Monday, September 28, 2020

 Monday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time

(Job 1:6-22; Luke 9:46-50)

In a Civil War movie a group of Black recruits are training for war.  One fellow, known for having a good eye, hits the practice target.  Then the trainer gives the marksman a true test of combat readiness. He comes near and shoots his gun while the man is aiming his rifle.  The recruit becomes unglued and fires way off the mark.  Today’s first reading tells a similar story.

It is said that the measure of a person is taken not in good times but in times of adversity. So perhaps Satan has a point in wanting Job’s righteousness tested when events turn against him.  In the passage Job is sent a series of horrible setbacks.  Despite losing both family and fortune, however, he still praises the Lord.  He will be tempted even more viciously but will always remain loyal to God.

Can we do the same?  We hope so.  But it is wise to prepare ourselves for hardship by discipline and compassion.  We might fast regularly from food and visual stimulation to prepare for times of deprivation.  We could also go out to the grieving and distressed.  Sharing their pain, we anticipate the days when a heavy load will be placed on our shoulders.

Friday, September 25, 2020

 Friday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time

(Ecclesiastes 3:1-11; Luke 9:18-22)

We may not want to do it, but we can pity Donald Trump.  At the beginning of the year, he was riding high.  His party defeated a move to remove him from office.  His economic policy seemed to be working.  Joblessness was low, and income for everyone was rising.  Even his foreign policy which defeated ISIS and withdrew from heavy commitment had its appeal.  Then the Covid pandemic pushed his campaign for reelection to the side of the road.  The electorate would not judge him for his earlier accomplishments but for how he dealt with the virus.  Strange as it may seem, the preacher Qoheleth has this kind of turn of events in mind in today’s first reading.

There is an old saying, “Man proposes, and God disposes.”  The preacher notes how humans want to control things according to their liking.  They want to be like God.  The preacher says, God has “put the timeless into their hearts.”  But for all the planning humans might do to have things their way, it is God whose orders arranges things. He has “an appointed time for everything.”  Humans must follow God’s promptings.  They are born and die when God sees fit.  They plant when God withdraws the snow and sends the rain.  When God permits a war, they must stop their work to defend their country.

Over-planning does not become humans but gives them the illusion that they are gods.  Of course, we should make provisions for the future.  But even more so, we should look to God for guidance and assistance.  It is folly to think that we can control everything.  And it is wisdom to say along with Jesus, “Not my will but yours be done.”

Thursday, September 24, 2020

 Thursday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time

(Ecclesiastes 1:2-11; Luke 9:7-9)

Nothing belies the first reading today more than the second.  The preacher Qoheleth says, “There is nothing new under the sun,” but Herod is startled by what he hears of Jesus.  Since Jesus, things have not been like they used to be nor can they ever be so again.  He has changed the world uniquely.

Once on Christmas Eve it started to snow.  The white flakes were falling gently to the earth in the dusk of the evening.  People were rightly worrying about traffic jams as they hurried home and then to services.  But the snow was a reminder of the wonder of the birth of Christ.  Heaven was coming to earth in beauty and peace.

Christ has renewed our hearts.  Because of him, we know – despite appearances to the contrary – that we have an eternal destiny.  We want to let his words and example form our lives.  We want them to root out the egotism that makes it seem like things will never change.

 

Wednesday, September 25, 2020

 

Memorial of Saint Pius of Pietrelcina, priest

(Proverbs 30:5-9; Luke 9:1-6)

Today’s readings provide an explanation of the first beatitude, “Blessed are the poor in spirit…” Proverbs asserts that rich people, trusting in their wealth, are likely to deny God as the source of their well-being.  The gospel illustrates Jesus’ sense of God’s graciousness as he sends his apostles on mission.  He tells them not to take more than the clothes on their backs.  He is implying that God will provide for all their needs.

To be poor is one thing and to live in misery is another.  The poor have bread to eat but little more.  Lacking even food, the miserable live in dire need.  They may steal, as the proverb indicates, and that only multiplies their troubles.

Most of us have a good deal more than enough.  Yet sometimes we seek even more without thanking God sufficiently.  If we do not show gratitude but reach for more, then in a sense we become like the scrounging miserable. We will roam with unsettled hearts worrying over nothing.

 

Tuesday, September 22, 2020

Tuesday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time

(Proverbs 21:1-6; 10-13; Luke 8:19-21)

The old priest was describing “the best man (he) had ever known.”  He said it was his father.  The “best man he had ever known” was not well-educated as is thought today.  But he possessed each of the virtues described in today’s first reading. He was not proud, but he was diligent. He told the truth and took pity on the poor.  He listened to others’ instructions and takes note how the wicked end in ruins.

In today’s gospel Jesus does not mention his father when he speaks of his mother and brothers.  In all the gospels only God in heaven is Jesus’ father.  But his mother and brothers can be said to be many.  Jesus calls those who hear the word of God and practice it “my mother and my brothers.”  He is specifically referring to his disciples.  But in Luke’s gospel his reference does not exclude the possibility of his immediate family being disciples.  Mary, especially, showed herself attentive to the word of God when she visited Elizabeth as soon as she heard from the angel of Elizabeth’s pregnancy.

We were made brothers and sisters of Jesus at Baptism.  But the distinction needs continual updating.  This happens in the Eucharist.  We hear the word of God and are nourished by Christ’s body and blood.  Then we are sent to put what we heard and were nourished by into action.