Sunday – November 16, 2025

 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Malachi 3:19-20; II Thessalonians 3:7-12; Luke 21:5-19

Today in the Gospel, we find Jesus in Jerusalem. He has completed his long journey from Galilee. In fact, he is delivering his final public discourse. He highlights three themes that he has exposed throughout the journey. Let us reflect on these themes, each of which deeply touches our spiritual lives.

Jesus stands with the people within the confines of the Temple. When some comment on the solidity of the building and others on the beauty of its contents, Jesus warns against putting faith in created things as ever-lasting. This is the first theme for our reflection. Jesus goes on to say that the Temple, with its beautiful votive offerings, will soon be demolished. Equally misguided is faith in men who claim to be anointed by God.

When we look around at the new suburbs, we see many large houses. They resemble palaces, with multiple rooms for a scant number of people. These homes are not bad in themselves. But when their residents live without regard for those whose wages cannot cover rent, such homes become stumbling blocks to a fervent spiritual life. The same applies to cruises, cars, or any other luxury that holds our attention today. Again, created things are not necessarily bad, but they can interfere with our doing God’s will.

In his discourse Jesus also predicts that his disciples will endure persecutions. He says that before the catastrophes marking the end of the world occur, they will be hated, betrayed, imprisoned, and even killed. The persecution of disciples then is the second theme of the discourse. Early followers of Jesus suffered massacres by Herod in Jerusalem, by Emperor Nero in Rome, and many others throughout the centuries. Persecution of Christians continues today in places like Nigeria, where tens of thousands have been killed just in the past ten years.

Few of us will be killed for our faith in Christ, but that does not mean we won’t face persecution. When Judge Amy Coney Barrett was nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court, she was criticized by members of Congress for being an “extreme Catholic.” The reason behind this accusation was that she believes abortion is wrong. If you express your faith openly—by thanking God in a restaurant or mentioning how Christ helps you— do not doubt that sooner or later, you will be ridiculed. Even some family members may criticize you for being faithful to the foundations of the faith.

Jesus does not fail to offer good news in the upcoming tragedy. After warning of the difficulties ahead, he assures us of the benefits of joining Him. His phrase, “... not a hair of your head will perish,” is hard to understand, since many disciples have suffered martyrdom. But he likely means that the Father, who has counted the hairs on His children’s heads (Lk 12:7), will not allow those who suffer for Jesus to be lost. After this difficult phrase, Jesus assures his faithful: “By your perseverance you will secure your lives.” The life he has in mind is the one that lasts forever: eternal life. This is the third theme of the discourse.

Our hope that our lives do not end with bodily death is fundamental to Christian faith. The apostles preached Jesus risen from the dead. St. Paul dared to write: “... if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised.” Recently, a famous sociologist wrote about his conversion to belief in Christ. The stimulus for his new-found faith was scientific evidence that the soul exists outside the body. Our Christian faith goes far beyond the survival of the soul. It affirms the resurrection of the body at the end of time. However, since the early centuries, the Church has expressed credence in the continuation of the soul until it is reunited with the body.

Next week we will conclude our Sunday readings from the Gospel of Luke. The evangelist has given us lessons in Christian spirituality. Perhaps more than the themes of today’s reading, we have been instructed to be compassionate with those who suffer, forgiving of those who offend us, and persistent in prayer to the Father. Let us move forward now with Jesus as our guide to a richer and ever-enduring life.

 

Monday, October 26, 2016

Monday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time

(Job 1:6-22; Luke 9:46-50)

In a book four years ago sociologist Charles Murray demonstrated the importance of faith for a prosperous society.  People who earn large incomes tend to go to church more often than people who live in poverty.  The reason is not that they have more time, but that faith religion provides motives for working hard and avoiding life-disrupting vices.  In today’s first reading the prosperous Job experiences downfall.  It might be expected that he eject his trust in God.

But Job maintains a firm faith in God despite the losses heaped upon him and more difficulties to come.  Rather than curse God or simply forget about Him, Job’s response to hardship is: “’The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord!’”

We are wise to trust God in both good times and in trials.  We act as His true servants when we encourage the poor to believe.  In today’s gospel Jesus says, “”Whoever receives this child in my name receives me…’”  That child is the poor person who should be sought out and then received at the church door.

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Thursday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time

(James 2:1-9; Mark 8:27-33)

In a disturbing book published a few years ago sociologist Charles Murray wrote that the rich are more likely to have Christian values than the poor.  That is, they are more likely to go to church, to get married, and to work than their poor counterparts.  The report raises the question about how to respond to James’ assertion in today’s first reading that the poor, not the rich, deserve praise.

James is making a sweeping but not inherently unfair generalization that the poor are often ignored while the rich receive most people’s favor.  As everyone knows, the rich have fluid resources (money) that might be employed for any cause.  The poor on the other hand  have problems that are hard to deal with.  Yet the poor are not only created in the image of God, but they also represent Christ who walked the earth as a poor man.  James urges that Christians concern themselves with their needs at least as much as they court the rich for possible favors.

For decades faith based community organizing linked church-goers from well-to-do areas with the inner-city faithful in alliances working for the common good.  The results were both tangible and spiritual.  Laws were passed that improved community life, and people of all stripes knew one another as colleagues.  Sadly many of these coalitions fell apart from the lack of a coherent political vision.  Somehow the spirit of the community organizations must be revived to allow the poor to thrive along with the rich in the sight of God.

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Thursday of the Second Week of Lent

(Jeremiah 17:5-10; Luke 16:9-31)

Sociologist Charles Murray has recently published another bombshell. His Coming Apart marshals massive evidence to demonstrate that the United States is becoming increasingly stratified economically and socially. Although the liberal rich are often seen as the source of irreligion and wanton living, Murray shows that they are much more likely to go to church and have intact families than the poor. So are the rich in the U.S. acting like the rich man in the gospel parable today, or are they perhaps following Christ?

The rich man's sin is apparently that he doesn't notice Lazarus lying at his door. He lives in luxury with no awareness of his closest neighbor. He probably was well-known in the community, but interestingly in the hereafter he goes unnamed. Lazarus, on the other hand, goes unnoticed at the rich man's door, but even the patriarch calls him by name in eternal life.

Some rich no doubt faithfully follow the Lord. However, there is a striking parallel between the rich in America and the rich man who ignores Lazarus. Those blessed with wealth have an obligation to find and assist those in need. Of course, with gated communities beggars are not seen at the rich person's door. But that cannot be an excuse in days of mass media to say that they are not around.