Wednesday, October 14, 2020

 Wednesday of the Twenty-eighth Week

(Galatians 5:18-25; Luke 11: 42-46)

Throughout Christianity there have been cynics who see the body as evil.  In the first centuries after Christ Docetists claimed that the body was so bad that Christ could not possibly have had one.  In more recent times puritan sects have propounded that the body has had to be kept under tight wraps.  But the New Testament is unanimous, Christ became incarnate.  He had a body which is good.

But the good of the body can be taken over by its own evil inclinations.  St. Paul alludes to these inclinations in today’s reading from Galatians.  He identifies them as the works of “the flesh.”  They are sexual impurity, hatred, selfishness and the like.  The flesh’s relationship to the body may be considered as breath inflating a balloon.  The balloon moves but is sluggish and heavy.  Paul contrasts “the works of the flesh” with “the fruit of the Spirit.”  The “Spirit,” of course, is the Holy Spirit.  It fills the body with buoyancy.  It is like a balloon inflated with helium.  The body becomes alive and life -giving.  It acts with patience, kindness, generosity, etc.

The Holy Spirit has been imparted to us in Baptism and fortified by the Eucharist.  It enables us to be more than loving children and good neighbors.  It prepares us for self-sacrifice like Christ’s for those whom we have never met or seen.

Tuesday, October 13, 2020

Tuesday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time

Galatians 5:1-6; Luke 11:37-41)

Most of the Pharisees presented in the gospels are myopic.  They scrutinize a person’s behavior for small items in the Law but fail to see the more important matters.  Jesus levels this criticism against them in today’s gospel.  One Pharisee is ready to criticize him for not performing a purification ritual which the Law does not even mandate.  The Pharisee is oblivious, however, to the fact that such criticism goes against the Law’s requirement to love one’s neighbor.

An incident in the life of St. John XXIII indicates how pharisaic behavior can affect the Church.  When he was a young priest, Angelo Roncalli, the future pope, taught Church history in a local seminary.  At the time, some Roman officials were so supercilious about maintaining orthodoxy that they suppressed faithful scholarship.  Roncalli was reported to Rome for assigning a book that the pharisaic officials thought objectionable.  It turned out that the book became recognized as an important study of the early Church, and Roncalli, of course, recognized as a saint.

We frequent churchgoers must beware of pharisaic tendencies contaminating our spiritual lives.  We can wonder why everyone does not do all that we do.  We think that because we give up alcohol for Lent, everyone should.  We must withhold judgment on these small items if we are to live up to St. Paul’s standard in the first reading: in Christ Jesus the only thing that counts is “faith working through love.” 

Monday, October 12, 2020

 Monday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time

 (Galatians 4:22-24.26-27.31-5:1; Luke 11:29-32)

 A young drug addict entered a rehabilitation program.  After a time of retreat, he was sent to work in a rectory.  In a month or two the priests were missing things in the rectory.  They confronted their worker.  He said that he might be an addict, but he was not a thief.  Eventually, the young man was let go, and no more things were missing from the rectory.

The young man could not control himself.  He needed restraints.  He was not truly free but under the spell of drugs.  Even if it meant stealing to acquire them, he would do it.  In the first reading, St. Paul is pleading with the Galatians not to have something similar happen to them.  They have been given true freedom with Baptism in Christ.  They should not trade this for subjection to the Jewish Law, no matter how right the Law makes them feel.  They should trust that acceptance of the Holy Spirit will allow them to live justly.  For this freedom Christ had set them free.

Few of us would want to take on the Jewish Law with its many knit-picking practices.  But some of us still do not care to live in the freedom of the Holy Spirit.  They may not be under the influence of drugs but of other interior impulses.  They insist on holding grudges and seeing the dismal side of things.  The Spirit’s freedom gives joy and peace to the soul.  Yes, it calls us to sacrifice our will in certain matters, but it also promises happiness, both short-term and eternal.

Sunday, October 11, 2020

 THE TWENTY-EIGHTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY, October 11, 2020

(Isaiah 25: 6-10; Philippians 4: 12-14.19-20; Matthew 22: 1-14)

Six years ago the headlines reported something striking. They said that Pope Francis believes there is room for pets in heaven. It was new news because the Church had never declared on such a thing. However, after an investigation it was determined that the pope said nothing about saving animals. The journalists were obviously confused.

It's not that the Church has a disdain for animals. Rather, she views only human persons, made in the image of God, as worthy of an eternal destiny. Yes, animals, particularly those with feelings, deserve respect. But it would be like finding a donkey flying in the air to see an animal wandering in the sky. A more knotty question than the animals in the sky is whether all human persons will be found there. For the love that the Lord requires of us, we hope so. However, the Gospel today indicates that this is not certain.

The parable of Jesus should be heard as relating the history of Israel. All elements correspond to the people and events of that nation. The king is God. The wedding banquet is the eternal life that He has prepared for His people as the first reading says. The servants who come out to invite the people to the banquet are the prophets. The first guests are the leaders of the people with money in their pockets and arrogance in their hearts. When invited by the king, they look for excuses not to attend the banquet. In fact, the leaders of Israel brutally persecuted the prophets Jeremiah and Amos.

Then the king makes a second invitation. This time the servants are the apostles of Jesus who call the people to repentance. Those who respond are both criminals and prostitutes and ordinary people. They are accepted into the banquet if they have left their former ways to live as sons and daughters of God. But one person has sneaked into the celebration without changing his life. It is identified by not having a party dress. This costume is the baptismal dress that symbolizes that the person has chosen a new way of life. Because man has not conformed to the ways of God, he does not belong in the banquet.

We read this parable at Mass not to learn the history of Israel but to help us please God. As the Philippians in the second reading are generous with Saint Paul, God wants us to help the poor. A parish asks for pledges from families to make sandwiches for the homeless. It is not a difficult task, but it palpably contributes the good of the unfortunate. Unfortunately many of the families that have compromised do not keep their promises. They will no doubt have excuses comparable to those of the first guests in the parable. They are busy and have to take care of their pets. These families are like the man without a party suit; that is, without real reform.

An Internet service gives five excuses for not going to work. One excuse is that a large shipment is expected. Another is that you had to make an appointment with the vet for the pet. The world likes excuses to avoid unpleasant things. But we should be careful. The heavenly feast is not unpleasant but is the most pleasant thing possible. We don't want to overlook the invitation. Rather, we want to do everything possible to enjoy it.

Friday, October 9, 2020

 Friday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time

(Galatians 3:7-14; Luke 11:15-26)

There is a story about a monk named Fr. Moses.  Fr. Moses was having a particularly hard time keeping lustful thoughts at bay.  He went to the wise, old Fr. Isidore for help.  He told the elder that he could stand it no longer, that he should leave the monastery.  Fr. Isidore took him outside to see the night sky.  He told Fr. Moses to look west.  The young monk looked there and saw a great number of devils whooping it up for battle.  Then Fr. Isidore told him to look at the eastern sky.  There Fr. Moses saw a countless host of angels.  Fr. Isidore said that this was the help God sends to his holy ones to defend them from evil spirits.  It is like the strong man who overtakes the guard of the palace in Jesus’ parable today.

Jesus is repudiating the charge of his critics that he casts out a demon by invoking an evil spirit.  He implies that the charge is absurd because one evil spirit will not harm another. Jesus claims that he can cast out demons because he has the power of God which is greater than that of any demon.  But he warns that a demon can return to a person to make matters worse if he or she only makes superficial changes.  The person must undergo a radical change of life if demons are going to be kept away.

We should not doubt the possibility of having our sins forgiven, be they having to do with sex or with justice.  Nor should we doubt the possibility of committing those same sins again if we do not change our ways.  We must avoid the things that lead us into temptation and pray constantly for God’s help.