Thursday, September 15, 2016

Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows

(I Corinthians 15:1-11; John 12:25-27)

In both Matthew’s and Luke’s gospels Jesus calls those who mourn “blessed.”  Who these people are is not clear in either account.  Are they those who mourn their sins?  Or perhaps they share the sorrows of the people around them suffering loss of one kind or another?  Today we celebrate Mary, the woman of sorrows.  There can be little doubt why she grieves.  Her son Jesus has died on the cross.  No mother takes the loss of a child that she has birthed and raised easily.  Losing such a perfect son as Jesus is that much more difficult to bear.

We too have lost someone special at the cross.  We did not know him then but from all that we have learned about him since, our loss is also deep.  He was like an older brother who, if he were here in person, would guide our way and support our weakness.  Then how could Jesus tell us that our time to rejoice?  Can we sustain such contrary failings for long?

We are to rejoice because Jesus is actually among us.  As St. Paul proclaims in the first reading, he has risen from the dead.  He is present in the care we give to the poor.  He is present when we hear the gospels and all the thoughts which echo them.  Most of all, he is present in the Eucharist which gathers us in love to provide us his physical body and blood. 

The Christian perspective has a dual focus.  It misses seeing Jesus as he walked upon the earth and waits anxiously for his promised return.  At the same time it rejoices to find him present in many ways beneath the surface of everyday life.

Wednesday, September 14, 2016

Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

(Numbers 21:4b-9; Philippians 2:6-11; John 3:13-17)

The cross by itself intimates transcendence.  The vertical leg superseding the horizontal indicates the victory of the human spirit over hatred and deceit.  Today the Church celebrates this victory with the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.  Through his death on the cross Jesus -- God and human -- has conquered sin and its resultant death.

But the victory of the cross has not always been sustained by humankind.  In the events leading to the Second World War the emergence of the swastika as a national symbol represented a retreat from the accomplishment of Christ.  Its bent legs indicated the will of the Nazis to cut short transcendence in favor of Aryan supremacy.  It was and remains a symbol of the corruption of the salvation Christ won on behalf of the world.

What happened at an international level last century may come about at a personal level.  We may feel contempt for people of a different class, race, or religion.  When this takes place, we must not only remember Christ’s victory but go to him.  We need to ask confess our sin and ask his grace that we might love others as he did. 

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

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

(I Corinthians 12:12-14.27-31a; Luke 7:11-17)

St. John Chrysostom lived in the aftermath of the Arian controversy.  Although the Council of Nicea proclaimed that Jesus Christ was really God, not everyone -- not even every bishop – gave consent to the teaching.  As archbishop of Constantinople, John had to defend this position against powerful dissenters.  He took on even greater resistance when he criticized the extravagant lives of the city’s rich.  Particularly the Empress Eudoxia resented his criticism of her vanity.  But John was also able to win many defenders as he preached powerfully.  Chrysostom, meaning golden-mouth, is actually a nickname.  With St. Augustine he is one of the greatest preachers of his time and, indeed, any time.

John Chrysostom put his extraordinary gifts to use in the Church as St. Paul admonishes the Corinthians in today’s first reading.  Paul’s point here is to show that everyone is gifted in some way to assist the Church.  If a person does not preach well, perhaps she sings like an angel.  If he cannot heal, perhaps he has a penchant for tidiness.  Although John Chrysostom may be one in a million millions, all have some gift to offer.

Often the Church does not seek out the gifts of its people.  Leaders tend to depend on a very few people whom they trust.  Although the reason for such an approach is patent, it curtails both the development of individuals and the building up of the Body of Christ.  We should be encouraging everyone in the congregation to put his or her talent to work for the benefit of all.  

Monday, September 12, 2016

Monday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary time

(I Corinthians 11:17-26.33; Luke 7:1-10)

Pope Francis has requested more consideration for couples in irregular marriages.  In his exhortation The Joy of Love he acknowledges that sometimes people find themselves in difficult situations.  Perhaps they had married without due consideration of what they were doing the first time.  Or maybe they cannot leave a second union without causing grave injustice.  Francis does not consider their cases as hopeless.  Rather he outlines various possibilities to integrate these couples into Church life.  In today’s gospel we can see the centurion in a situation akin to these couples.

The centurion who asks Jesus for help has shown himself to care about others.  He not only is solicitous for his servant but also has built a synagogue for the people. He also expresses a faith in the God of Israel by seeking out Jesus, God’s prophet.  One may ask, “Should he not become a Jew then and even a disciple of Jesus?”  Perhaps he doesn’t because that would end his military career and the support he owes his family.  In any case, Jesus does not accuse him of lacking conviction but recognizes his faith. 

This gospel teaches us more than the desire to trust in Jesus.  It gives us a glimpse of the need for understanding of those in irregular situations.  It further urges us to dialogue with these people so that we may mutually enrich our faith and increase our love.

Friday, September 9, 2016

Memorial of Saint Peter Claver, priest

(I Corinthians 9:16-19.22b-27; Luke 6:39-42)

Last Sunday Pope Francis canonized St. Teresa of Kolkata.  There are millions living today who could testify to her saintliness.  The stories of her touching the untouchables remind us of Jesus fearlessly treating lepers.  Today the Church remembers another saint who worked among the world’s most marginalized people.  St. Peter Claver, a Jesuit priest, looked after the physical as well as the spiritual needs of Africans brought to the New World as slaves.  A native of Spain, Peter descended to the stench-ridden holds of slave ships where he treated men and women dying of infectious diseases.  Peter had developed the discipline that St. Paul writes of in today’s first reading. 

Paul has written this first letter to the Corinthians to correct a number of abuses in the Christian community that he founded.  He was distraught by reports of the scandals of which he had heard especially sexual abuses.  Now he exhorts the Corinthians to take their faith as seriously as athletes take a competitive event.  He wants them to develop discipline so that they control carnal desire and be rewarded the prize of eternal life.

We develop discipline by practicing the four moral virtues.  Justice will assure that we give ourselves the attention that is due.  Temperance will keep us from overindulging our appetites and also over-exuberant zeal.  Fortitude will keep us on track when we feel that the goal is not worth the effort.  Last but not least, prudence will direct us every day as to what must be done to reach our goal.