Friday, April 22, 2016

Friday of the Fourth Week of Easter

(Acts 13:26-33; John 14:1-6)

ISIS continues to wreak havoc on Christians not only in Syria and Iraq but also in Europe.  Meanwhile, the reaction in the United States is severe.  Political candidates want to bar all Muslims from entering the country.  There is good reason for hearts to be troubled.

Yet Jesus tells his disciples in today’s gospel not to worry.  He assures them that there is room for all in God’s kingdom.  He wants them to follow him as he leads the way to eternal life.

Supported by one another, we line up behind Jesus.  We will find Muslims in our company as well as members of other religious traditions.  We will not hear non-Christians express explicit faith in Jesus, but we see them like him refusing to hate their enemies.  We also notice them like him willing to forgive those who have hurt them deeply.

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Advent

(I Samuel 1:24-28; Luke 1:46-56)

Most horrifying and yet most edifying of all images this year was the video of Christians being beheaded by ISIS ruffians.  The blood of twenty-one Egyptian men colored the seaside sand in eloquent testimony of their faith in Jesus.  The martyrs did was Mary does in today’s gospel.

Mary is the first believer in what God has done for the world in Jesus Christ.  She has been instructed by His messenger that her son will receive the kingship of David.  She now proclaims what this means.  She says that the humble will be lifted from their misery while the proud are scattered in rejection.

We may want to ask, “How does Mary know this is happening?” She knows by faith in God.  Like those Egyptian martyrs Mary understands that the Lord has arrived to overcome evil.  We will see the end of ISIS and also, perhaps more mercifully, victory over our own greed and lust.

Friday, October 16, 2015

Friday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary time

(Romans 4:1-8; Luke 12:1-7)

ISIS has made known the fact that Christians are being persecuted.  Its bloody videos reveal that martyrdom did not end with the Edict of Milan.  Rather persecution of Christians persists in a way stronger than ever.  John Allen documents it in a book published just two years ago.  It happens around the world to all kinds of Christians.  In today’s gospel Jesus warns his disciples to expect as much.

Jesus tells his disciples not to be surprised by the persecution.  They may think that what they preach will be kept secret.  But the message is so hopeful that it will inevitably be repeated everywhere.  He does not want them to fear the persecution so much as to fear God, “’the one has the power to cast into Gehenna.’”  But then he states that they do not have to be afraid at all if they have really become his messengers.

Jesus wants us to tell others about God’s love.  We may say how a certain gospel passage has affected our life.  Some will roll their eyes, but they are not likely to attack us .  In any case we can count on God’s coming to our rescue.  After all, we are worth much more to Him than the sparrows that He protects.

Wednesday, October 22, 2015

Wednesday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time

(Ephesians 3:2-12; Luke 12:39-48)

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria seems so vile that we want nothing to do with it.  It lops human heads as if they were water bottle caps.  It seems to abhor Christians as if somehow the humble minority of the Middle East threatens Islamic hegemony. What could the West have possibly in common with ISIS?

The answer is Jesus Christ.  He transcends nations, cultures, and religions.  In the second reading the Pauline writer lauds Christ for uniting Jew and Greek.  He serves as a bridge between these ancient peoples who have little to do with each other.  Just so, he in time will be the common ground for Christians and reformed Muslim extremists.  All will savor his wisdom, marvel at his forbearance, and wonder about his resurrection.

For now we have to pray for our enemies.  Certainly we cannot wish for ISIS’s success.  But we may hope that despite its beastliness, the regimen may notice the light of Christ’s love.  When they do, they see in us a common humanity.

Monday, September 8, 2014

Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

(Micah 5:1-4a; Matthew 1:1-16.18-23)

Did you ever have to pinch yourself to make sure you were not dreaming?  Sometimes things happen that are so incredible that we think we are imagining them.  Perhaps we see a person that we presumed to be dead.  “Can it be so?” we ask ourselves.  The other day an Iraqi Shiite soldier survived the massacre of fellow Shiite prisoners by ISIS militia.  He had a terrible ordeal but still may have had to pinch himself to know that he was alive.  We celebrate the birth of the Virgin Mary for a similar reason.

It is almost incredible that God would become human.  Why would the Almighty reduce himself to the fragility of humankind?  Perhaps it can be compared to one of us becoming an ant!  Who would want to be the smallest of animals that carries cargo all day long?  No one would, yet God became human.  Today in recognizing the birth of Mary, we acknowledge that her son, divine by conception of the Holy Spirit, was through her a human being.

We must ask ourselves, why did God become human if it was such a come down?  The answer, of course, is that He loves us.  God saw in human beings a faint likeness to Himself that He wanted us to share in His eternal life.  But that required that we become as caring as He.  For this reason Christ died on the cross.  By his life and death we are rid of our selfishness and filled with his love.