Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Wednesday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time

(I Timothy 3:14-16; Luke 7:31-35)

“You will be known by the company you keep,” our mothers used to tell us.  They were only repeating a proverb that generally serves listeners well.  Not only are people inclined to judge us as good or bad on the basis of our associates, but also we tend to become like our friends. 

But folk wisdom has its limitations.  What do we do, for example, when proverbs contradict one another?  Is “discretion the better part of valor” or is “the one who hesitates lost”?  Obviously, we have to look beneath the surface to attain the truth in matters like this.  Just so, Jesus appeals to his listeners in the gospel today to look beyond what meets their eyes to the effect that his eating and drinking with sinners creates.  He is not conforming to their sinful ways, but they are repenting of their sins. 

Jesus is telling us not only to stop judging by superficial criteria but also to step out of our social confines.  He wants the young to greet the elderly, blacks and whites to dialogue, and workers to extend a hand to the unemployed.  Whether we talk about Jesus or not when we reach beyond our typical company, we give testimony to his goodness by imitating his ways.  

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Tuesday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time

(I Timothy 3:1-13; Luke 7:11-17)

The first reading today gives us a perspective on the early Church.  From what it says, we can tell that it is written in the latter part of the first century, at least fifty years after Jesus was crucified.  Churches are well developed with bishops and deacons.  But the situation is hardly the same as we have it today.  Insisting that bishops be married “only once,” the reading indicates ignorance of priestly celibacy which has held for bishops even longer than for priests.

What has caught the attention of many is the letter’s reference to women coming directly after its remarks about deacons.  Do these comments refer to female deacons or the wives of deacons?  It is very possible that the former is the case since there seems to have been need of female deacons to baptize adult women by submersion without causing scandal.  If it is true that women deacons assist the Church in biblical times, then we may see them again.  The Church is wary of innovation but has often renewed old traditions, like the catechumenate fifty years ago.

It is important that we remember that the institutions of the Church have evolved over time and also that these changes are based on principles found in Scripture.  Thus, a married clergy is also within the realm of possibility. Indeed, the Church has recently ordained many married, former Episcopalian priests who converted to Catholicism.  But the Church is hardly likely to betray the principles it has maintained through the ages – for example, that once ordained a priest may then marry (again).  All this is to assure, as the reading today recommends, that we may have much confidence in our faith in Jesus Christ.

Monday, September 16, 2013

Memorial of Saint Cornelius, pope and martyr, and St. Cyprian, bishop and martyr

(I Timothy 2:1-8; Luke 7:1-10)

Persecutions in the early Church were not as severe and frequent as sometimes imagined but they did occur.  The Romans were generally lax about religious laws only insisting that people pay respect to their gods without necessarily abandoning their own.  Of course, Christians could not acknowledge the existence of other gods and, therefore, were persecuted when it was politically expedient. St. Cyprian was executed as a witness to faith in Christ while St. Pope Cornelius died in exile for being Christian. 

In the first reading today, Christians are exhorted to pray for those in authority so that they might avoid persecution.  It is not to be a prayer for show but, as the author states, that the authorities might realize God’s will of universal salvation.  The gospel likewise testifies to this purpose as Jesus praises the faith of a Roman officer.

Some may find it quaint today to pray for the salvation of non-Christians given Vatican II’s acknowledgment that one following his or her conscience will come to be saved.  However, Pope Benedict has offered some insight into the situation when he asks whether people who convert their opinions and desires into norms of conscience and do anything they wish may be saved.  No, the world desperately needs the saving truth of Jesus if everyone is going to be transformed into a saint.

Friday, september 13, 2013

Memorial of Saint John Chrysostom, bishop and doctor of the Church

(I Timothy 1:1-2.12-14; Luke 6:39-42)

Pope Francis has raised eyebrows by moving out of the papal apartments and telling well-wishers that it would be better for them to give money to the poor than to spend it on a trip to Rome.  This is the spirit of St. John Chrysostom whom the Church remembers today.  As Patriarch of Constantinople, then the capital of the Roman Empire, John brought on the wrath of the wealth by refusing to host lavish parties and by accusing the empress of lavishness.

John Chrysostom could justly criticize the aristocracy of Constantinople because he was a faithful disciple of Jesus.  As Jesus says in today’s gospel, when a disciple is fully trained, he will become like the master.  Just as Jesus often chastised the powerful for their neglect of charity so John Chrysostom had little patience for spendthrift Christians.

Pope Francis is calling the Church to a deeper sensitivity toward the poor and war-weary.  No doubt, he realizes that the complexities of poverty and of warfare are daunting; nevertheless, he wants Christians to exhibit more urgency in dealing with them.  In other words, he wants us to become true disciples of Jesus.

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Thursday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time

(Colossians 3:12-17; Luke 6:27-38)

In yesterday’s mass the gospel reading began Jesus’ great sermon.  Many think of that sermon being delivered on a mountain because that is setting in the longer, more demonstrative version of the Gospel according to Matthew.  In Luke’s gospel, however, from which we hear these days, mountains are reserved for Jesus’ communion with the Father.  The third gospel describes the plain as the place of encounter between Jesus and other humans.

Jesus is addressing his disciples when he says that they should turn the other cheek and lend to those who have never given them anything.  In other words, he is telling them not to react to others but to be proactive like God in treating them kindly.  There is a story of a man who lived by the sea and every morning would throw the starfish marooned on the beach back into the water.  Why did he bother to save a few starfish?  Conscious of it or not, he did it in fulfillment of Jesus’ command to be proactive in treating others with kindness.

In the great sermon Jesus lays out the oral form of his New Law.  To be sure, it is impossible to uphold this law under the condition of original sin.  But Christ has afforded us the Holy Spirit, the essence of the New Law, who enables us to do the impossible.