one half of his money to the poor and did not ask him to give it all up. I ask Jesus to help me believe He accepts my poor efforts, as He proclaims that I too am a child of Abraham.”
Saturday, October 26, 2019
October 27, 2019
30th Sunday in Ordinary Time C Sirach 35: 12-14, 16-18; 2 Timothy 4: 6-8, 16-18; Luke 18: 9-14
My dad would use a variety of sayings/quotes and I have no idea if they were his own or from another not-so famous person or famous person. I preface them by saying: ‘my dad used to say.’ One that fits in with today’s readings is ‘…one might say to you, ‘I use to be proud but now I don’t have any faults.’ I certainly have seen this attitude. Probably it has found its way in me too.
We will be ‘celebrating Halloween’ this week. Now it is restricted and protected in all areas, I hope, so that our little ones can have fun and get dressed up while parents try to control their input of sweets. The idea of disguising who one is goes back to even before Jesus’ time. Actors would put on masks to ‘pretend’ to be someone else. The Greek word for hypocrite means actor. The actors would wear large masks to mark which character they were playing. This word became extended to any person who was wearing a figurative mask and pretending to be someone or something they were not. The history of Halloween goes back to a pagan festival called Samhain. The word halloween comes from All Hallows Eve and means hallowed evening. Hundreds of years ago, people dressed up as saints and went door to door in costumes and trick-or-treating.
Today’s readings asks us to dig deeper into ourselves and see if we are the people God intended us to be or are we being who we’re not. The New American Bible tells us that “Sirach was a sage who lived in Jerusalem, was thoroughly imbued with love for the law, the priesthood, the temple and divine worship. As a wise and experienced observer of life he addressed himself to his contemporaries with the motive of helping them to maintain religious faith and integrity through study of the holy books, and through tradition.” Today he is showing us the difference between God’s justice and the justice of mortals. In the human world justice can be distorted by personal agendas. Bribes can change a verdict. Personal opinions can hide a valid decision. This is not God’s way. God plays no favorites. Wealth has no sway nor does sympathy for the poor. But those who are weak, oppressed, homeless, widowed, in pain and need receive God’s love and support. Am I mindful of the needy? Do I look only to myself and my own needs? Is my world centered on me?
Paul is elderly and in prison. He is pondering his future and looking at his past. He is confident of his life living in Christ. Even though it seems that all have abandoned him and no-one was there to defend him in court and no one to champion his cause, God strengthened him. He was “rescued from the lion’s mouth” meaning that God saved him from death in the Roman arena. God is with Him every minute as God is with each one of us every minute. Paul tells us that we should treat others as God does. We are to be people of justice and love that attend to the needs of all and seeks their good. We must be conscious of the needs of people who come into our lives and not oblivious of them. We are not fake actors in a play. We are living the real drama of life. This can be sad or happy, uplifting or disastrous, messy and ugly or made beautiful by seeing the good done to those in need. Am I an actor or am I a participant? Do I watch and stay aloof or do I get my hands dirty and be a lover?
The very first verse of the gospel tells us that Jesus is addressing those who are convinced of their own righteousness and who despise everyone else. ‘I am right, I do not do wrong. Come and see the great me. I take care of numero uno, me alone. Jesus sets up the contrast between a Pharisee and a tax collector. His purpose: to show that what appears acceptable from a human point of view is quite different from God’s perspective. The Pharisee is the first to speak and he immediately separates himself from the ‘rest of the world’. Those others are greedy, dishonest and adulterous. He doesn’t do those things, the tax collector certainly does. He continues to show how great he is in his own eyes by his charity and fasting. He doesn’t make himself attractive to others, he doesn’t want to…I like myself just the way I am. To top it off, he doesn’t even notice what he is doing and how he is judging. The tax collector now speaks. He doesn’t like the person he has been, he just asks God to be merciful. TAKE NOTE. How often when we sin, especially those sins that come powerfully when we are weak and troubled, just bring us to our knees. In our great agony and need we beg God’s forgiveness, Lord please help me I’ve fallen so low AGAIN. Jesus is telling us He’s with us with His care, mercy and forgiveness. The Tax collector trusted in God, the Pharisee only in himself.
The Pharisee was probably telling the truth, other than his opening line. He may have very well avoided greed and adultery. He no doubt fasted twice a week and paid tithes on all his possessions. He was afraid really because he just wanted to make sure that God knew all he had done. What he had failed to do was notice the people in need who crossed his path. Does he realize God’s sees others differently and much more accurately? Sunday Homily Helps for today gives us a reflection stating that we tend to hold back because we fear God might ask too much of us. It states: • “A stingy love can protect us from that possibility. God has received quite enough from us, we may tell ourselves. • Genuine love is always honest. It never enables someone else’s false image of himself or herself. • Has stingy love ever made anyone a saint? • This Friday we celebrate the feast of All Saints. Which of them is recognized as a saint because she or he prayed as the Pharisee did in today’s Gospel? • In today’s first reading, we hear, ‘The prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds.’ What matters is not social status but radical honesty. • In today’s second reading, St. Paul says, “I have kept the faith.’ Even so, his conversion was not complete until he drew his last breath. New challenges always await faithful disciples of Jesus.” I also look at: • How I describe the quality of humility? Does this mean I am weak? Does it mean I should put others before myself? • Being REAL means modeling the humility of Jesus in my life… HOW AM I DOING? • Am I being real to the person I am called to be or am I living make-believe?
Sacred Space 2019 states: “In what ways am I tempted to ‘regard others with contempt’? Sharing gossip about someone I don’t like? Posting criticism or sarcasm about individuals or groups of people on social media? I pray for wisdom to see my own heart and its deceptions. How easy it is to measure our goodness by the things we do and not by what fills our heart. I ask for the grace of a pure heart.”
My dad would use a variety of sayings/quotes and I have no idea if they were his own or from another not-so famous person or famous person. I preface them by saying: ‘my dad used to say.’ One that fits in with today’s readings is ‘…one might say to you, ‘I use to be proud but now I don’t have any faults.’ I certainly have seen this attitude. Probably it has found its way in me too.
We will be ‘celebrating Halloween’ this week. Now it is restricted and protected in all areas, I hope, so that our little ones can have fun and get dressed up while parents try to control their input of sweets. The idea of disguising who one is goes back to even before Jesus’ time. Actors would put on masks to ‘pretend’ to be someone else. The Greek word for hypocrite means actor. The actors would wear large masks to mark which character they were playing. This word became extended to any person who was wearing a figurative mask and pretending to be someone or something they were not. The history of Halloween goes back to a pagan festival called Samhain. The word halloween comes from All Hallows Eve and means hallowed evening. Hundreds of years ago, people dressed up as saints and went door to door in costumes and trick-or-treating.
Today’s readings asks us to dig deeper into ourselves and see if we are the people God intended us to be or are we being who we’re not. The New American Bible tells us that “Sirach was a sage who lived in Jerusalem, was thoroughly imbued with love for the law, the priesthood, the temple and divine worship. As a wise and experienced observer of life he addressed himself to his contemporaries with the motive of helping them to maintain religious faith and integrity through study of the holy books, and through tradition.” Today he is showing us the difference between God’s justice and the justice of mortals. In the human world justice can be distorted by personal agendas. Bribes can change a verdict. Personal opinions can hide a valid decision. This is not God’s way. God plays no favorites. Wealth has no sway nor does sympathy for the poor. But those who are weak, oppressed, homeless, widowed, in pain and need receive God’s love and support. Am I mindful of the needy? Do I look only to myself and my own needs? Is my world centered on me?
Paul is elderly and in prison. He is pondering his future and looking at his past. He is confident of his life living in Christ. Even though it seems that all have abandoned him and no-one was there to defend him in court and no one to champion his cause, God strengthened him. He was “rescued from the lion’s mouth” meaning that God saved him from death in the Roman arena. God is with Him every minute as God is with each one of us every minute. Paul tells us that we should treat others as God does. We are to be people of justice and love that attend to the needs of all and seeks their good. We must be conscious of the needs of people who come into our lives and not oblivious of them. We are not fake actors in a play. We are living the real drama of life. This can be sad or happy, uplifting or disastrous, messy and ugly or made beautiful by seeing the good done to those in need. Am I an actor or am I a participant? Do I watch and stay aloof or do I get my hands dirty and be a lover?
The very first verse of the gospel tells us that Jesus is addressing those who are convinced of their own righteousness and who despise everyone else. ‘I am right, I do not do wrong. Come and see the great me. I take care of numero uno, me alone. Jesus sets up the contrast between a Pharisee and a tax collector. His purpose: to show that what appears acceptable from a human point of view is quite different from God’s perspective. The Pharisee is the first to speak and he immediately separates himself from the ‘rest of the world’. Those others are greedy, dishonest and adulterous. He doesn’t do those things, the tax collector certainly does. He continues to show how great he is in his own eyes by his charity and fasting. He doesn’t make himself attractive to others, he doesn’t want to…I like myself just the way I am. To top it off, he doesn’t even notice what he is doing and how he is judging. The tax collector now speaks. He doesn’t like the person he has been, he just asks God to be merciful. TAKE NOTE. How often when we sin, especially those sins that come powerfully when we are weak and troubled, just bring us to our knees. In our great agony and need we beg God’s forgiveness, Lord please help me I’ve fallen so low AGAIN. Jesus is telling us He’s with us with His care, mercy and forgiveness. The Tax collector trusted in God, the Pharisee only in himself.
The Pharisee was probably telling the truth, other than his opening line. He may have very well avoided greed and adultery. He no doubt fasted twice a week and paid tithes on all his possessions. He was afraid really because he just wanted to make sure that God knew all he had done. What he had failed to do was notice the people in need who crossed his path. Does he realize God’s sees others differently and much more accurately? Sunday Homily Helps for today gives us a reflection stating that we tend to hold back because we fear God might ask too much of us. It states: • “A stingy love can protect us from that possibility. God has received quite enough from us, we may tell ourselves. • Genuine love is always honest. It never enables someone else’s false image of himself or herself. • Has stingy love ever made anyone a saint? • This Friday we celebrate the feast of All Saints. Which of them is recognized as a saint because she or he prayed as the Pharisee did in today’s Gospel? • In today’s first reading, we hear, ‘The prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds.’ What matters is not social status but radical honesty. • In today’s second reading, St. Paul says, “I have kept the faith.’ Even so, his conversion was not complete until he drew his last breath. New challenges always await faithful disciples of Jesus.” I also look at: • How I describe the quality of humility? Does this mean I am weak? Does it mean I should put others before myself? • Being REAL means modeling the humility of Jesus in my life… HOW AM I DOING? • Am I being real to the person I am called to be or am I living make-believe?
Sacred Space 2019 states: “In what ways am I tempted to ‘regard others with contempt’? Sharing gossip about someone I don’t like? Posting criticism or sarcasm about individuals or groups of people on social media? I pray for wisdom to see my own heart and its deceptions. How easy it is to measure our goodness by the things we do and not by what fills our heart. I ask for the grace of a pure heart.”
Saturday, October 19, 2019
October 20, 2019
29th Sunday in Ordinary Time C Exodus 17: 8-13; 2 Timothy 3: 14-4:2; Luke 18: 1-8
What is my prayer life like? Am I satisfied with it? I tell people who come to me that the way they are praying right now is the right way for them to be praying. But do I listen to my own advice? I find myself trying to ‘dicker’ with my approach to prayer. I have a tendency to add prayers, but the question is do I ever eliminate some prayers? I can keep on adding and adding, which means more time spent in ‘saying words’ which takes away from me being still before the Lord. Is this healthy? Could it be the devil is distracting me away from quiet prayer? Jesus is telling me today to “pray always.” How can I possibly do this with my hectic schedule? Perhaps it’s a good idea to take time and revisit what prayer means to me…this is the content of todays scripture passages.
Exodus continues the Israelites journey to Mt. Sinai where God enters a covenant with them: ‘I will be your God, you will be My people.’ They have already experienced God’s love and care and will continue to do so. But they have to learn how to rely upon God and not themselves. The age old temptation from the devil that is somehow emblazoned in their minds and mine, ‘I do what I want to do because I want to do it.’ Moses is teaching them that if they want to make any spiritual progress they have to remain faithful to the Lord. God continues to take care of them and today God is protecting them on the battlefield. King Amalek wants to conquer this riffraff group and make a name for himself. The battle proceeds. Moses has used his ‘famous miracle staff’, today he holds it up so the soldiers can see it. As long as they can do this they are successful in battle, but it is hard holding it up. When Moses rests his arms, his soldiers are losing. Aaron and Hur come and hold up his arms. The Israelites are victorious. They make a vow to the Lord to continue to ‘be His people’ and be loyal and faithful to their God.
Paul is urging Timothy to remember what he has learned and discovered about God. God has always been in his life. From infancy we have known stories from and the purpose of the Sacred Scriptures. This is God’s encounter down through the ages of God’s plan for all to be united in love and that all will experience this love forever in heaven. “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful…” Do I take time to read and reflect on it or do I consider it ‘old stuff’ and don’t spend time to receive insight from their faith stories? Do I realize that placing myself in a Scripture scene makes God’s presence alive in me?
Next we come to the Gospel and Jesus’ parable on the necessity to pray all the time “without becoming weary.” Luke was a gentile and writing to the gentile community. They do not have a history of prayer in the Christian sense, since they never knew Jesus and more than likely never saw Him but just heard stories about Him. Today’s first story is about the corrupt judge who doesn’t care about anyone but himself. The widow is persistent and won’t give in. The judge is just plain tired of her and wants to get rid of her so he decides in her favor. This has nothing to do with the rule of law. The point is that God just will not abandon any of His people. He is always present and views each of His people special, important and loved. He doesn’t ever give up on us; do I give up on God? Pray and leave the rest to God.
When we look at our prayers we’re asking God to grant or give or make something possible. This is called a prayer of petition because I’m asking something for myself. Intercessory prayer is when we’re praying for someone else. When things are going well, all is fine but when disruptions happen we wonder where God is…why isn’t He listening…doesn’t He care about me…when will He answer?
These prayers are ‘me’ talking…do I give God a chance to talk? Do I realize that the purpose of prayer is to deepen my relationship with God who has always loved me? Not only that, but there isn’t anything that I can do that will change God’s attitude of love for me. So prayer is a way to discover this loving God who is in love with me. Do I still sin…yes…does God forgive me…yes if I ask…what is God best at…His mercy. I am a loved, forgiven, redeemed sinner. What a beautiful way to start this deepened relationship with God.
Prayer is more than what I was taught as a youth. I ‘spoke to God’…’now I lay me down to sleep’…I pray for mommy, daddy…and a whole list of people. I felt that the more people I prayed for could delay my going to bed. I knew that God listened. I remember praying to get a pony…that never happened. I prayed for a new bike…that came. What image was being placed in my mind about God…maybe that He could do anything for me…and it all depended on what I wanted? If this was so, was I really able to listen to God or have a relationship? My prayer life was stifled. Msgr. Stephen Rossetti in his wonderful book, Fire on the Earth, Daily Living in the Kingdom of God tells this wonderful story. “After a worship service an older woman said that she is constantly aware of God’s presence; it is almost palpable. When I asked her what it felt like, she said, ‘Well it is hard to describe. I have a great sense of peace. I can feel that God is with me. At times, this presence becomes so strong, I am filled with joy and people tell me that my face seems to radiate His presence.’ ‘Has it changed your perspective of the world?’ I asked her. ‘Yes,’ she responded, ‘it is as if the world has a new dimension to it, a deeper dimension. I did not realize it before, but my vision of the world used to be two dimensional —flat. Now, everything is intense and alive. All creation sparkles with life!’“ This peace is all around and within me unless I turn it away or overthrow it. This woman had a great awareness of God. She knew God is present. He is and He cares. God isn’t hidden, He’s present all the time. Look around at the beauties in creation…in people…in love that is showered upon you and people in dire need. These ‘faith’ stories abound all over all the time. Prayer is finding that quite space in my heart and sharing my love and my life with this God who is always ‘crazy in love me all the time.’ And, as Msgr Chet Michael said all the time: “Gratitude, gratitude, gratitude…and more gratitude.”
So I reflect on: • Am I consistently persistent in prayer? Give examples to this… • How do I respond when God seems absent or my prayer seems useless? • Do I realize that God will always answer my prayer? When I don’t receive an answer in the way I want, do I search to discover how God is answering me? • How can I learn to trust God more? Is trust part of persistence?
Sacred Space 2019 states: “‘Will not God grant justice to His chosen ones who cry to Him day and night?’ I join those crying for justice, bringing to my prayer some situation of deep-seated conflict or injustice I know well. The persistence of my prayer indicates the depth of my need. Even if I find myself asking for what I need or desire. I take time to see how God may already be offering me some answer.”
What is my prayer life like? Am I satisfied with it? I tell people who come to me that the way they are praying right now is the right way for them to be praying. But do I listen to my own advice? I find myself trying to ‘dicker’ with my approach to prayer. I have a tendency to add prayers, but the question is do I ever eliminate some prayers? I can keep on adding and adding, which means more time spent in ‘saying words’ which takes away from me being still before the Lord. Is this healthy? Could it be the devil is distracting me away from quiet prayer? Jesus is telling me today to “pray always.” How can I possibly do this with my hectic schedule? Perhaps it’s a good idea to take time and revisit what prayer means to me…this is the content of todays scripture passages.
Exodus continues the Israelites journey to Mt. Sinai where God enters a covenant with them: ‘I will be your God, you will be My people.’ They have already experienced God’s love and care and will continue to do so. But they have to learn how to rely upon God and not themselves. The age old temptation from the devil that is somehow emblazoned in their minds and mine, ‘I do what I want to do because I want to do it.’ Moses is teaching them that if they want to make any spiritual progress they have to remain faithful to the Lord. God continues to take care of them and today God is protecting them on the battlefield. King Amalek wants to conquer this riffraff group and make a name for himself. The battle proceeds. Moses has used his ‘famous miracle staff’, today he holds it up so the soldiers can see it. As long as they can do this they are successful in battle, but it is hard holding it up. When Moses rests his arms, his soldiers are losing. Aaron and Hur come and hold up his arms. The Israelites are victorious. They make a vow to the Lord to continue to ‘be His people’ and be loyal and faithful to their God.
Paul is urging Timothy to remember what he has learned and discovered about God. God has always been in his life. From infancy we have known stories from and the purpose of the Sacred Scriptures. This is God’s encounter down through the ages of God’s plan for all to be united in love and that all will experience this love forever in heaven. “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful…” Do I take time to read and reflect on it or do I consider it ‘old stuff’ and don’t spend time to receive insight from their faith stories? Do I realize that placing myself in a Scripture scene makes God’s presence alive in me?
Next we come to the Gospel and Jesus’ parable on the necessity to pray all the time “without becoming weary.” Luke was a gentile and writing to the gentile community. They do not have a history of prayer in the Christian sense, since they never knew Jesus and more than likely never saw Him but just heard stories about Him. Today’s first story is about the corrupt judge who doesn’t care about anyone but himself. The widow is persistent and won’t give in. The judge is just plain tired of her and wants to get rid of her so he decides in her favor. This has nothing to do with the rule of law. The point is that God just will not abandon any of His people. He is always present and views each of His people special, important and loved. He doesn’t ever give up on us; do I give up on God? Pray and leave the rest to God.
When we look at our prayers we’re asking God to grant or give or make something possible. This is called a prayer of petition because I’m asking something for myself. Intercessory prayer is when we’re praying for someone else. When things are going well, all is fine but when disruptions happen we wonder where God is…why isn’t He listening…doesn’t He care about me…when will He answer?
These prayers are ‘me’ talking…do I give God a chance to talk? Do I realize that the purpose of prayer is to deepen my relationship with God who has always loved me? Not only that, but there isn’t anything that I can do that will change God’s attitude of love for me. So prayer is a way to discover this loving God who is in love with me. Do I still sin…yes…does God forgive me…yes if I ask…what is God best at…His mercy. I am a loved, forgiven, redeemed sinner. What a beautiful way to start this deepened relationship with God.
Prayer is more than what I was taught as a youth. I ‘spoke to God’…’now I lay me down to sleep’…I pray for mommy, daddy…and a whole list of people. I felt that the more people I prayed for could delay my going to bed. I knew that God listened. I remember praying to get a pony…that never happened. I prayed for a new bike…that came. What image was being placed in my mind about God…maybe that He could do anything for me…and it all depended on what I wanted? If this was so, was I really able to listen to God or have a relationship? My prayer life was stifled. Msgr. Stephen Rossetti in his wonderful book, Fire on the Earth, Daily Living in the Kingdom of God tells this wonderful story. “After a worship service an older woman said that she is constantly aware of God’s presence; it is almost palpable. When I asked her what it felt like, she said, ‘Well it is hard to describe. I have a great sense of peace. I can feel that God is with me. At times, this presence becomes so strong, I am filled with joy and people tell me that my face seems to radiate His presence.’ ‘Has it changed your perspective of the world?’ I asked her. ‘Yes,’ she responded, ‘it is as if the world has a new dimension to it, a deeper dimension. I did not realize it before, but my vision of the world used to be two dimensional —flat. Now, everything is intense and alive. All creation sparkles with life!’“ This peace is all around and within me unless I turn it away or overthrow it. This woman had a great awareness of God. She knew God is present. He is and He cares. God isn’t hidden, He’s present all the time. Look around at the beauties in creation…in people…in love that is showered upon you and people in dire need. These ‘faith’ stories abound all over all the time. Prayer is finding that quite space in my heart and sharing my love and my life with this God who is always ‘crazy in love me all the time.’ And, as Msgr Chet Michael said all the time: “Gratitude, gratitude, gratitude…and more gratitude.”
So I reflect on: • Am I consistently persistent in prayer? Give examples to this… • How do I respond when God seems absent or my prayer seems useless? • Do I realize that God will always answer my prayer? When I don’t receive an answer in the way I want, do I search to discover how God is answering me? • How can I learn to trust God more? Is trust part of persistence?
Sacred Space 2019 states: “‘Will not God grant justice to His chosen ones who cry to Him day and night?’ I join those crying for justice, bringing to my prayer some situation of deep-seated conflict or injustice I know well. The persistence of my prayer indicates the depth of my need. Even if I find myself asking for what I need or desire. I take time to see how God may already be offering me some answer.”
Saturday, October 12, 2019
October 13, 2019
28th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2 Kings 5: 14-17; 2 Timothy 2: 8-13; Luke 17: 11-19
Today’s gospel is the same gospel that we use on Thanksgiving Day. We could easily look at it and see that Jesus is instructing us to be grateful to God for the gifts we have received. We seem to be able to do this but is our gratitude all inclusive? Do I consider outsiders as ‘regular people’ as I am? Put another way, do I feel that I am important, valued and treasured because I am a Catholic or because I am in this social strata? Do pride myself on the company I keep or the group I count as friends? Do I consider that these are the ‘in-group’ for me? To have an ‘in-group’ means that there is an ‘out-group’. These would be people who do not belong…do not agree…are somehow different from the groups that I am associated with and have relationships. If this is so do I consider my ‘group’ better? Do I feel my way of thinking is better or my religion is better or my political bent is better or my way of living is better even I am better? Very few of us would like to stay with this line of questioning. It may make us feel uncomfortable or it may make us look critically at ourselves in a way we do not want to do. Yet God is always loving us, just the way we are now. But God is always leading us to be the best person we can be; to be a person who is living the life of love as Jesus taught and showed us. So are we the best loving people we can be? Am I the best loving person I can be right now? Is my love one of total giving or am I selective? Do I feel that my love must always be growing and expanding? This is the lesson of today’s readings.
The first book of Kings involves the time of Elijah the prophet; the second book the time of Elisha, Elijah’s successor. Today’s story has to do with the cure of Naaman, who was a commander of the army of Syria. He was a very successful leader and recognized that God had helped him, but he had leprosy. One of the captured servant girls from Israel said that there was a prophet there who could heal him. So Naaman’s king sent a letter to the king of Israel with loads of gifts so that Naaman could be healed. Naaman went as was told by Elisha, as we hear today, to bathe in the Jordan River. Naaman was angry since he considered the waters in Damascus to be much purer, but the servant girl convinced Naaman and he trusted in God’s word and went and bathed and was cured. Elisha would not accept any payment. He only shared the gift he had been given. All gifts from God are meant to be shared. Now please continue reading the story…because a servant of Elisha, Gehazi, seeing Naaman’s wealth wanted to get ‘rich’ himself. So he sent two servants who asked for talents of silver and two festal garments for two fictitious guild prophets. They were lying, Gehazi wanted them for himself. Naaman gave them two silver talents with two festal garments. When they came back and Elisha asked Gehazi what had happened, he lied again and Elisha said, “The leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and your descendants forever. And Gehazi left Elisha a leper as white as snow.” Gehazi had placed more value on that fortune than by service to God to those in need.
The author of the second reading, most likely not Paul, is writing about the outstanding character of Timothy. He continues to protect the correct teaching of Jesus. The message of the Gospel is to live and love. Christ will always remain faithful to us as we live what Jesus teaches. We are to trust His wisdom, mercy and goodness. Our trust will always help us. The last part of today’s reading, scholars tell us was part of a very early hymn of thanksgiving to Jesus: “If we have died with Him we
shall also live with Him; if we persevere we shall also reign with Him. But if we deny Him He will deny us. If we are unfaithful He remains faithful., for He cannot deny Himself.”
Jesus has healed ten lepers, but only one returns to give glory to God for being cleansed. Jesus continues on His final life journey to Jerusalem to His passion, death, resurrection and ascension. He goes through Samaria and Galilee. Now at the time of Jesus, leprosy was a much feared and very often a fatal disease. Because of this, lepers were isolated from family, friends and all people. They couldn’t participate in Temple worship. They had to rely on the generosity of others for the necessities of life. Today, these ten are begging Jesus for help, “Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!” The only thing that Jesus did was to tell them to go to and show themselves to the priests. Now approval from the priest was required to be declared free from leprosy. Did the all go to the priests? All we know is that they were healed on the way. For them to return to their homes and be accepted into Temple worship they needed the final OK from the priests. Was this a certificate or the like? I do not know. Jesus said all ten were cured but only one came back and he was a Samaritan. We presume the other nine were Jewish. For the crowd the healed leper was a foreigner and remained this to everyone except to God and Jesus. His faith in God and trust in God saved him and cured him. Naaman like at the Samaritan leper in the Gospel both are foreigners. The Samaritans were enemies to the Jewish people. The Samaritan was the only healed leper to return to Jesus. He glorified God falling at Jesus’ feet with profuse thankfulness. Jesus took time to affirm this man’s faith. His faith brought God’s mercy. Is my faith that strong? Is my gratitude that strong all the time? Do I consider myself as a member of the elite group and a simple thank you would be enough because God knows how I feel?
Connections a Gospel newsletter gives us today’s reflection: “Gratitude is a practice - a way of approaching life - that is grounded in the conviction that God has breathed His life into us for no other reason than love so deep we cannot begin to fathom it, and that the only fitting response we can make to such inexplicable and unmerited love is to stand humbly before God in quiet, humble gratitude. We may not realize it or appreciate them at the time, but we have been blessed by many individuals whose presence in our life have contributed to making us who we are - and, though we seldom think of ourselves as the answer to anyone’s prayer, we have been a blessing to others in small and hidden ways. Like the Samaritan leper who gives thinks for the miracle that has taken place in his life, we, too, can be transformed by such joyful gratitude once we realize God’s loving presence in every human heart.”
So how am I doing in being a person of total love? And what do I need today from God?
Sacred Space 2019 states: “The Jesuit writer Tony de Mello used to say that you cannot be grateful and unhappy. There is so much to be grateful for, and we need to remind ourselves of this from time to time. In the great joy at their cure the other nine lepers forgot the greater joy that they were the recipients of this wonderful yet unearned gift. Let me spend some time counting my blessings and being grateful for them. Jesus tells the Samaritan, ‘Your faith has made you well.’ I thank God for the gift of faith, which makes me more capable of facing life with all its suffering and contradictions. I ask the Lord Jesus to strengthen my faith.”
Today’s gospel is the same gospel that we use on Thanksgiving Day. We could easily look at it and see that Jesus is instructing us to be grateful to God for the gifts we have received. We seem to be able to do this but is our gratitude all inclusive? Do I consider outsiders as ‘regular people’ as I am? Put another way, do I feel that I am important, valued and treasured because I am a Catholic or because I am in this social strata? Do pride myself on the company I keep or the group I count as friends? Do I consider that these are the ‘in-group’ for me? To have an ‘in-group’ means that there is an ‘out-group’. These would be people who do not belong…do not agree…are somehow different from the groups that I am associated with and have relationships. If this is so do I consider my ‘group’ better? Do I feel my way of thinking is better or my religion is better or my political bent is better or my way of living is better even I am better? Very few of us would like to stay with this line of questioning. It may make us feel uncomfortable or it may make us look critically at ourselves in a way we do not want to do. Yet God is always loving us, just the way we are now. But God is always leading us to be the best person we can be; to be a person who is living the life of love as Jesus taught and showed us. So are we the best loving people we can be? Am I the best loving person I can be right now? Is my love one of total giving or am I selective? Do I feel that my love must always be growing and expanding? This is the lesson of today’s readings.
The first book of Kings involves the time of Elijah the prophet; the second book the time of Elisha, Elijah’s successor. Today’s story has to do with the cure of Naaman, who was a commander of the army of Syria. He was a very successful leader and recognized that God had helped him, but he had leprosy. One of the captured servant girls from Israel said that there was a prophet there who could heal him. So Naaman’s king sent a letter to the king of Israel with loads of gifts so that Naaman could be healed. Naaman went as was told by Elisha, as we hear today, to bathe in the Jordan River. Naaman was angry since he considered the waters in Damascus to be much purer, but the servant girl convinced Naaman and he trusted in God’s word and went and bathed and was cured. Elisha would not accept any payment. He only shared the gift he had been given. All gifts from God are meant to be shared. Now please continue reading the story…because a servant of Elisha, Gehazi, seeing Naaman’s wealth wanted to get ‘rich’ himself. So he sent two servants who asked for talents of silver and two festal garments for two fictitious guild prophets. They were lying, Gehazi wanted them for himself. Naaman gave them two silver talents with two festal garments. When they came back and Elisha asked Gehazi what had happened, he lied again and Elisha said, “The leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and your descendants forever. And Gehazi left Elisha a leper as white as snow.” Gehazi had placed more value on that fortune than by service to God to those in need.
The author of the second reading, most likely not Paul, is writing about the outstanding character of Timothy. He continues to protect the correct teaching of Jesus. The message of the Gospel is to live and love. Christ will always remain faithful to us as we live what Jesus teaches. We are to trust His wisdom, mercy and goodness. Our trust will always help us. The last part of today’s reading, scholars tell us was part of a very early hymn of thanksgiving to Jesus: “If we have died with Him we
shall also live with Him; if we persevere we shall also reign with Him. But if we deny Him He will deny us. If we are unfaithful He remains faithful., for He cannot deny Himself.”
Jesus has healed ten lepers, but only one returns to give glory to God for being cleansed. Jesus continues on His final life journey to Jerusalem to His passion, death, resurrection and ascension. He goes through Samaria and Galilee. Now at the time of Jesus, leprosy was a much feared and very often a fatal disease. Because of this, lepers were isolated from family, friends and all people. They couldn’t participate in Temple worship. They had to rely on the generosity of others for the necessities of life. Today, these ten are begging Jesus for help, “Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!” The only thing that Jesus did was to tell them to go to and show themselves to the priests. Now approval from the priest was required to be declared free from leprosy. Did the all go to the priests? All we know is that they were healed on the way. For them to return to their homes and be accepted into Temple worship they needed the final OK from the priests. Was this a certificate or the like? I do not know. Jesus said all ten were cured but only one came back and he was a Samaritan. We presume the other nine were Jewish. For the crowd the healed leper was a foreigner and remained this to everyone except to God and Jesus. His faith in God and trust in God saved him and cured him. Naaman like at the Samaritan leper in the Gospel both are foreigners. The Samaritans were enemies to the Jewish people. The Samaritan was the only healed leper to return to Jesus. He glorified God falling at Jesus’ feet with profuse thankfulness. Jesus took time to affirm this man’s faith. His faith brought God’s mercy. Is my faith that strong? Is my gratitude that strong all the time? Do I consider myself as a member of the elite group and a simple thank you would be enough because God knows how I feel?
Connections a Gospel newsletter gives us today’s reflection: “Gratitude is a practice - a way of approaching life - that is grounded in the conviction that God has breathed His life into us for no other reason than love so deep we cannot begin to fathom it, and that the only fitting response we can make to such inexplicable and unmerited love is to stand humbly before God in quiet, humble gratitude. We may not realize it or appreciate them at the time, but we have been blessed by many individuals whose presence in our life have contributed to making us who we are - and, though we seldom think of ourselves as the answer to anyone’s prayer, we have been a blessing to others in small and hidden ways. Like the Samaritan leper who gives thinks for the miracle that has taken place in his life, we, too, can be transformed by such joyful gratitude once we realize God’s loving presence in every human heart.”
So how am I doing in being a person of total love? And what do I need today from God?
Sacred Space 2019 states: “The Jesuit writer Tony de Mello used to say that you cannot be grateful and unhappy. There is so much to be grateful for, and we need to remind ourselves of this from time to time. In the great joy at their cure the other nine lepers forgot the greater joy that they were the recipients of this wonderful yet unearned gift. Let me spend some time counting my blessings and being grateful for them. Jesus tells the Samaritan, ‘Your faith has made you well.’ I thank God for the gift of faith, which makes me more capable of facing life with all its suffering and contradictions. I ask the Lord Jesus to strengthen my faith.”
Tuesday, October 8, 2019
October 6, 2019
27th Sunday in Ordinary Time C Habakuk 1; 1-3, 2:2-4; 2 Timothy 1: 6-8, 13-14; Luke 17: 5-10
Probably one of the most hurtful of our emotions is when we are discouraged. It can so easily lead to losing our confidence. It causes us to be pessimistic rather than enthusiastic. It prevents us from seeing the good around us and thereby creates difficulties in our relationships. This happens to all people. Often it is just hard to be positive. Webster gives these synonyms for ‘discourage’: chill, deject, demoralize, dishearten, disparage, dismay, dispirit, frustrate, unnerve.
We wake up and generally start the day in a good mood hopefully thanking God for another day to receive His love and to share that love as best we can. Then we pick up the paper or watch the morning news or see what’s on the internet and we can get overwhelmed by the negativity, the violence, the hurt, the catastrophes, the disasters, the inhumanity that is being displayed near us and throughout the world. We think, ‘What is happening to the world’…why is there so much evil and lack of compassion for people in need? And our bright day could easily be turned into a discouraging one. Hopefully this hasn’t happened to any one reading this blog today. Hopefully the good news will overcome the tragedies.
I believe some questions to ask ourselves when this arises are: How is my faith, right now? Do I believe that God is with me and cares for me and for everyone right now throughout the world? Do I believe that God has a plan for humanity and that is that each person can go to heaven forever? Do I trust God right now? What will it take for me to trust and believe in God’s plan right now?
The readings today encourage us to move forward in hope toward a fulfillment of God’s vision for us: Love forever with God. The first reading from Habakkuk shows how came on the scene when the Kingdom of Israel was crumbling in fear. The great empire of Babylon was expanding and aiming at absorbing Israel into its grasp. Habakkuk urgently asks God how long the people are to live in fear over the impending violence and destruction that any proposed military assault will cause. He asks if God is going to intervene and stop this. He remembers how many times God has done this in the past…where is He now? God answers almost immediately but not in the way the prophet wants or expects. God will come and save but not now. The people must be faithful to God and His law and teachings, no matter what happens. ‘Trust God and place your total dependence on Him and His plan.’ Have faith in God. Habakkuk’s book is only three chapters long and he shares a beautiful faith filled statement in the last verses: “For though the fig tree blossom not nor fruit be on the vines, though the yields of the olive fall and the terraces produce no nourishment, though the flocks disappear from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, Yet will I rejoice in the Lord and exult in my saving God. God, my Lord, is my strength;; He makes my feet swift as those of hinds and enables me to go upon the heights.” (Habakkuk 3: 17-19) The second reading today letter was actually written after both Paul and Timothy had been martyred. It is written by their disciples reflecting on the ministry of Paul. Timothy and each follower of Jesus is reminded to “…stir into flame the gift of God…” that each person has received. Whatever our gift: love,
compassion, insight, laughter, caring, hopeful, affirmative, uplifting to others, etc…share these gifts. The more we share the more encouraged people become.
The gospel contains the ending of Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem (Chapter 9: 5 - 19:27) which will culminate in His death, Resurrection and Ascension. Throughout this journey, Jesus has been teaching the challenges of being a disciple. Today, the emphasis is that His followers should not expect special attention or congratulations. They have a mission to live and love as Jesus taught and exampled. This is their duty obligation each day. We can’t take a day off from loving, or caring, or forgiving. We are to do this duty faithfully each day and then move on to tomorrow and do the same. The disciples start off today’s reading saying that this is going to be hard and ask Jesus to “Increase our faith.” Jesus tells them that the Holy Spirit has continually filled them with gifts. Jesus has shown them how to care, love, forgive and have compassion. They have seen His miracles and listened to His teaching. What they are to do now is to live their lives as a disciple, as ‘one sent’. They are the servants, they are meant to serve. Getting special rewards or even recognition for doing their mission is not to be expected. No one follows Jesus in order to accumulate rewards. The model for service is Jesus Himself. What was His reward: torture and death on the cross. His service was total, even in giving His life on the cross. Living is loving, pure and simple. How am I living this today? Where do I need help from God to do this today?
Living the Word has a powerful reflection today: “April 2018 was the fiftieth anniversary of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King’s assassination. We heard his ‘I have a Dream’ speech quoted as part of the memorials honoring this anniversary. They noted how far we’ve come in decreasing racism. They also noted that many of us thought we’d be further along in living that dream. Some note that it seems as though we’ve gone backwards. Dr. King based part of this speech on God’s vision in Isaiah about life on God’s holy mountain, where all people are welcome. As in Habakkuk’s days, we’ve seen ruin and misery. The Lord answers Habakkuk: ‘Write down the vision clearly…For the vision still has its time, presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint’. Fulfillment only happens if we cooperate. We must live in ways that stir into flame God’s vision shared through baptism. How? Through prayer, reflection, dialogue with others, and honestly assessing what needs to change in order to realize God’s all-inclusive vision for our world. Jesus makes clear that we have what we need, for faith the size of a mustard sees is all we need to live our obligation to seek and live God’s will. God’s dream, as servants of God and members of the Body of Christ. God’s will is to grow in holiness, ‘shown especially in justice towards those who are most vulnerable: ‘Seek justice, correct oppression; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow’ (Isaiah 1:17). The next time someone asks, ‘How are you?’ and you answer, ‘Living the dream,’ let it be ‘Living God’s dream.’ Then act to bring God’s dream to fulfillment.” I reflect on: • What do I understand God’s will to be? • What is the one thing I can do to live God’s dream for my world more clearly? • Faith is a gift from God given to each person. As with any gift the question becomes: Do I accept I? Do I reject it? Do I ignore it? I should ask myself these questions frequently, maybe every week!
Sacred Space 2019 states: “I join the apostles and pray insistently, ‘Increase my faith.’ I listen with the same openness and wonder to Jesus’ encouraging reply as I look at the quality of my faith: it’s enough for my faith to be as small as a mustard seed! While it seems obvious that the servants eats only once the master has been served, at the Last Supper Jesus did just the opposite: He insisted on washing the feet of His disciples. Then He called them His friends. I ask for the grace to have the freedom to see myself as the humble servant not seeking to be superior to His master.”
Probably one of the most hurtful of our emotions is when we are discouraged. It can so easily lead to losing our confidence. It causes us to be pessimistic rather than enthusiastic. It prevents us from seeing the good around us and thereby creates difficulties in our relationships. This happens to all people. Often it is just hard to be positive. Webster gives these synonyms for ‘discourage’: chill, deject, demoralize, dishearten, disparage, dismay, dispirit, frustrate, unnerve.
We wake up and generally start the day in a good mood hopefully thanking God for another day to receive His love and to share that love as best we can. Then we pick up the paper or watch the morning news or see what’s on the internet and we can get overwhelmed by the negativity, the violence, the hurt, the catastrophes, the disasters, the inhumanity that is being displayed near us and throughout the world. We think, ‘What is happening to the world’…why is there so much evil and lack of compassion for people in need? And our bright day could easily be turned into a discouraging one. Hopefully this hasn’t happened to any one reading this blog today. Hopefully the good news will overcome the tragedies.
I believe some questions to ask ourselves when this arises are: How is my faith, right now? Do I believe that God is with me and cares for me and for everyone right now throughout the world? Do I believe that God has a plan for humanity and that is that each person can go to heaven forever? Do I trust God right now? What will it take for me to trust and believe in God’s plan right now?
The readings today encourage us to move forward in hope toward a fulfillment of God’s vision for us: Love forever with God. The first reading from Habakkuk shows how came on the scene when the Kingdom of Israel was crumbling in fear. The great empire of Babylon was expanding and aiming at absorbing Israel into its grasp. Habakkuk urgently asks God how long the people are to live in fear over the impending violence and destruction that any proposed military assault will cause. He asks if God is going to intervene and stop this. He remembers how many times God has done this in the past…where is He now? God answers almost immediately but not in the way the prophet wants or expects. God will come and save but not now. The people must be faithful to God and His law and teachings, no matter what happens. ‘Trust God and place your total dependence on Him and His plan.’ Have faith in God. Habakkuk’s book is only three chapters long and he shares a beautiful faith filled statement in the last verses: “For though the fig tree blossom not nor fruit be on the vines, though the yields of the olive fall and the terraces produce no nourishment, though the flocks disappear from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, Yet will I rejoice in the Lord and exult in my saving God. God, my Lord, is my strength;; He makes my feet swift as those of hinds and enables me to go upon the heights.” (Habakkuk 3: 17-19) The second reading today letter was actually written after both Paul and Timothy had been martyred. It is written by their disciples reflecting on the ministry of Paul. Timothy and each follower of Jesus is reminded to “…stir into flame the gift of God…” that each person has received. Whatever our gift: love,
compassion, insight, laughter, caring, hopeful, affirmative, uplifting to others, etc…share these gifts. The more we share the more encouraged people become.
The gospel contains the ending of Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem (Chapter 9: 5 - 19:27) which will culminate in His death, Resurrection and Ascension. Throughout this journey, Jesus has been teaching the challenges of being a disciple. Today, the emphasis is that His followers should not expect special attention or congratulations. They have a mission to live and love as Jesus taught and exampled. This is their duty obligation each day. We can’t take a day off from loving, or caring, or forgiving. We are to do this duty faithfully each day and then move on to tomorrow and do the same. The disciples start off today’s reading saying that this is going to be hard and ask Jesus to “Increase our faith.” Jesus tells them that the Holy Spirit has continually filled them with gifts. Jesus has shown them how to care, love, forgive and have compassion. They have seen His miracles and listened to His teaching. What they are to do now is to live their lives as a disciple, as ‘one sent’. They are the servants, they are meant to serve. Getting special rewards or even recognition for doing their mission is not to be expected. No one follows Jesus in order to accumulate rewards. The model for service is Jesus Himself. What was His reward: torture and death on the cross. His service was total, even in giving His life on the cross. Living is loving, pure and simple. How am I living this today? Where do I need help from God to do this today?
Living the Word has a powerful reflection today: “April 2018 was the fiftieth anniversary of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King’s assassination. We heard his ‘I have a Dream’ speech quoted as part of the memorials honoring this anniversary. They noted how far we’ve come in decreasing racism. They also noted that many of us thought we’d be further along in living that dream. Some note that it seems as though we’ve gone backwards. Dr. King based part of this speech on God’s vision in Isaiah about life on God’s holy mountain, where all people are welcome. As in Habakkuk’s days, we’ve seen ruin and misery. The Lord answers Habakkuk: ‘Write down the vision clearly…For the vision still has its time, presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint’. Fulfillment only happens if we cooperate. We must live in ways that stir into flame God’s vision shared through baptism. How? Through prayer, reflection, dialogue with others, and honestly assessing what needs to change in order to realize God’s all-inclusive vision for our world. Jesus makes clear that we have what we need, for faith the size of a mustard sees is all we need to live our obligation to seek and live God’s will. God’s dream, as servants of God and members of the Body of Christ. God’s will is to grow in holiness, ‘shown especially in justice towards those who are most vulnerable: ‘Seek justice, correct oppression; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow’ (Isaiah 1:17). The next time someone asks, ‘How are you?’ and you answer, ‘Living the dream,’ let it be ‘Living God’s dream.’ Then act to bring God’s dream to fulfillment.” I reflect on: • What do I understand God’s will to be? • What is the one thing I can do to live God’s dream for my world more clearly? • Faith is a gift from God given to each person. As with any gift the question becomes: Do I accept I? Do I reject it? Do I ignore it? I should ask myself these questions frequently, maybe every week!
Sacred Space 2019 states: “I join the apostles and pray insistently, ‘Increase my faith.’ I listen with the same openness and wonder to Jesus’ encouraging reply as I look at the quality of my faith: it’s enough for my faith to be as small as a mustard seed! While it seems obvious that the servants eats only once the master has been served, at the Last Supper Jesus did just the opposite: He insisted on washing the feet of His disciples. Then He called them His friends. I ask for the grace to have the freedom to see myself as the humble servant not seeking to be superior to His master.”
September 29, 2019
26th Sunday in Ordinary Time C Amos 6: 1, 4-7; 1 Timothy 6: 11-16; Luke 16: 19-31
How do I feel that I am keeping Jesus’ teachings? Are there ones that I like and some that seem too hard for me ? Do I realize and admit that all Jesus’ teachings are equal in their seriousness and must all be followed? Jesus constantly used care for the poor and the needy as primary in following His law of love. Do I live this way? The American ‘ideal’ is to take care of ‘me’ first. Is this how I am living?
I have been honored to visit Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru for three weeks to watch groups of priests and religious minister to the very poor. I have also spent 6 days in Haiti with Food For The Poor watching how they care for the poorest of the poor especially in City of Soleil. This is an extremely impoverished and densely populated shanty town. It has grown to an estimated 200,000-400,000 people who live in extreme poverty. It is regarded as one of the poorest and most dangerous areas of the Western Hemisphere. I have seen much poverty when I travel and where I live. I receive countless appeals in the mail for help for people in need. How aware am I that I am part of the privileged class and do not have to worry about a job or health care? Do I realize that I am called to help, to care for the needy? How do I respond to this need? These are very sobering questions that the readings today tell me to take time and reflect on my blessings, gifts and how I am giving.
Amos is seriously telling the people to see how God has blessed them. Instead of responding with love and care for those around them they are living the life of luxury. They are enjoying their banquets. They have finely crafted furniture and eat fine foods. They drink choice wines and anoint themselves with perfumed oils. They pamper themselves and neglect the spiritual works of mercy. They have no gratitude for what God has done for them. Amos predicts that when the kingdom finally collapses, they will be the first to go into exile. They are complacent, satisfied and absorbed in their rich life. Have I become too complacent? How do I stay focused on God’s graciousness, care and love and my need to live these?
Paul responds to my concerns and questions in a way that a few Scripture Scholars call his last will and testament encompassing the two letters he wrote to Timothy. We can see this as Paul’s farewell address telling Timothy to remain strong and faithful to Jesus’ teachings. Jesus showed love and lived love and told all to follow the Great Commandments of Love. Starting with chapter 6 Paul is blunt: - “…whoever does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the religious teaching is conceited, understanding nothing… - …from these come envy, rivalry, insults, evil suspicions and mutual friction among people with corrupted minds, who are deprived of the truth, supposing religion to be a means of gain. - ….For we brought nothing into the world, just as we shall not be able to take anything out of it. - If we have food and clothing, we shall be content with that. - Those who want to be rich are falling into temptation and into a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge them into ruin and destruction. - For the love of money is the root of all evils, and some people in their desire for it have strayed from the faith and have pierced themselves with many pains.”
- So what are we to do? Paul beautifully and succinctly tells us: “…pursue righteousness, devotion, faith, love , patience and gentleness.” He tells us to be totally devoted to God and realizing that heaven is our goal and its attainment by living a total life of love.
Luke points out the huge gap between the rich and the poor in Jesus’ parable of the rich man and Lazarus. Jesus is addressing His words to the Pharisees. Previously in this sixteenth chapter, Jesus spoke the Parable of the dishonest steward, last week’s gospel. In the very next verse (16:14) Luke states: “The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all these things and sneered at Him.” The Pharisees didn’t care about the poor…they cared for themselves. Today Jesus challenges them and each person to make a choice between following the rich man or following the teachings of Jesus. The rich man has enormous wealth. He lived extravagantly and he considered this normal. He evidently has friends enjoying the same lifestyle. Jesus does not say that he is a bad person. He is simply ignorant of the plight of the poor. He has totally isolated himself from this part of the real world. Now Lazarus is not described as particularly virtuous. However, he has nothing; simply a beggar. We can assume that he is homeless, living on the street, probably diseased, and totally hungry. His ‘prize spot’ is right at the doorstop of the rich man. Why this spot…probably because those going in might be sympathetic to his plight. The rich man never sees him; yet he passes him whenever he comes in or goes out. They both die, now their fate has totally reversed. Lazarus goes to the ‘bosom of Abraham,' the highest place of honor in the messianic banquet. The rich man is condemned to the torment of the nether world. The amazing point that Jesus makes is NOW the rich man notices Lazarus and pleads for help. If not for him, what about his five brothers? Luke concludes: “But Abraham replied: ‘They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them. He said, ‘Oh no, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ Then Abraham said, If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.’” Imagine how the Pharisees felt now? In chapter nineteen, Jesus enters Jerusalem…and He dies in chapter twenty-three and rises in the next chapter. It is not important to me what the Pharisees did but what am I doing and am I listening? So much for me to reflect on: • The people in Amos’ day were pampering themselves, living in luxury. They ignored the spiritual demands of the Law of Moses. Am I? • Sometimes my wants become necessities. It has been very hot this summer. I didn’t live with air conditioning, just fans. Am I willing to live with less in order to help minimize global warming? • The rich man was simply living according to the customs of rich people then. Am I insulated from the sufferings of the poor? • Do I realize that I have responsibilities to others? This is a good starting point for a disciple of Jesus. • Am I complacent in any way? How? What will motivate me to live the ‘little virtues’ of empathy, care, forgiveness and love and live for others?
Sacred Space 2019 states: “Note that the rich man is not presented as being cruel to Lazarus or mistreating him. He was condemned for doing nothing, for seeing the miserable state of Lazarus and doing nothing about it. Ask the Lord to help you see the extent that you do something about the misery you see about you and to help you see what more you could do. ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets…’ We are tempted to think that if only God were revealed to humans in more obvious and powerful ways, people would believe. But Jesus’ story of Lazarus and the rich man tells us flatly that belief involves an open heart, not merely a convinced mind. I pray for help in appealing to people’s hearts—their soul needs—rather than trying to argue them into faith.”
How do I feel that I am keeping Jesus’ teachings? Are there ones that I like and some that seem too hard for me ? Do I realize and admit that all Jesus’ teachings are equal in their seriousness and must all be followed? Jesus constantly used care for the poor and the needy as primary in following His law of love. Do I live this way? The American ‘ideal’ is to take care of ‘me’ first. Is this how I am living?
I have been honored to visit Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru for three weeks to watch groups of priests and religious minister to the very poor. I have also spent 6 days in Haiti with Food For The Poor watching how they care for the poorest of the poor especially in City of Soleil. This is an extremely impoverished and densely populated shanty town. It has grown to an estimated 200,000-400,000 people who live in extreme poverty. It is regarded as one of the poorest and most dangerous areas of the Western Hemisphere. I have seen much poverty when I travel and where I live. I receive countless appeals in the mail for help for people in need. How aware am I that I am part of the privileged class and do not have to worry about a job or health care? Do I realize that I am called to help, to care for the needy? How do I respond to this need? These are very sobering questions that the readings today tell me to take time and reflect on my blessings, gifts and how I am giving.
Amos is seriously telling the people to see how God has blessed them. Instead of responding with love and care for those around them they are living the life of luxury. They are enjoying their banquets. They have finely crafted furniture and eat fine foods. They drink choice wines and anoint themselves with perfumed oils. They pamper themselves and neglect the spiritual works of mercy. They have no gratitude for what God has done for them. Amos predicts that when the kingdom finally collapses, they will be the first to go into exile. They are complacent, satisfied and absorbed in their rich life. Have I become too complacent? How do I stay focused on God’s graciousness, care and love and my need to live these?
Paul responds to my concerns and questions in a way that a few Scripture Scholars call his last will and testament encompassing the two letters he wrote to Timothy. We can see this as Paul’s farewell address telling Timothy to remain strong and faithful to Jesus’ teachings. Jesus showed love and lived love and told all to follow the Great Commandments of Love. Starting with chapter 6 Paul is blunt: - “…whoever does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the religious teaching is conceited, understanding nothing… - …from these come envy, rivalry, insults, evil suspicions and mutual friction among people with corrupted minds, who are deprived of the truth, supposing religion to be a means of gain. - ….For we brought nothing into the world, just as we shall not be able to take anything out of it. - If we have food and clothing, we shall be content with that. - Those who want to be rich are falling into temptation and into a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge them into ruin and destruction. - For the love of money is the root of all evils, and some people in their desire for it have strayed from the faith and have pierced themselves with many pains.”
- So what are we to do? Paul beautifully and succinctly tells us: “…pursue righteousness, devotion, faith, love , patience and gentleness.” He tells us to be totally devoted to God and realizing that heaven is our goal and its attainment by living a total life of love.
Luke points out the huge gap between the rich and the poor in Jesus’ parable of the rich man and Lazarus. Jesus is addressing His words to the Pharisees. Previously in this sixteenth chapter, Jesus spoke the Parable of the dishonest steward, last week’s gospel. In the very next verse (16:14) Luke states: “The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all these things and sneered at Him.” The Pharisees didn’t care about the poor…they cared for themselves. Today Jesus challenges them and each person to make a choice between following the rich man or following the teachings of Jesus. The rich man has enormous wealth. He lived extravagantly and he considered this normal. He evidently has friends enjoying the same lifestyle. Jesus does not say that he is a bad person. He is simply ignorant of the plight of the poor. He has totally isolated himself from this part of the real world. Now Lazarus is not described as particularly virtuous. However, he has nothing; simply a beggar. We can assume that he is homeless, living on the street, probably diseased, and totally hungry. His ‘prize spot’ is right at the doorstop of the rich man. Why this spot…probably because those going in might be sympathetic to his plight. The rich man never sees him; yet he passes him whenever he comes in or goes out. They both die, now their fate has totally reversed. Lazarus goes to the ‘bosom of Abraham,' the highest place of honor in the messianic banquet. The rich man is condemned to the torment of the nether world. The amazing point that Jesus makes is NOW the rich man notices Lazarus and pleads for help. If not for him, what about his five brothers? Luke concludes: “But Abraham replied: ‘They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them. He said, ‘Oh no, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ Then Abraham said, If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.’” Imagine how the Pharisees felt now? In chapter nineteen, Jesus enters Jerusalem…and He dies in chapter twenty-three and rises in the next chapter. It is not important to me what the Pharisees did but what am I doing and am I listening? So much for me to reflect on: • The people in Amos’ day were pampering themselves, living in luxury. They ignored the spiritual demands of the Law of Moses. Am I? • Sometimes my wants become necessities. It has been very hot this summer. I didn’t live with air conditioning, just fans. Am I willing to live with less in order to help minimize global warming? • The rich man was simply living according to the customs of rich people then. Am I insulated from the sufferings of the poor? • Do I realize that I have responsibilities to others? This is a good starting point for a disciple of Jesus. • Am I complacent in any way? How? What will motivate me to live the ‘little virtues’ of empathy, care, forgiveness and love and live for others?
Sacred Space 2019 states: “Note that the rich man is not presented as being cruel to Lazarus or mistreating him. He was condemned for doing nothing, for seeing the miserable state of Lazarus and doing nothing about it. Ask the Lord to help you see the extent that you do something about the misery you see about you and to help you see what more you could do. ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets…’ We are tempted to think that if only God were revealed to humans in more obvious and powerful ways, people would believe. But Jesus’ story of Lazarus and the rich man tells us flatly that belief involves an open heart, not merely a convinced mind. I pray for help in appealing to people’s hearts—their soul needs—rather than trying to argue them into faith.”
Monday, October 7, 2019
September 22, 2019
September 22, 2019 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time C Amos 8: 4-7; 1 Timothy 2: 1-8; Luke 16: 1-13 How do I regard the people in my life? The initial response to this question is ‘well, that depends.’ And what does it depend on, ‘It depends if they are family, neighbors, people I work with and am associated with, people at my church community and then those who appear in my life at times.’ So what forms the basis of my treatment of them? ‘That depends on how well I like them, how they have treated me, if it’s worth my while to be nice to them...you know I just can’t like everyone!’ This is an accurate exchange of thoughts I had with a small group of people recently. I never asked, ‘How does God expect us, and need us to treat others?’ This attention-getter was written in Sunday Homily Helps this week: “Once a wonderful pueblo Indian woman told a young Franciscan how to pray. She said: ‘First, you pray for the world, for everything and everyone in the world, everything in the sky, everything on the land, and everything under the earth because God made all of it. So you pray for it. Then you pray for everything along the river. [She was talking about the Rio Grande, that ribbon of life-giving water that connects all the villages and all the people whom the Pueblo Indians encountered before they had any contact with Europeans.] Then you pray for your village, the people easy to like and the people hard to like too. Then you pray for your neighbors, next door, on either side of you, across the way and around the corner. Then you pray for your family. And finally, if you have time left, and if you are not too tired, you pray for yourself.” It is so hard for us to view creation as God views His creation. Yet that is the subject matter of the readings today: We were created in Gods’ image and likeness ultimately meaning that we treat all others in our life and in the whole world in a God-like way. How am I doing? Today’s reading from Amos follows a series of visions the prophet had in regard to the people living in the northern kingdom of Israel. He had come from Judah to steer the king and these people in God’s direction. They refused to listen. The end result of this type of living, the prophet told them, would be a collapse of their world. Why didn’t the people listen? Amos shows how spiritual deafness comes mainly in looking out for themselves and not the poor and needy. They are after monetary gain; they disregard the need to pray. The new moon marked the beginning of the month. It was a day of prayer and giving thanks to God. The Sabbath was a day set aside each week for God. But these people awaited the end of these days so they could return to their greed and deceiving of the poor and needy. Amos reminds the people strongly and us that the treatment of the poor and needy will never be forgotten by God. (Amos 8:7: “Never will I forget a thing they have done!”) Paul requests that the community of faith offer prayers to God for the salvation of everyone, of the whole world. This early Christian community in their worship continued to affirm and live their faith by strengthening their concept of what is a Christian community. It exists for: devotion and dignity not only for the rulers but to be a part and parcel of their daily living as people who are redeemed and loved by God. This needs to be constant and not sporadic. Jesus gave His life as a ransom for all people. All are equal in God’s eyes. All are important and special to God. All are needy and need to see God’s love in each person who believes. Am I doing this?
Luke shares the parable of the dishonest steward and its interpretation. This story at first sight seems very strange but it contains what was the business practices of first century in Israel. The bottom line is that those who have possessions should share them with the needy thus using their blessings to benefit others. Now absentee landlords, the subject of the parable, were strongly disliked especially by the workers. People often had to borrow from these landlords at a very high interest which compounded their debt in fact enslaving them to a type of servitude. Every landlord had a steward to watch over his affairs. In today’s parable the steward had been caught with his ‘hand in the cookie jar’ and he has been given his two-week notice. This steward is quick to act. Since he lived on commission, he readjusted the amount of debt the creators owed, which meant that he reduced his own commission. This was very high since he is described as unjust, ‘squandering his master’s property.’ Hopefully when his job was terminated other owners would hire him because of his ingenuity. Jesus isn’t advising this type of behavior, rather He is pointing out the shrewdness of the dishonest steward. He knows his strengths and he knows his weaknesses and uses them to help himself and others. He learns a simple lesson, when we are good to others, they do good for us. All of God’s gifts are given to be shared. Jesus adds that true wealth comes from relationships, not from objects or things. Our lives are made to be freely shared in our relationships of love and trust, not in using and abusing. If we truly learn to pray for others, especially those we find difficult or who have hurt us in some way, we are not treating them as objects but as persons. In a very true sense we are putting ourselves in their shoes. We start to think about their needs and their problems. We start to see that they are important people to the people who are in their lives. We see that others depend on them just as we depend on others. We begin to share God’s gifts from our hearts both in generosity and in gratitude. We are living the ‘Golden Rule’. At a meeting in Manila, Pope Francis reminded families that faith does not take us away from or out of the world but challenges us to participate more fully in it. I am gifted, I am loved, I am called to share these, so that others will get in touch with their gifts and in sharing will be the sign of God’s love to all. So I reflect on: •What practices help relive my faith more clearly? •In what ways could I and those I live with and even extending this to our nation serve the poor the needy and the outcast? •Can I as a Christian ever rightfully claim ownership to the things to the earth? •Is there justice in any country using its natural resources as a bargaining pawn to get what it wants at the expense of the needy? •Why is the abuse of natural resources, such as fouling air with pollution, dumping toxic materials into clean water, etc, a sin? What should be my response to these types of practices? •What can I do to remedy the abuse of God’s gift of natural resources? Sacred Space 2019 states: “The point of this passage is the commendation of the dishonest steward, not for the moral quality of his behavior, but for his worldly prudence in using the things of this life to ensure his future in this life. Believers should behave with prudence to ensure their eternal future. One might reflect on how diligently people work for the goods that pass away while neglecting the goods that are eternal. I ask for the courage to be shrewd with my resources and to not be afraid to use my reason and influence for the good"
Luke shares the parable of the dishonest steward and its interpretation. This story at first sight seems very strange but it contains what was the business practices of first century in Israel. The bottom line is that those who have possessions should share them with the needy thus using their blessings to benefit others. Now absentee landlords, the subject of the parable, were strongly disliked especially by the workers. People often had to borrow from these landlords at a very high interest which compounded their debt in fact enslaving them to a type of servitude. Every landlord had a steward to watch over his affairs. In today’s parable the steward had been caught with his ‘hand in the cookie jar’ and he has been given his two-week notice. This steward is quick to act. Since he lived on commission, he readjusted the amount of debt the creators owed, which meant that he reduced his own commission. This was very high since he is described as unjust, ‘squandering his master’s property.’ Hopefully when his job was terminated other owners would hire him because of his ingenuity. Jesus isn’t advising this type of behavior, rather He is pointing out the shrewdness of the dishonest steward. He knows his strengths and he knows his weaknesses and uses them to help himself and others. He learns a simple lesson, when we are good to others, they do good for us. All of God’s gifts are given to be shared. Jesus adds that true wealth comes from relationships, not from objects or things. Our lives are made to be freely shared in our relationships of love and trust, not in using and abusing. If we truly learn to pray for others, especially those we find difficult or who have hurt us in some way, we are not treating them as objects but as persons. In a very true sense we are putting ourselves in their shoes. We start to think about their needs and their problems. We start to see that they are important people to the people who are in their lives. We see that others depend on them just as we depend on others. We begin to share God’s gifts from our hearts both in generosity and in gratitude. We are living the ‘Golden Rule’. At a meeting in Manila, Pope Francis reminded families that faith does not take us away from or out of the world but challenges us to participate more fully in it. I am gifted, I am loved, I am called to share these, so that others will get in touch with their gifts and in sharing will be the sign of God’s love to all. So I reflect on: •What practices help relive my faith more clearly? •In what ways could I and those I live with and even extending this to our nation serve the poor the needy and the outcast? •Can I as a Christian ever rightfully claim ownership to the things to the earth? •Is there justice in any country using its natural resources as a bargaining pawn to get what it wants at the expense of the needy? •Why is the abuse of natural resources, such as fouling air with pollution, dumping toxic materials into clean water, etc, a sin? What should be my response to these types of practices? •What can I do to remedy the abuse of God’s gift of natural resources? Sacred Space 2019 states: “The point of this passage is the commendation of the dishonest steward, not for the moral quality of his behavior, but for his worldly prudence in using the things of this life to ensure his future in this life. Believers should behave with prudence to ensure their eternal future. One might reflect on how diligently people work for the goods that pass away while neglecting the goods that are eternal. I ask for the courage to be shrewd with my resources and to not be afraid to use my reason and influence for the good"
Sunday, October 6, 2019
September 15, 2019
24th Sunday Ordinary Time C Exodus 32: 7-11, 13-14; 1 Timothy 1: 12-17; Luke 15: 1-31
It is good for us as we progress in the spiritual life: To Remember. To remember where we have been and how we have gotten where we are today. When we analyze these past times we realize that we certainly were not perfect. We learned by the uncomfortable ‘road of hard knocks’. If we are making an honest evaluation of our lives, we ‘remember’ that we were not angels…sometimes…more like devils. And we see that we have changed…and changed we hopefully say, for the better.
It is good to even look deeper and see how this happened. I believe that a very true statement in almost all of the cases is that God has placed someone in our lives to touch us…who reached out to us with care, kindness, compassion, a helping loving hand and so much more. These ‘God touches’ showed us that we were loved. That’s the most perfect way to express it because we were in need of so much love and had wandered too far away to even listen to anyone who was trying to help. This ‘moment’ was a God moment. Sometimes we were thinking too highly of ourselves…other times we just had an atrocious self-image. The bottom line is that we were in bad shape. The good news is that we’ve made it through our ‘living hell.’ In the process we might have come to realize that it was a hell and hopefully, decided we don’t want to be in that ‘place’. Today’s readings give case studies of people who have gone through tearing people apart and received a positive direction to realize that God is in our lives all the time. God is always loving caring and forgiving. Do I allow God to be God to me?
In today’s reading from the Book of Exodus we continue to see the love-hate relationship between the Israelites and God. God had heard their persistent ‘cries for help’ during their period in Egypt most especially at this time which was a virtual slavery. God chooses Moses and shows that His plan was not just a ‘poof’ happening, but God had choreographed a history around it to capture His total forgiving, merciful love. As soon as they had reached safety they complained. They didn’t have enough food… God provided. They didn’t have enough water…God provided. Today Moses had been up on Mt. Sinai for a long time receiving all the details planning for the furnishing of the Ark of the Covenant, how to offer sacrifices, and given the two tablets of commandments. The people were antsy. They figured that God didn’t care about them so they fashioned a calf of molten metal as their new divinity.’ God angrily told Moses that He would remove the people completely and make Moses the Father of a new and more loyal generation. Moses pleaded with God remembering and looking at all God done and the promises He had made. Sunday Homily Helps states: “This is exactly the kind of response God needed to hear from His servant Moses. Moses refuses to allow personal gain to break his commitment to the people as God’s representative among them.” Moses was the guide to help them eventually turn back to God.
Paul had a horrendous background as far as the new Church was concerned. He had been not only a persecutor but involved in murderous treatment of them. BUT he had been rescued by God…chosen by God and been treated mercifully by the Lord. “I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and arrogant, but I have been mercifully treated because I acted out of ignorance in my unbelief. “ God had delivered him from his sinful pride, arrogance and ignorance. Jesus came to save sinners is the foundational belief of the Gospels and Paul’s letters. It was a total gift from God…God’s grace to Paul has made him an example of God’s total forgiveness that is available to every person all the time. We hear, or have said ourselves,
‘No one can forgive me…I’ve been so horrible’…this is over and over NOT THE CASE WITH GOD. God cares, loves and forgives. My Jesuit Spiritual Director from years past would say: ‘What is God best at?…It’s His mercy.’
The major theme in both Luke’s Gospel and in the Acts of the Apostles is forgiveness. We have an extremely long Gospel today containing three tremendous parables of God’s mercy starting off with Jesus’ response to the Pharisees and scribes about Jesus associating with sinners. Each of these parables deals with something being lost and then found. The first, Jesus tells of the Lost Sheep. “…there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance.” Now what shepherd would take this risk. Jesus doesn’t focus on the problems it entails but that there is no repentance needed for the shepherd. Jesus presents a much more forgiving God than Luke explains. The next parable talks of the lost coins where the woman goes through extreme measures to locate a seemingly insignificant coin. Why…it doesn’t make sense? And when finding it spends such an enormous amount to throw a party. A coin cannot repent. It’s not the items (sheep, coin) but the extravagance of the one doing the finding. Jesus is showing God’s total, unconditional love.
The third parable is known as the Prodigal Son. Here both the younger and the older son are lost. The young one returns home desperate and defeated. The Father accepts him back. Why? And no repentance is needed…the father even interrupts the son’s I’m sorry speech. Coming home was enough. Now the older son wants the Father’s love on his terms…refusing to see all the Father has done and continues to do. He just won’t come into the party and respond to the father’s open arms.
God is faithful and loves. The Hebrew people expected God to act as they did…God doesn’t do this. The contained parables gave the early Christian community an image of God who welcomes back all, even those who have strayed. This creates a definite tension to the rulers of Israel because they were comfortable with getting even, revenge even, and feeling they knew exactly what God was like. Am I open to Jesus’ description of a God who loves as Jesus taught? Why do I object to updating this image? So I reflect on: • Who or what do I put in the place of God when I feel threatened or afraid? • With which character in today’s parables do I identify? Why? • Can I ever identify God’s attributes accurately? Do I want God to be the God that I want Him to be? Or the God Jesus taught and lived? • When I sin do I lay a ‘heavy’ on myself…beat myself up? Or do I feel that God is there welcoming me back? If I don’t do this latter one, why not? • Have I ever felt like the Prodigal Son with Jesus? What was it like? Could I feel God’s embrace… His hug?
Sacred Space 2019 states: “The parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin illustrate the constant, faithful, unrelenting love of God for each of us, but especially for sinners. God never gives up on anyone. God never gives up on me. This is not the sort of doctrine you learn in business schools. It sounds outlandish, to abandon the well-behaved and spend your energies on the outside chance of rescuing the delinquent 1 percent. Yet over the centuries these words have inspired good Christians to plug the gaps in social systems and reach out to those who have drifted into isolation and despair. Common sense urges us to spend ourselves on those who reward our efforts. Jesus worked in another direction: ‘The healthy have no need of a doctor.’ Lord, remind me of this attitude as I go about my day.”
It is good for us as we progress in the spiritual life: To Remember. To remember where we have been and how we have gotten where we are today. When we analyze these past times we realize that we certainly were not perfect. We learned by the uncomfortable ‘road of hard knocks’. If we are making an honest evaluation of our lives, we ‘remember’ that we were not angels…sometimes…more like devils. And we see that we have changed…and changed we hopefully say, for the better.
It is good to even look deeper and see how this happened. I believe that a very true statement in almost all of the cases is that God has placed someone in our lives to touch us…who reached out to us with care, kindness, compassion, a helping loving hand and so much more. These ‘God touches’ showed us that we were loved. That’s the most perfect way to express it because we were in need of so much love and had wandered too far away to even listen to anyone who was trying to help. This ‘moment’ was a God moment. Sometimes we were thinking too highly of ourselves…other times we just had an atrocious self-image. The bottom line is that we were in bad shape. The good news is that we’ve made it through our ‘living hell.’ In the process we might have come to realize that it was a hell and hopefully, decided we don’t want to be in that ‘place’. Today’s readings give case studies of people who have gone through tearing people apart and received a positive direction to realize that God is in our lives all the time. God is always loving caring and forgiving. Do I allow God to be God to me?
In today’s reading from the Book of Exodus we continue to see the love-hate relationship between the Israelites and God. God had heard their persistent ‘cries for help’ during their period in Egypt most especially at this time which was a virtual slavery. God chooses Moses and shows that His plan was not just a ‘poof’ happening, but God had choreographed a history around it to capture His total forgiving, merciful love. As soon as they had reached safety they complained. They didn’t have enough food… God provided. They didn’t have enough water…God provided. Today Moses had been up on Mt. Sinai for a long time receiving all the details planning for the furnishing of the Ark of the Covenant, how to offer sacrifices, and given the two tablets of commandments. The people were antsy. They figured that God didn’t care about them so they fashioned a calf of molten metal as their new divinity.’ God angrily told Moses that He would remove the people completely and make Moses the Father of a new and more loyal generation. Moses pleaded with God remembering and looking at all God done and the promises He had made. Sunday Homily Helps states: “This is exactly the kind of response God needed to hear from His servant Moses. Moses refuses to allow personal gain to break his commitment to the people as God’s representative among them.” Moses was the guide to help them eventually turn back to God.
Paul had a horrendous background as far as the new Church was concerned. He had been not only a persecutor but involved in murderous treatment of them. BUT he had been rescued by God…chosen by God and been treated mercifully by the Lord. “I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and arrogant, but I have been mercifully treated because I acted out of ignorance in my unbelief. “ God had delivered him from his sinful pride, arrogance and ignorance. Jesus came to save sinners is the foundational belief of the Gospels and Paul’s letters. It was a total gift from God…God’s grace to Paul has made him an example of God’s total forgiveness that is available to every person all the time. We hear, or have said ourselves,
‘No one can forgive me…I’ve been so horrible’…this is over and over NOT THE CASE WITH GOD. God cares, loves and forgives. My Jesuit Spiritual Director from years past would say: ‘What is God best at?…It’s His mercy.’
The major theme in both Luke’s Gospel and in the Acts of the Apostles is forgiveness. We have an extremely long Gospel today containing three tremendous parables of God’s mercy starting off with Jesus’ response to the Pharisees and scribes about Jesus associating with sinners. Each of these parables deals with something being lost and then found. The first, Jesus tells of the Lost Sheep. “…there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance.” Now what shepherd would take this risk. Jesus doesn’t focus on the problems it entails but that there is no repentance needed for the shepherd. Jesus presents a much more forgiving God than Luke explains. The next parable talks of the lost coins where the woman goes through extreme measures to locate a seemingly insignificant coin. Why…it doesn’t make sense? And when finding it spends such an enormous amount to throw a party. A coin cannot repent. It’s not the items (sheep, coin) but the extravagance of the one doing the finding. Jesus is showing God’s total, unconditional love.
The third parable is known as the Prodigal Son. Here both the younger and the older son are lost. The young one returns home desperate and defeated. The Father accepts him back. Why? And no repentance is needed…the father even interrupts the son’s I’m sorry speech. Coming home was enough. Now the older son wants the Father’s love on his terms…refusing to see all the Father has done and continues to do. He just won’t come into the party and respond to the father’s open arms.
God is faithful and loves. The Hebrew people expected God to act as they did…God doesn’t do this. The contained parables gave the early Christian community an image of God who welcomes back all, even those who have strayed. This creates a definite tension to the rulers of Israel because they were comfortable with getting even, revenge even, and feeling they knew exactly what God was like. Am I open to Jesus’ description of a God who loves as Jesus taught? Why do I object to updating this image? So I reflect on: • Who or what do I put in the place of God when I feel threatened or afraid? • With which character in today’s parables do I identify? Why? • Can I ever identify God’s attributes accurately? Do I want God to be the God that I want Him to be? Or the God Jesus taught and lived? • When I sin do I lay a ‘heavy’ on myself…beat myself up? Or do I feel that God is there welcoming me back? If I don’t do this latter one, why not? • Have I ever felt like the Prodigal Son with Jesus? What was it like? Could I feel God’s embrace… His hug?
Sacred Space 2019 states: “The parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin illustrate the constant, faithful, unrelenting love of God for each of us, but especially for sinners. God never gives up on anyone. God never gives up on me. This is not the sort of doctrine you learn in business schools. It sounds outlandish, to abandon the well-behaved and spend your energies on the outside chance of rescuing the delinquent 1 percent. Yet over the centuries these words have inspired good Christians to plug the gaps in social systems and reach out to those who have drifted into isolation and despair. Common sense urges us to spend ourselves on those who reward our efforts. Jesus worked in another direction: ‘The healthy have no need of a doctor.’ Lord, remind me of this attitude as I go about my day.”
September 15, 2019
24th Sunday Ordinary Time C Exodus 32: 7-11, 13-14; 1 Timothy 1: 12-17; Luke 15: 1-31
It is good for us as we progress in the spiritual life: To Remember. To remember where we have been and how we have gotten where we are today. When we analyze these past times we realize that we certainly were not perfect. We learned by the uncomfortable ‘road of hard knocks’. If we are making an honest evaluation of our lives, we ‘remember’ that we were not angels…sometimes…more like devils. And we see that we have changed…and changed we hopefully say, for the better.
It is good to even look deeper and see how this happened. I believe that a very true statement in almost all of the cases is that God has placed someone in our lives to touch us…who reached out to us with care, kindness, compassion, a helping loving hand and so much more. These ‘God touches’ showed us that we were loved. That’s the most perfect way to express it because we were in need of so much love and had wandered too far away to even listen to anyone who was trying to help. This ‘moment’ was a God moment. Sometimes we were thinking too highly of ourselves…other times we just had an atrocious self-image. The bottom line is that we were in bad shape. The good news is that we’ve made it through our ‘living hell.’ In the process we might have come to realize that it was a hell and hopefully, decided we don’t want to be in that ‘place’. Today’s readings give case studies of people who have gone through tearing people apart and received a positive direction to realize that God is in our lives all the time. God is always loving caring and forgiving. Do I allow God to be God to me?
In today’s reading from the Book of Exodus we continue to see the love-hate relationship between the Israelites and God. God had heard their persistent ‘cries for help’ during their period in Egypt most especially at this time which was a virtual slavery. God chooses Moses and shows that His plan was not just a ‘poof’ happening, but God had choreographed a history around it to capture His total forgiving, merciful love. As soon as they had reached safety they complained. They didn’t have enough food… God provided. They didn’t have enough water…God provided. Today Moses had been up on Mt. Sinai for a long time receiving all the details planning for the furnishing of the Ark of the Covenant, how to offer sacrifices, and given the two tablets of commandments. The people were antsy. They figured that God didn’t care about them so they fashioned a calf of molten metal as their new divinity.’ God angrily told Moses that He would remove the people completely and make Moses the Father of a new and more loyal generation. Moses pleaded with God remembering and looking at all God done and the promises He had made. Sunday Homily Helps states: “This is exactly the kind of response God needed to hear from His servant Moses. Moses refuses to allow personal gain to break his commitment to the people as God’s representative among them.” Moses was the guide to help them eventually turn back to God.
Paul had a horrendous background as far as the new Church was concerned. He had been not only a persecutor but involved in murderous treatment of them. BUT he had been rescued by God…chosen by God and been treated mercifully by the Lord. “I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and arrogant, but I have been mercifully treated because I acted out of ignorance in my unbelief. “ God had delivered him from his sinful pride, arrogance and ignorance. Jesus came to save sinners is the foundational belief of the Gospels and Paul’s letters. It was a total gift from God…God’s grace to Paul has made him an example of God’s total forgiveness that is available to every person all the time. We hear, or have said ourselves,
‘No one can forgive me…I’ve been so horrible’…this is over and over NOT THE CASE WITH GOD. God cares, loves and forgives. My Jesuit Spiritual Director from years past would say: ‘What is God best at?…It’s His mercy.’
The major theme in both Luke’s Gospel and in the Acts of the Apostles is forgiveness. We have an extremely long Gospel today containing three tremendous parables of God’s mercy starting off with Jesus’ response to the Pharisees and scribes about Jesus associating with sinners. Each of these parables deals with something being lost and then found. The first, Jesus tells of the Lost Sheep. “…there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance.” Now what shepherd would take this risk. Jesus doesn’t focus on the problems it entails but that there is no repentance needed for the shepherd. Jesus presents a much more forgiving God than Luke explains. The next parable talks of the lost coins where the woman goes through extreme measures to locate a seemingly insignificant coin. Why…it doesn’t make sense? And when finding it spends such an enormous amount to throw a party. A coin cannot repent. It’s not the items (sheep, coin) but the extravagance of the one doing the finding. Jesus is showing God’s total, unconditional love.
The third parable is known as the Prodigal Son. Here both the younger and the older son are lost. The young one returns home desperate and defeated. The Father accepts him back. Why? And no repentance is needed…the father even interrupts the son’s I’m sorry speech. Coming home was enough. Now the older son wants the Father’s love on his terms…refusing to see all the Father has done and continues to do. He just won’t come into the party and respond to the father’s open arms.
God is faithful and loves. The Hebrew people expected God to act as they did…God doesn’t do this. The contained parables gave the early Christian community an image of God who welcomes back all, even those who have strayed. This creates a definite tension to the rulers of Israel because they were comfortable with getting even, revenge even, and feeling they knew exactly what God was like. Am I open to Jesus’ description of a God who loves as Jesus taught? Why do I object to updating this image? So I reflect on: • Who or what do I put in the place of God when I feel threatened or afraid? • With which character in today’s parables do I identify? Why? • Can I ever identify God’s attributes accurately? Do I want God to be the God that I want Him to be? Or the God Jesus taught and lived? • When I sin do I lay a ‘heavy’ on myself…beat myself up? Or do I feel that God is there welcoming me back? If I don’t do this latter one, why not? • Have I ever felt like the Prodigal Son with Jesus? What was it like? Could I feel God’s embrace… His hug?
Sacred Space 2019 states: “The parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin illustrate the constant, faithful, unrelenting love of God for each of us, but especially for sinners. God never gives up on anyone. God never gives up on me. This is not the sort of doctrine you learn in business schools. It sounds outlandish, to abandon the well-behaved and spend your energies on the outside chance of rescuing the delinquent 1 percent. Yet over the centuries these words have inspired good Christians to plug the gaps in social systems and reach out to those who have drifted into isolation and despair. Common sense urges us to spend ourselves on those who reward our efforts. Jesus worked in another direction: ‘The healthy have no need of a doctor.’ Lord, remind me of this attitude as I go about my day.”
It is good for us as we progress in the spiritual life: To Remember. To remember where we have been and how we have gotten where we are today. When we analyze these past times we realize that we certainly were not perfect. We learned by the uncomfortable ‘road of hard knocks’. If we are making an honest evaluation of our lives, we ‘remember’ that we were not angels…sometimes…more like devils. And we see that we have changed…and changed we hopefully say, for the better.
It is good to even look deeper and see how this happened. I believe that a very true statement in almost all of the cases is that God has placed someone in our lives to touch us…who reached out to us with care, kindness, compassion, a helping loving hand and so much more. These ‘God touches’ showed us that we were loved. That’s the most perfect way to express it because we were in need of so much love and had wandered too far away to even listen to anyone who was trying to help. This ‘moment’ was a God moment. Sometimes we were thinking too highly of ourselves…other times we just had an atrocious self-image. The bottom line is that we were in bad shape. The good news is that we’ve made it through our ‘living hell.’ In the process we might have come to realize that it was a hell and hopefully, decided we don’t want to be in that ‘place’. Today’s readings give case studies of people who have gone through tearing people apart and received a positive direction to realize that God is in our lives all the time. God is always loving caring and forgiving. Do I allow God to be God to me?
In today’s reading from the Book of Exodus we continue to see the love-hate relationship between the Israelites and God. God had heard their persistent ‘cries for help’ during their period in Egypt most especially at this time which was a virtual slavery. God chooses Moses and shows that His plan was not just a ‘poof’ happening, but God had choreographed a history around it to capture His total forgiving, merciful love. As soon as they had reached safety they complained. They didn’t have enough food… God provided. They didn’t have enough water…God provided. Today Moses had been up on Mt. Sinai for a long time receiving all the details planning for the furnishing of the Ark of the Covenant, how to offer sacrifices, and given the two tablets of commandments. The people were antsy. They figured that God didn’t care about them so they fashioned a calf of molten metal as their new divinity.’ God angrily told Moses that He would remove the people completely and make Moses the Father of a new and more loyal generation. Moses pleaded with God remembering and looking at all God done and the promises He had made. Sunday Homily Helps states: “This is exactly the kind of response God needed to hear from His servant Moses. Moses refuses to allow personal gain to break his commitment to the people as God’s representative among them.” Moses was the guide to help them eventually turn back to God.
Paul had a horrendous background as far as the new Church was concerned. He had been not only a persecutor but involved in murderous treatment of them. BUT he had been rescued by God…chosen by God and been treated mercifully by the Lord. “I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and arrogant, but I have been mercifully treated because I acted out of ignorance in my unbelief. “ God had delivered him from his sinful pride, arrogance and ignorance. Jesus came to save sinners is the foundational belief of the Gospels and Paul’s letters. It was a total gift from God…God’s grace to Paul has made him an example of God’s total forgiveness that is available to every person all the time. We hear, or have said ourselves,
‘No one can forgive me…I’ve been so horrible’…this is over and over NOT THE CASE WITH GOD. God cares, loves and forgives. My Jesuit Spiritual Director from years past would say: ‘What is God best at?…It’s His mercy.’
The major theme in both Luke’s Gospel and in the Acts of the Apostles is forgiveness. We have an extremely long Gospel today containing three tremendous parables of God’s mercy starting off with Jesus’ response to the Pharisees and scribes about Jesus associating with sinners. Each of these parables deals with something being lost and then found. The first, Jesus tells of the Lost Sheep. “…there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance.” Now what shepherd would take this risk. Jesus doesn’t focus on the problems it entails but that there is no repentance needed for the shepherd. Jesus presents a much more forgiving God than Luke explains. The next parable talks of the lost coins where the woman goes through extreme measures to locate a seemingly insignificant coin. Why…it doesn’t make sense? And when finding it spends such an enormous amount to throw a party. A coin cannot repent. It’s not the items (sheep, coin) but the extravagance of the one doing the finding. Jesus is showing God’s total, unconditional love.
The third parable is known as the Prodigal Son. Here both the younger and the older son are lost. The young one returns home desperate and defeated. The Father accepts him back. Why? And no repentance is needed…the father even interrupts the son’s I’m sorry speech. Coming home was enough. Now the older son wants the Father’s love on his terms…refusing to see all the Father has done and continues to do. He just won’t come into the party and respond to the father’s open arms.
God is faithful and loves. The Hebrew people expected God to act as they did…God doesn’t do this. The contained parables gave the early Christian community an image of God who welcomes back all, even those who have strayed. This creates a definite tension to the rulers of Israel because they were comfortable with getting even, revenge even, and feeling they knew exactly what God was like. Am I open to Jesus’ description of a God who loves as Jesus taught? Why do I object to updating this image? So I reflect on: • Who or what do I put in the place of God when I feel threatened or afraid? • With which character in today’s parables do I identify? Why? • Can I ever identify God’s attributes accurately? Do I want God to be the God that I want Him to be? Or the God Jesus taught and lived? • When I sin do I lay a ‘heavy’ on myself…beat myself up? Or do I feel that God is there welcoming me back? If I don’t do this latter one, why not? • Have I ever felt like the Prodigal Son with Jesus? What was it like? Could I feel God’s embrace… His hug?
Sacred Space 2019 states: “The parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin illustrate the constant, faithful, unrelenting love of God for each of us, but especially for sinners. God never gives up on anyone. God never gives up on me. This is not the sort of doctrine you learn in business schools. It sounds outlandish, to abandon the well-behaved and spend your energies on the outside chance of rescuing the delinquent 1 percent. Yet over the centuries these words have inspired good Christians to plug the gaps in social systems and reach out to those who have drifted into isolation and despair. Common sense urges us to spend ourselves on those who reward our efforts. Jesus worked in another direction: ‘The healthy have no need of a doctor.’ Lord, remind me of this attitude as I go about my day.”
September 8, 2019
23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time C Wisdom 9: 13-18; Philemon 9-10, 12-17; Luke 14; 25-33
The readings today focus in on each person’s ability to listen to God. Perhaps one of the most frequent phrases we hear when we are in disagreement with someone we have a love relationship with is: ‘You just are not listening to what I am saying!’ The response is most often, ‘Yes I am’ Do we really hear what the other person is saying? Am I hearing what I want to hear? Or am I hearing exactly what the other person is saying? The bottom line: since someone makes this statement, there is evidently miscommunication going on. Often we apply this to our religious journey: ‘God isn’t listening to me… My prayers are not being answered…Maybe it’s just because God doesn’t care about me?’ Could it be that I am not giving God a chance to talk? Am I more concerned with getting the answer that I want that I refuse to be open to listening to anything else? So the deeper question could be ‘Am I listening to God?’ or even ‘Do I know how to listen to God?’
The first reading is taken from the Book of Wisdom. Traditionally it has been ascribed to Solomon, David’s son. The period of the monarchy ran from 1120—587 BC: Saul’s time was from 1020—1000 BC David’s from 1000—960 BC and Solomon’s reign from 960—930 BC Scholars tell us that Wisdom was actually written in Alexandria, Egypt some fifty years before Christ’s coming. In the persona of Solomon the narrator describes the pursuit of Wisdom; recognizing that ONLY GOD could give true wisdom. We hear this today, “…scarce do we guess the things on earth…but when things are in heaven, who can search them out?” (Wisdom 9:16) This is referred to as the kings’ prayer for wisdom. The bottom line concerns how superior God’s wisdom is to any human wisdom. Why? All our endeavors are limited and unsure. Our bodies are dependent and always vulnerable to diseases and the damaging effects of time. Our minds are preoccupied with just maintaining our bodies. So how can we know the things and beauty of heaven when we don’t even know about ourselves? We need the wisdom from God…the wisdom of God’s love to stay focused on my own individual path that leads me to God’s life in heaven forever. I can’t let the world drag me down and away from the Lord and His way. Wisdom even uses the phrase, “Or who ever knew the counsel, except You had given wisdom and sent your holy spirit from on high?” It is the Holy Spirit who enables us to know the things of heaven AND God wants us to know this. Have I ever prayed for God’s wisdom? I have prayed for so many things but what about wisdom? If I look at my life to this point, it has been loaded with a number of individuals who I call: Wisdom Figures. They shared their treasures of living life to the fullest by incorporating love, God’s love, which includes the kindness, care, forgiveness, mercy, compassion needed to get in touch with an understanding of God’s love. This is exactly what Jesus showed us and how He lived.
Paul shares this shortest of his letters to three individuals. Paul is in a Roman prison during the years 63-65 AD One of the prisoners is Onesimus who is a slave who probably ran away from his owner. He might have been involved with some theft. Paul brought Onesimus into the Church and sent him back to his master with an unusual letter. Paul wants the master to accept this slave back but wanted him to come back and work with Paul on spreading the gospel. Now human slavery was accepted all throughout the world of that time. Paul wasn’t going against this practice, but Paul is hinting that when Jesus returns He will break down all barriers of division so that all are one. Do I realize that there is divisions that I live with and maybe encourage? Do I treat all people as my brother and sister? Paul is
encouraging this slave’s owner to treat Onesimus just exactly as he would treat Paul. How am I doing in this? Do I pre-judge people into classes that rank them as inferior or unimportant to me? Do I ask for the wisdom of the Holy Spirit in this matter?
Luke is emphasizing that being a disciple of Jesus has a definite set of conditions and expectations. Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem. He will shortly encounter anger and hatred and be put to death on the cross. All authentic discipleship is a like journey that requires a focus on living and on carrying my crosses. How committed am I to being a disciple? The demands are really shocking! Jesus uses the word HATE which had a different meaning than today. It meant that the followers of Christ must PREFER IT LESS. That means that all family commitments must be subordinated to the claims of Jesus. Am I serious about the challenges that following Jesus entails. He uses two examples; one from military strategy and the other from construction. One must plan ahead or the results could be tragic. Luke then encourages followers to renounce one’s passions. This is not limited to the things we own and use daily. Possessions symbolize power and control. Msgr. Chet Michael repeatedly taught that the big evil of our society is the pursuit of power…possessions…pleasure…and Fr. Richard Rohr adds prestige. I am not in control, God is…all my gifts are given for this purpose: to live and surrender to God’s control. This gospel certainly has a rough edge to it…seemingly making discipleship by putting Jesus first in everything. Are my priorities God first?
Connections, the newsletter of ideas and images for preaching the Sunday Gospel tells us today, “In today’s parables of the king and the tower, Jesus challenges us to embrace the role of discipleship with the same total dedications and commitment: letting go of whatever attitudes and agendas, possessions and objects that distract us from seeking God in all things. Faith demands our full attention and engagement in following Jesus with committed integrity; to be an authentic disciple of God’s Beloved requires living the Gospel principals of justice and mercy and peace not in words alone but in the values we live and the works we take on.”
I reflect on: • When and where do I take the time to hear the voice of God? • How actively do I listen for God’s voice in daily events? • Do I take time at the end of the day and see where I saw Christ? • Do I find that many people who profess Christianity seem to be lukewarm about living the gospel? Am I? • Why do I think that bad things happen to good people? • How can I make Jesus a real part of my family? My friends?
Sacred Space 2019 states: “This passage about the cost of discipleship presumes that following Christ is demanding: do I find it demanding? If so, in what ways? Is giving up ‘all your possessions’ realistic, and, if not, what does the passage mean for me? I speak to the Lord about the points of difficulty in this passage. Carry the cross reminds us of Good Friday and Jesus stumbling under the weight of His cross. For most of us, the cross is not inflicted from outside us but is part of our makeup: the body’s and mind’s infirmities, the addictions, temptations, and recurrent desires that rob us of our freedom. Carrying my cross means not so much solving these problems as learning to live with them, humble and not easily thrown off the path.”
The readings today focus in on each person’s ability to listen to God. Perhaps one of the most frequent phrases we hear when we are in disagreement with someone we have a love relationship with is: ‘You just are not listening to what I am saying!’ The response is most often, ‘Yes I am’ Do we really hear what the other person is saying? Am I hearing what I want to hear? Or am I hearing exactly what the other person is saying? The bottom line: since someone makes this statement, there is evidently miscommunication going on. Often we apply this to our religious journey: ‘God isn’t listening to me… My prayers are not being answered…Maybe it’s just because God doesn’t care about me?’ Could it be that I am not giving God a chance to talk? Am I more concerned with getting the answer that I want that I refuse to be open to listening to anything else? So the deeper question could be ‘Am I listening to God?’ or even ‘Do I know how to listen to God?’
The first reading is taken from the Book of Wisdom. Traditionally it has been ascribed to Solomon, David’s son. The period of the monarchy ran from 1120—587 BC: Saul’s time was from 1020—1000 BC David’s from 1000—960 BC and Solomon’s reign from 960—930 BC Scholars tell us that Wisdom was actually written in Alexandria, Egypt some fifty years before Christ’s coming. In the persona of Solomon the narrator describes the pursuit of Wisdom; recognizing that ONLY GOD could give true wisdom. We hear this today, “…scarce do we guess the things on earth…but when things are in heaven, who can search them out?” (Wisdom 9:16) This is referred to as the kings’ prayer for wisdom. The bottom line concerns how superior God’s wisdom is to any human wisdom. Why? All our endeavors are limited and unsure. Our bodies are dependent and always vulnerable to diseases and the damaging effects of time. Our minds are preoccupied with just maintaining our bodies. So how can we know the things and beauty of heaven when we don’t even know about ourselves? We need the wisdom from God…the wisdom of God’s love to stay focused on my own individual path that leads me to God’s life in heaven forever. I can’t let the world drag me down and away from the Lord and His way. Wisdom even uses the phrase, “Or who ever knew the counsel, except You had given wisdom and sent your holy spirit from on high?” It is the Holy Spirit who enables us to know the things of heaven AND God wants us to know this. Have I ever prayed for God’s wisdom? I have prayed for so many things but what about wisdom? If I look at my life to this point, it has been loaded with a number of individuals who I call: Wisdom Figures. They shared their treasures of living life to the fullest by incorporating love, God’s love, which includes the kindness, care, forgiveness, mercy, compassion needed to get in touch with an understanding of God’s love. This is exactly what Jesus showed us and how He lived.
Paul shares this shortest of his letters to three individuals. Paul is in a Roman prison during the years 63-65 AD One of the prisoners is Onesimus who is a slave who probably ran away from his owner. He might have been involved with some theft. Paul brought Onesimus into the Church and sent him back to his master with an unusual letter. Paul wants the master to accept this slave back but wanted him to come back and work with Paul on spreading the gospel. Now human slavery was accepted all throughout the world of that time. Paul wasn’t going against this practice, but Paul is hinting that when Jesus returns He will break down all barriers of division so that all are one. Do I realize that there is divisions that I live with and maybe encourage? Do I treat all people as my brother and sister? Paul is
encouraging this slave’s owner to treat Onesimus just exactly as he would treat Paul. How am I doing in this? Do I pre-judge people into classes that rank them as inferior or unimportant to me? Do I ask for the wisdom of the Holy Spirit in this matter?
Luke is emphasizing that being a disciple of Jesus has a definite set of conditions and expectations. Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem. He will shortly encounter anger and hatred and be put to death on the cross. All authentic discipleship is a like journey that requires a focus on living and on carrying my crosses. How committed am I to being a disciple? The demands are really shocking! Jesus uses the word HATE which had a different meaning than today. It meant that the followers of Christ must PREFER IT LESS. That means that all family commitments must be subordinated to the claims of Jesus. Am I serious about the challenges that following Jesus entails. He uses two examples; one from military strategy and the other from construction. One must plan ahead or the results could be tragic. Luke then encourages followers to renounce one’s passions. This is not limited to the things we own and use daily. Possessions symbolize power and control. Msgr. Chet Michael repeatedly taught that the big evil of our society is the pursuit of power…possessions…pleasure…and Fr. Richard Rohr adds prestige. I am not in control, God is…all my gifts are given for this purpose: to live and surrender to God’s control. This gospel certainly has a rough edge to it…seemingly making discipleship by putting Jesus first in everything. Are my priorities God first?
Connections, the newsletter of ideas and images for preaching the Sunday Gospel tells us today, “In today’s parables of the king and the tower, Jesus challenges us to embrace the role of discipleship with the same total dedications and commitment: letting go of whatever attitudes and agendas, possessions and objects that distract us from seeking God in all things. Faith demands our full attention and engagement in following Jesus with committed integrity; to be an authentic disciple of God’s Beloved requires living the Gospel principals of justice and mercy and peace not in words alone but in the values we live and the works we take on.”
I reflect on: • When and where do I take the time to hear the voice of God? • How actively do I listen for God’s voice in daily events? • Do I take time at the end of the day and see where I saw Christ? • Do I find that many people who profess Christianity seem to be lukewarm about living the gospel? Am I? • Why do I think that bad things happen to good people? • How can I make Jesus a real part of my family? My friends?
Sacred Space 2019 states: “This passage about the cost of discipleship presumes that following Christ is demanding: do I find it demanding? If so, in what ways? Is giving up ‘all your possessions’ realistic, and, if not, what does the passage mean for me? I speak to the Lord about the points of difficulty in this passage. Carry the cross reminds us of Good Friday and Jesus stumbling under the weight of His cross. For most of us, the cross is not inflicted from outside us but is part of our makeup: the body’s and mind’s infirmities, the addictions, temptations, and recurrent desires that rob us of our freedom. Carrying my cross means not so much solving these problems as learning to live with them, humble and not easily thrown off the path.”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)