Wednesday, October 9, 2019

Wednesday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time

(Jonah 4:1-11; Luke 11:1-4)

If we haven’t heard the words ourselves, we certainly have heard them spoken to others.  A father or, at least, a person with power threatens a subordinate who did something wrong.  He says, “I’m going to teach you a lesson you’ll never forget.”  In today’s first reading God teaches Jonah a lesson that he is not likely to forget either.

Jonah has successfully converted the immense city of Nineveh to the Lord.  But he is not proud, happy, or, much less, grateful for the accomplishment.  He sulks because of his prejudice against Ninevites.  God then teaches Jonah a lesson about bias.  He gives the prophet a plant which brings him comfort.  Then suddenly God takes the soothing plant away.  Jonah is upset over the loss.  God explains that as the plant was to Jonah, the people of Nineveh were to God.    Because losing the people’s trust upset Him, the Lord sent Jonah to bring them back.  The prophet should not hate Ninevites but love them as brothers and sisters in the Lord.

There are two faults with trying to teach another “a lesson that they will never forget.”  First, the one teaching is putting herself or himself in the place of God.  There are situations in which this is legitimate.  However, the person who assumes that authority should take care that he or she has a right to it.  Second and more importantly, God always acts out of love.  He wants people to repent of their sins so that they may rejoice with Him.  He does not act out of spite as does one intent on teaching another a lesson that will never be forgotten.

Tuesday, October 8, 2019

Tuesday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time

(Jonah 3:1-10; Luke 10:38-42)

Acute observers compare how yesterday’s gospel passage ended with today’s lesson.  After relating the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus told the scholar of the law, “’Go and do likewise.’”  The one who meditates on the Scriptures must also help his neighbor.  Today Jesus has the opposite message for one who spends her day helping others.

Martha is like my aunts when they prepared their house for guests.  She completes every detail.  In the process she exhausts herself and then wonders why her sister does not lend her a hand.  Of course, Mary is listening to the Lord.  But Martha does not think that it is worthy excuse and takes her complaint to Jesus.  He advises her that she must learn when to stop working and listen.

The spiritual life like most everything else is a matter of balance.  At times we must pray and listen to the word of God reverberate within us.  At other times we must act on that word with love.  Doing either of these exercises exclusive of the other will lead to imbalance and frustration. 

Monday, October 7, 2019

Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary

(Jonah 1:1-2:2.11; Luke 10:25-37)

 Unlike religious zealots the Bible tends to be inclusive.  Last week the Old Testament readings at mass chastised Israel for cavorting with foreigners.   Today the reading features God’s effort to save Assyria, one of Israel’s fiercest enemies.   God sends Jonah, the reluctant prophet, to convert the nation which He also loves.

But Jonah has evidently developed a bias against Assyria.  He disobediently boards a ship heading away from the nation to which God has sent him.  Likely depressed by his sin, Jonah sleeps through a violent storm that arises.  Interestingly, the pagan sailors ask Jonah to pray to his God for deliverance.  These same barbarians question the morality of Jonah’s recommendation that they throw him overboard.

There are good people everywhere.  It can even be said that the majority of people everywhere are good.  We should not make blanket statements condemning the people of Afghanistan, Somalia or North Korea.  Then again evil is always lurking over us so that even the best of peoples commit egregious offenses.  Ours is to repent of sin both personal and social.  At the same time we pray that the faults of other individuals and nations be corrected.

Friday, October 4, 2019

Memorial of Saint Francis of Assisi, religious

(Baruch 1:15-22; Luke 10:13-16)

One of the reasons that St. Francis of Assisi has been so popular through the centuries is that he is seen as a romantic.  It is said that Francis separated himself from his money-driven father by taking off his fine clothes in the public square.  Even more charming is the story of his taming a vicious wolf by appealing to the wolf’s reason.  He promised the wolf that if it would stop ravaging the town, the townspeople provide it every day.  The difficulty with stories like this second one is that they are not always accurate.

A recent biography by a hard-nosed historian dismisses a large amount of the legend surrounding Francis.  What he finds is a man like the rest of us groping to God in a troubled world.  But Francis, of course, reached his object without the pains of purgatory.  Perhaps it was a special devotion to Christ that gave him the critical edge.  Francis loved the Lord because Jesus truly impoverished himself many times over.  He became human and then died on the cross.  Then he has fed his disciples with his own body in the Eucharist.

We do well to imitate Francis of Assisi.  We need not go barefoot or eschew swatting flies.  But we should carefully contemplate the mystery that confronts us at Mass.  It is Jesus under the guise of bread and wine who calls us to humble ourselves so that we might strengthen others.

Thursday, October 3, 2019

Thursday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time

(Nehemiah 8:1-4a.5-6.7b-12; Luke 10:1-12)

A number of years ago a play featuring the gospel won acclaim in New York.  It wasn’t “Jesus Christ, Superstar” or “Godspell” but one person rendition of the Gospel according to Mark.  The performer, no doubt, was able to convey the depth of human love which Mark relates.  Evidently, the scribe Ezra is able to give a similarly effective performance in today’s first reading.

The occasion is an assembly of the people of Jerusalem at the Temple site.  Ezra reads the Law, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, to an astonished crowd.  The people are spell-bound by the story of God’s love for them.  They start to cry when they think how they and their ancestors have betrayed this love.  However, Nehemiah, the governor, intervenes.  He tells them not to be sad.  After all, God still loves them and forgives their sins.

There are many passages in the New Testament that invoke tears.  John 3:16 and Romans 8:38-39 come to mind even before the Gospel of Mark.  There are days when we should weep for betraying Christ’s love.  But today in gorgeous October we might just give thanks to God for Jesus.  He has witnessed the Father’s goodness in a way that transcends our imaginations.