Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Feast of Saint Simon and Saint Jude, apostles

(Ephesians 2:19-22; Luke 6:12-16)

Toward the end of the calendar year, today we honor the least of the twelve apostles.  With the exception of Judas, the betrayer, Simon the Zealot, and Judas, the son of James, are always listed last in the lists of Jesus intimate circle.  Interestingly, in Luke’s gospel, from which we read today, Judas is listed before Simon.  In Matthew and Mark, however, Judas, or actually Thaddeus whom we associate with Judas, has the final position.

We might ask ourselves why.  It could be that these apostles are the most obscure.  That is they left the least historical record.  By the time of the writing of the gospels, at least a generation after Jesus’ death, almost nothing was remember of them.  In any case the two offer us valuable instructions today.

Simon is mentioned as a Zealot, which is one particularly fervent about religion.  In time Zealots will take up arms to free Israel from Roman rule.  But it would be wrong to equate Simon with later revolutionaries.  He does show us that Jesus includes all kinds of people among his disciples.  There are tax collectors willing to cooperate with foreign rulers and zealots who mistrust Romans as much as cats mistrust dogs.

Because Judas’ name is the same as the traitor’s, in English at least we prefer to call him “Jude.”  There are legends of his whereabouts in the first century, but for the most part his fate is unknown.  Yet he has become one of the most popular of apostles.  The reason for this is simple.  Many people identify with St. Jude because they feel lowly like him.  His popularity gives witness to the saying of Jesus that the last shall be first in God’s kingdom.

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Tuesday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time

(Romans 8:18-25; Luke 13:18-21)

Once before the trend against apartheid in South Africa gained momentum, a Christian minister was asked if Nelson Mandela would ever be released from prison.  The minister did not hesitate a second to say of course he would be “even if it is ten years after his death.”  Then he explained that the Blacks of South Africa equated their freedom with Mandela’s release.  And they were absolutely sure that one day they would be liberated.  Such is the hope of which St. Paul writes in today’s first reading.

Paul is certain that his fellow Christians will experience the glory of the resurrected Christ.  But he is not sure when and how this revelation will come about nor even what it will look like.  This is akin to saying that heaven is an unknown quantity still to be revealed.  But Paul is not troubled by the wait in darkness.  He realizes that true hope does not involve things that can be seen, but mysteries of which humans can only imagine.

What will heaven be like?  A city with roads paved in gold?  A telephone that translates our thoughts into words without our having to say or write anything?  These kinds of commodities could hardly approach the glory of Christ.  Let us dream some more.  Heaven is where everyone treats us like we want to be treated, and we treat everyone with equal attention.  It is feeling so secure about being loved that we are kind to everyone.  It is the peace of being surrounded by friends and enjoying a hearty meal.  Heaven is worth waiting for with endurance.

Monday, October 26, 2015

Monday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time

(Romans 8:12-17;Luke 13:10-17)

An old Catholic family was living in the South during the Civil War.  The family had a slave who continued to stay with it after emancipation.  When the woman died, she was buried in the family plot.  The inscription on her grave read that the woman served the family so long and faithfully that she became one of its members.  Such is the kind of adoption to which St. Paul refers in the first reading today.

Paul reminds his readers that Christ has freed them from slavery to the flesh.  They no longer have to appease the desire for every creaturely pleasure.  Rather the Spirit of love has been poured into their hearts.  Now imitating the goodness of God, they can live for others.  Their expectation is nothing less than the glory of Christ resurrected from the dead.

Sometimes we feel that the only consolation in life is precisely some physical pleasure.  Some even try to justify an illicit affair as “only natural.”  Christ offers something more both in at the end of our days and in the current struggle.  The companionship we offer one another in the Church is palpable.  Satisfying as well is the sense that when we suffer, we join ourselves to Christ.  Because of him and for the sake of our sisters and brothers in the Church, we strive to live every day in God’s grace.

Friday, October 23, 2015

Friday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time

(Romans 7:18-25a; Luke 12:54-59)

“How could something that feels so right, be so wrong?” country singers croon.  St. Paul has a similar thought in mind when he tells the Romans in the first reading today, “For I take delight in the law of God, in my inner self, but I see in my members another principle at war with the law of my mind…”

Paul is expressing the deceptive nature of sin.  It appeals to our inner senses as something satisfying, but our minds tell us it is ultimately hurtful.  We might be willing to buy a stolen car to get to work, but we know that the vehicle belongs to another who has his or her own use for it.  We would become accomplices in the crime by purchasing it knowingly.

Paul finds in Jesus Christ the resolution to the dilemma of feeling right about something but knowing it to be wrong.  Christ shows us something greater than the comforts and pleasures comprising our regular desires.  In his love for us he promises eternal life.  Living with this goal in mind, earthly comforts lose their luster. 

Thursday, October 22, 2015

Memorial of Saint John Paul II, pope          

(Romans 6:19-23; Luke 12:49-53)

One of St. John Paul II’s legacies will surely be his Theology of the Body.  Presented as a series of meditations for his Wednesday public audiences, the doctrine explains human sexuality.  Rather than the betrayal of self with sin that St. Paul writes in the first reading, John Paul finds sexuality achieving the human purpose.  It demonstrates not only fulfillment of God’s will but also the human way of imitating God’s loving.

Paul recognizes that humans have misappropriated sexuality.  Rather than using their bodies as a means of self-giving, humans have allowed them to become instruments of self-seeking pleasure.  The result has been, as Paul points out, disillusionment ending in disgrace and ultimately death.  But Paul is not fatalistic.  He knows that Christ has overcome the reign of sin.  Because of this victory of their brother, all humans can live free of carnal domination.

We must make an effort to overcome the selfish inclination.  Christ’s grace has enabled us to use sexuality rightly.  When we do, sexuality is not devoid of pleasure.  Rather the pleasure is ordered to our true goal in life, a loving union with God.