Tuesday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time
Tuesday, September 28, 2021
Monday, September27, 2021
Memorial of St. Vincent de Paul, priest
(Zechariah 8:1-8; Luke
9:46-50)
No name is associated
with charity as much as Vincent de Paul.
St. Vincent worked among gallery slaves and other unfortunates. He also founded organizations that cared for
the poor. This rich legacy of charitable
service continues today with the St. Vincent de Paul Society and also with the
Daughters of Charity, which Vincent founded.
When Jesus tells his
disciples that to serve a lowly child is equivalent to serving him, he uplifts charity. It is no longer an act of piety but genuine
worship of the Lord. It cannot replace
the Eucharist, but it complements and completes it. The Eucharist feeds people spiritually so
that they can act charitably. At the end
of the Eucharist, the priest sends the congregants to do precisely that. The command, “Go…” always implies to do good
for others.
Like Jesus’ disciples,
we can waste time worrying who is best.
It is a vain and worthless exercise.
We all do some things well while failing in other pursuits. We could spend our time profitably in helping
those in real need. These people
surround us – perhaps a street person or perhaps a child who needs someone to
read to her.
Sunday, September 26, 2021
Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
(Numbers
11:25-29; James 5:1-6; Mark 9:38-40.45.47-48)
Five hundred years ago
Europe erupted in religious conflicts. Protestants were leaving the Catholic
Church. Catholics often reacted with attempts to maintain by force the
integrity of their city's or town’s religion. In places where Protestants won
the majority, Catholics were harassed. There were martyrdoms on both sides.
After more than a hundred years of wars, the peoples agreed to religious
tolerance. They would not persecute one another but would try to live together
in peace.
Today's readings touch
on this topic of tolerance. In the first reading Joshua asks Moses to forbid two
men from prophesying because they did not receive the spirit of prophecy like
the others. In the gospel Jesus’ disciples
have in mind a similar end. They forbid two men to cast demons because they are
not from their group. However, Jesus objects to this action. He says that those
who are not against him are for him.
In recent years tolerance
didn't seem difficult in the Western world, at least until Covid came along.
The majority of people had no problem living in the same neighborhood with
people of different religions, races, and nations. If a person obeyed the law, he
or she could go to any church, eat any kind of food, and wear whatever hair
style.
However, the pandemic
has created tensions. At first, many did not like to see others without masks
or not practicing social distancing. Now the vaccine has created new
intolerances. Those who have been vaccinated look at the unvaccinated with
disgust and even disdain. Sometimes they openly say that they are threatening
the lives of others. Meanwhile, the unvaccinated accuse their critics of not
respecting the judgment of their consciences. They have their own reasons for
not being vaccinated such as the belief that the vaccine is not safe or is immoral.
In one church the unvaccinated have been asked not to come to Mass in person.
In another there are no protocols for masks or hardly any other protection from
the virus.
It seems that
tolerance, which Jesus insists on in the gospel, has a place in the conflict we
are experiencing today. Since most professionals advise being vaccinated, those
who follow their advice must be respected. When the unvaccinated are in their
presence, they should wear a mask and keep their distance to avoid
contamination. However, the vaccinated have to recognize the right of those who
refuse the vaccine to follow their consciences. If there are no indications
that the unvaccinated person has the virus, then there is no reason to exclude
it from their presence. However, it seems right to remind them to follow mask and
social distancing protocols.
Unfortunately, it
seems that the pandemic will continue for a long time. It has been difficult,
particularly for those who have been hospitalized with the virus and for those
who have lost loved ones. However, the pandemic has given us the opportunity to
practice tolerance and even social love. By practicing tolerance, we respect
others who think about the pandemic in different ways. By practicing love, we make
sacrifices for their good.
Friday, September 24, 2021
Friday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time
(Haggai
2:1-9; Luke 9:18-22)
The fact
that Jesus is praying before he asks the identity question signifies something. It tips off the reader that he is about to do
something consequential. In Luke’s gospel
Jesus prays before choosing his apostles, teaching the “Our Father,” and being
baptized and being transfigured.
More
importantly, the context of prayer heightens the significance of the question itself. Jesus is obviously discerning his mission in
the world. He is asking in prayer clarification
on what he must do to fulfill His Father’s will. He expresses the answer to his disciples when
he says that he must suffer greatly, be rejected, and be killed. Not long after he asks the question, the text
says that he is “resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem.”
We too
should implore God in prayer to make His will clear to us. Of course, young people need to pray for help
in choosing a career or their life’s mate.
Older people as well should discern in prayer questions like retirement,
a church ministry, and how to proceed in challenging situations. The answers that come that might be discussed
with prudent people. We will like find
that resolutions made in this way will be both efficacious and satisfying.
Thursday, September 23. 2021
Memorial to St. Pius of Pietrelcina, priest
(Haggai
1:1-8; Luke 9:7-9)
Today’s
gospel reports that King Herod wants to see Jesus. His motive, however, is not revealed. From what the other evangelists say of
Herod’s interest in John, the Baptist, he might have been a perplexed person
seeking spiritual support. However, his
interest in seeing Jesus turns sour.
Later in the gospel Pharisees warn Jesus that Herod seeks to kill him.
Many people
wanted to see St. Pius of Pietrelcina.
He was an Italian mystic of the last century who developed fame as a
confessor and a prophet. At 31 years of
age, Padre Pio, as he was called, received the stigmata or wounds of Christ’s
crucifixion. Perhaps more astounding,
however, was this priest’s power of discernment. It is said that he could tell a person’s sins
before he or she confessed them.
Like Herod
and no doubt Padre Pio we seek to know Christ.
But we do not need to go very far.
Christ is constantly seeking us!
When we cease worrying about impressing others, we will know his presence as
a solace, a support, and a stimulus to greater love.