Friday, November 24, 2017

Memorial of Saint Andrew Dung-Lac and Companions, martyrs

(I Maccabees 4:36-37.52-59; Luke 19:45-48)

Today Vietnamese Catholics celebrate their heroes.  St. Andrew Dung-Lac and companion martyrs gave their lives rather than relinquish their Christian faith.  These “ultimate sacrifices” have made it possible for their descendants to look forward to eternal life.  The celebration is similar to that described in the mass’s first reading.

The passage tells of how the Jews burnt offerings and sang hymns of praise for eight days.  They were celebrating the rededication of the Temple that had been desecrated by pagan overlords.  Many valiant Jews died in the hostilities that liberated the land from foreign rule.  In his day Jesus too celebrated the feast, which is commonly known as Hanukkah.

More important, for our purposes today at least, is Jesus’ great sensibility for the Temple itself.  As the meeting place of God and humanity, he chases the money changers from its confines.  His followers will later note how Jesus himself is the prime referent for our encounter with God.  In this sense he has replaced the Temple with his flesh and blood.  Nevertheless, Christians still need places to pray so they construct temples, which we usually call “churches.”  Still at the dedication of a Catholic church it is always Jesus who is glorified.

Thursday, November 23, 2017

(for Thursday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time see below)

Thanksgiving Day

(Sirach 50:22-24; 1 Corinthians 1:3-9; Luke 17:11-19)

Huntington’s Disease is one of the worst maladies known in medicine.  It attacks the brain leaving bearers of the disease physically and mentally incapacitated.  In listening to testimonies of Huntington Disease sufferers, one is surprised to hear some describing themselves as “blessed.”  It is not a universal claim, but it is heard from different patients.  People have been good to them and they have experienced something of the sweetness of life.

On Thanksgiving Day most people likewise sense that they are blessed.  There is time to reflect on all that they have and are.  They can name some of those who provided them education and opportunity, but they realize that the list cannot be exhausted.  Indeed, most get an inkling that the blessing has been bestowed from on high.  We know this elusive, benign benefactor as the Lord God who made us and sustains us.

The Samaritan in today’s gospel has a true insight into the extent of God’s blessing.  After being cured of his leprosy, he goes to thank Jesus.  He might have followed his nine companions to the Temple.  There he would have paid homage to God as well as have received the confirmation of healing from the priests.  But the Samaritan realized that Jesus had something fundamental to do with his fortune.  And so should we!  God has not only blessed us with human life; through His Son Jesus Christ He has granted us a share in His eternal life.  We experience a foretaste of this new life when we come together for the Eucharist.  We also receive a sense of eternal life as we gather with family and friends around the Thanksgiving table.

Thursday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time

(I Maccabees 215-29; Lucas 19:41-44)

A proverb says, “The old man who will not cry is a fool.”  Everyone should come to tears as she or he realizes that life is often tragic because people fail to learn its most important lesson.  The lesson is to give glory to God by caring for one another.  Too often humans take life as a game in which they are to gain as much prestige and prosperity for themselves as possible.

In the passion account of Luke’s gospel, Jesus tells the women of Jerusalem that they are not to weep for him but for their children.  In today’s passage he does exactly this.  Jerusalem refuses to learn life’s lesson taught in the Law, reiterated by the prophets, and confirmed by Jesus himself.  Its inhabitants would rather retain its values of wealth and honor.  Although Jesus is hardly an old man, in his day at thirty-three years he has already entered middle age.  In any case he shows himself as wiser than the ages with his tears.

Should we cry at what we see around us?  There is, for sure, enough egotism about to make even children weep.  After we shed our tears we should resolve to live lives worthy of the gospel.  That is, we should amend our ways by placing the good of others alongside our own and by praying that God turn the situation around.

Wednesday, November 22, 2017

Memorial of Saint Cecilia, virgin and martyr

(II Maccabees 7:1.20-31; Luke 19:11-28)

One of the greatest achievements of the twentieth century was completed on December 10, 1948.  On that day the United Nations overcame cultural and ideological barriers to adopt the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  Of course, the system of rights and responsibilities has not always been honored by its signees.  Even the United States for a number of years after the declaration’s passage permitted widespread racial discrimination.

One right at the very core of the freedoms expressed in the Universal Declaration is that of practicing one’s religious beliefs.  Taken seriously, religion is not a personal choice much less a whimsical fancy, but the following of one’s conscience where God speaks to the person.  It is also constructive of a good society.  All religions worthy of the name should guide their adherents to virtue.  Where religion is repressed, on the other hand, rebellion follows discontent and disruption of peace.

The pious story in today’s first reading tells of a vicious ruler who tries to suppress the Jewish religion.  Evidently many Jews went along with the barbarism, but not all nor, perhaps, even the majority.  Those who did buy into the tyranny possibly thought, like many do today, that religion does not matter as long as there is food on one’s table.  The mother and her seven sons knew better.  Because they believed that violating a commandment of God is worse than death, they willingly accepted the latter.  Their sacrifice anticipated that of Jesus who likewise died in obedience to God and that of St. Cecilia, a third century Roman martyr, whom we remember especially today.  However, Jesus’ martyrdom was greater in a real sense than all others.  Although he lived a completely righteous life according to the tenets of Jewish belief, he suffered not just the outrageous decision of the political regime but the contempt of the religious leaders in his land.  

Tuesday, November 21, 2017

Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

(II Maccabee 6:18-31; Luke 19:1-10)

The readings today tell the stories of two Jewish heroes.  The first is an old man, Eleazar, whose lengthy life has become the source of sorrow.  Foreigners are imposing their ways on his native Israel.  What is worse, the people are cooperating with the oppressors.  Now his own friends call him to join in their abandonment of God’s law.  He resists the temptation and pays the price of fidelity with his life.

The second hero is an unlikely tax-collector.  Zacchaeus supposedly takes what doesn’t belong to him under government auspices.  But really he is a man who is so righteous that he exults in the possibility of seeing Jesus, God’s prophet. He proves his zeal by showing Jesus that he goes beyond the law’s letter.  He is willing to give half, not just a tenth, of his belongings to the poor and pay back four times, not just twice, if he has extorted anything from anyone.

There is another Jewish hero whom we celebrate today.  She was as faithful as the morning sun in following the law.  She could not refrain from singing God’s praises.  Today is the feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Temple.  She is dedicated to God who will ask her to give birth and educate His Son, Jesus.  Because she too has lived a righteous life, the responsibility will not be impossible.  Because she can count on God’s grace, she will accomplish the task with distinction.

Monday, November 20, 2017

Monday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time

(I Maccabees 1:10-15.41-43.54-57.62-63; Luke 18:35-43)

Faith is sometimes said to be another way of seeing.  Rather than perceiving color, faith finds spiritual lights.  Faith is aware of a God who loves humans.  It accepts the promise of resurrection of the body and eternal life.  In the gospel today faith enables the blind man to recognize Jesus as the “Son of David,” the long-awaited Savior.  This faith would have saved the blind man even if Jesus did not bless him with physical sight.

Determination characterizes the blind man almost as much as his faith.  When the people rebuke him for calling out, he does it all the louder.  Because of his insistence, Jesus notices him.  It might be asked whether the blind man is more interested in attracting attention to himself than in being cured.  Jesus, however, finds him sincere when he grants his request. 

The blind man immediately follows Jesus.  He literally becomes Jesus’ disciple.  We can take him as a model disciple.  His faith, determination, and sincerity before the Lord show us how to better follow Jesus.