Friday, November 22, 2024

Memorial of Saint Cecilia, virgin and martyr

(Revelation 10:8-11; Luke 19: 45-48)

In today’s first reading the seer John is told to eat the scroll that tells of the future.  When he does, it sweetens his tongue but sours his stomach.  What could the scroll say other than prophesy about a war that is about to take place?

Wars begin with the call to glory.  Young men are puffed up with ambition.  They enjoy for a while the fanfare which people bountifully bestow.  Soon enough, however, the reality of soldiering will erase the glamor of war from their minds.  The arduous waiting, the fear of dying, the reality of being hurt and seeing companions die, all create a very bitter experience.

We should not look for war.  At times it may be necessary to defend goodness.  Still going into battle is not to be celebrated.  Rather it should occasion penance and prayer.  Penance prepares the soldier for death, and prayer commends him or her to God’s mercy.

Tuesday, July 30, 2024

Tuesday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Jeremiah 14:17-22; Matthew13:36-43)

A scene of Stephen Spielberg’s movie “Lincoln” shows the president riding through a recent battlefield.  The time is just before sunrise or after sunset when a grey hue hangs over the shocking reality.  On every side of Lincoln’s carriage are cadavers piled up like sacks of potatoes.  The carnage indicates why Lincoln is said to have aged ten years in the previous twelve months.  It also gives an idea of Jeremiah’s somber in today’s first reading.

Babylon has just overwhelmed Jerusalem.  The empire has left civilians dead in their tracks and has devastated the Temple.  People scavenge for food.  The men of God cannot give consolation as they too experience dire need.  Jeremiah can only pray to God.  He laments the sins of Judah that brought upon itself such disaster.  Then he asks for mercy.

We too easily forget how terrible war is.  Inclined to think of battle in terms of valor and victory, we often forget the desolation it inevitably produces.  This year in the multiple elections throughout the world may the people choose leaders who cringe at the prospect of war and strive for prosperity without violence.

Tuesday, October 24, 2023

Tuesday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time

(Romans 5:12.15b.17-19.20b-21; Luke 12:35-38)

The will to violence and destruction is one of the dismal legacies left by humanity’s original partakers.  The carnage is now being played out in Israel and Palestine.  Ironically, this is the land where lived Christ, whom St. Paul claims has ended enmity between peoples. How can it be so?

Of course, neither Israel nor Palestine, for the most part, are followers of Christ.  But the cruel war continues between Russia and the Ukraine, two nations with Christian majorities.  Nevertheless, Christ has left the gospel of peace and sent the Holy Spirit to overcome the legacy of war.  Unfortunately, humankind continues to ignore Christ’s heritage to its peril. 

Another part of the heritage of Christ is prayer to the Father that His Kingdom come.  As much as ever, we should ask for this to become a universal reality in our time.  We should also practice humility, understanding, and compassion so that His Kingdom is established in our very midst.

Monday, August 18, 2014

Monday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

(Ezekiel 24:15-23; Matthew 19:16-22)

A forty-three year old husband and father died recently.  He was vacationing at a lake with his family when he jumped in the water, came up once briefly and then went under never to surface alive again.  Of course, the family was devastated not knowing what happened until an autopsy revealed that he had an undiagnosed brain tumor which evidently caused him to pass out in the water.  This Wednesday the family will hold a memorial service for the man at which friends will gather to offer condolences and to recall why the dead man was loved so well.  Such a service seems necessary to dispel some of the grief of the sudden loss.  It is exactly what is denied in the first reading today.

The Lord tells the prophet Ezekiel not to mourn his recently dead wife as a sign to Judah that the nation will not be permitted to mourn their loved in the upcoming combat.  He does not will the nation harm but recognizes that war often leaves people so desperate that they do not have time to bury their dead.  God wants the people to repent of sinful ways by turning to Him as their Savior.  Only by following His ways will they know consolation and peace.

The prophetic message will often sound harsh to us who have grown accustomed to thinking the perfect society is where everyone “lives and lets live.”  But God has made us for something greater than that.  He calls us to be His people – to love Him as our Father and to love one another as sisters and brothers. Here is where happiness resides.