Wednesday, August 24, 2022

 

Feast of Saint Bartholomew, apostle

(Revelation 21:9b-14; John 1:45-51)

Scripture indicates that Jesus worked with a plan to establish the kingdom of God.  He organized his followers to both represent and develop the kingdom until he returned to complete the work.  The result of Jesus’ blueprint is the Church with its bishops assuming leadership from the twelve.  Today’s readings points to Jesus’ plan and its fulfilment.

The first reading from the Book of Revelation gives a sneak preview of the Kingdom of God fully established. It shows the kingdom’s capital city, the all-new Jerusalem, coming from heaven.  The twelve gates of the city represent the twelve tribes of ancient Israel, each of which had one of Jesus’ apostles as its head.  Today is the feast of one of those leader-apostles, St. Bartholomew.

Not much is known of Bartholomew.  He is thought to be the same person as Nathaniel in John’s gospel.  Today’s gospel passage shows Nathaniel proclaiming Jesus the “Son of God and “King of Israel.”  The evangelist gives added credibility to this testimony since he quotes Jesus as saying that Nathaniel has “no duplicity in him.”

We must take care not to think of the Church as a social organization.  It is not a way to associate with people of the same interest.  It is the family of God established to facilitate the Kingdom of God, the fulfilment of creation.

Tuesday, August 23, 2022

 

(Optional) Memorial of Saint Rose of Lima, virgin

(II Thessalonians 2:1-3a.14-17; Matthew 23:23-26)

Today we celebrate the first saint born in the Americas, St. Rose of Lima. She was baptized Isabel Flores de Oliva, the daughter of a Spanish soldier and an indigenous seamstress. In her childhood she undertook the mortifications of St. Catherine of Siena, her model. She ate little, prayed much, and devoted herself to Christ as his bride. The name Rosa was imposed on her by Archbishop Toribio de Mogrovejo, who was destined to be declared a saint himself.  At first Isabel complained about her name, but a Dominican priest consoled her saying: "' Well, daughter, is not your soul like a rose in which Jesus Christ is recreated? '"

When her family had financial problems, Rose helped out by planting a vegetable garden and doing embroidering.  She noted the greater poverty of the indigenous people around her.  Their plight caused her to ask: “'If Christians are obliged to proclaim love everywhere, why did they come to America with wars, destruction and hatred?'” This question disturbed her until she discovered the redemptive value of suffering.  Rosa was beautiful, but she resisted suitors so that she might dedicate her life to Christ through prayer and care for the sick poor. She died of tuberculosis at the age of thirty-one.

We find it difficult to understand the mortification of the saints like Rose of Lima.  It strikes us as exaggerated piety or perhaps even madness. But it is wiser to see it as a way of sharing in the suffering of Christ for salvation as St. Paul says in the Letter to the Colossians. We should not do direct harm to our bodies. But fasting and praying on our knees can strengthen both body and spirit.

Monday, August 22, 2022

 Memorial of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary

(II Thessalonians 1:1-5.11-12; Matthew 23:13-22)

The gospel is “good news” because it announces the uplifting of the humble with the downfall of the proud.  Mary exemplifies this revolution.  She did not come from a prominent family, nor was she especially gifted as commonly thought.  But she served others without calling attention to herself.  She had other gospel qualities like prayerfulness.  For these reasons the Church, in a movement that took centuries to mature, has proclaimed her an exception to the rule that one waits for the end of time to experience eternal life in body and spirit.  To clarify the singularity of Mary’s state the Church today celebrates her also as Queen of heaven and earth.

The conceited and unjust are found in every age and in every place.  In the gospel they are most often represented by the scribes and Pharisees.  Jesus frequently tangles with them as is in today’s passage.  He calls them “blind fools” because they cannot see their own inconsistencies.  Although not all scribes and Pharisees reject Jesus’ call to humble service, some do exploit their privilege to despise common people.

We can always look to Jesus as a model and for intercession.  He was human like us.  Still, we need other examples of holiness for reassurance that the narrow road is indeed passable.  Mary fulfills this need before all others.

Sunday, August 21, 2022

 TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

(Isaiah 66:18-21; Hebrews 12:5-7.11-13; Luke 13:22-30)

You probably have asked yourself this question as I have.  We wonder what will become of relatives and friends who were brought up Catholic but no longer practice the faith.  Also some of them are living in relationships that have always been considered sinful.  However, we know them as “good people.” They lend a hand to the needy and speak with good sense.  We wonder, like the person in today’s gospel who questions Jesus, if our loved ones will be saved.

Perhaps we should first define salvation.  The term has been used so much that it has acquired different understandings.  Salvation is the perfection of all creation achieved by God’s action en Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit.  It will take place only at the end of time.  However, it is not wrong to think of salvation as heaven that has a certain existence now.  When we speak of personal salvation, we are asking whether an individual will participate in the triumph of God.  Because it will take place after deaths of all living today, we can address ourselves to the condition of the individual’s soul at death.

In today’s gospel Jesus seems to doubt that many will be saved.  He says, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many…will attempt to enter (heaven) but will not be strong enough.’”  Before Vatican II the Church emphasized the difficulty of salvation. Catholics, if it was possible, were to confess, be anointed and receive Communion before dying.   It was said that Protestants had less possibility of being saved because they received only the sacrament of Baptism.  And little hope for salvation was extended to non-Christians.  There exists a letter of St. Francis Xavier which illustrates this point.  Laboring intensely to convert Hindus in India, the saint wrote to St. Ignatius how he wanted to visit the universities of Europe crying out to the students that their preoccupation with knowledge in place of becoming missionaries was excluding throngs of Hindus from heaven and casting them into hell.

The position of the Church on salvation received a makeover at Vatican II.  The Council declared that non-Christians could be saved.  If a person did not know Christ through no fault of his or her own, sincerely looked for God, and tried to do God’s will, he or she could participate in salvation at the end of time.  However, Vatican II was not as optimistic about the salvation of the masses as some today think.  The Council warned of the deceit of the devil which derails many on the way to salvation.  Therefore, it saw a great need of evangelization.

Moralists have contributed important insights about freedom that should be included here.  They say that freedom to make a decision for which the person is completely responsible is always limited.  For example, if a child is sexually abused by a priest, it is possible that she or he will not be able to go to church as an adult.  However, this line of reasoning should not be used as a pretext to avoid responsibility for all one’s actions.  As the second reading indicates, God can use bad experiences as corrections of one’s behavior. 

It is better that we do not presume that the mercy of God will permit all to enter glory at the end of time.  Rather let’s make effort to fulfill three objectives.  First, let’s pray for those who do not make use of the sacraments.  We should ask God to awaken them to the fact that his love is found primarily in the Church.  At the same time, we should tell our loved ones of the efficacy of the sacraments.  Second, we should make every effort to enter heaven through the narrow gate as a testimony to the truth of Jesus’ mandate in today’s gospel.  Finally let’s support the missions, be they foreign or the work of the “new evangelization.” The entire world needs not only the good news of God’s love but also guides to respond to it appropriately.

The first reading today assures us that salvation is for the entire world. As Isaiah envisions, at the end of time inhabitants of all the nations will come to the city of God.  But this vision does not give us license to think that we are automatically saved.  No, salvation, always a result of God’s mercy, requires our efforts as well.

Friday, August 19, 2022

 Friday of the Twentieth Week in ordinary Time

(Ezekiel 37:1-14; Matthew 22:34-40)

Whatever the “Spirit of the Lord” meant to Ezekiel, Christians see it as God.  More specifically, it is the third person of the Holy Trinity.  As the prophet sees it raising the dead to life, the Spirit is responsible for all creative action in the Church.  It moves the People of God to praise, to bless, and to give thanks.  Although many are unaware of its actions or loathe to admit its efficacy, the Spirit has worked significantly within the past fifty years.

The Second Vatican Council called the Church to a heightened awareness of the poor.  The response was significant.  Intellectually there was renewed attention to human rights.  Pastorally parishes united to speak to political powers.  But the movement fell under its own weight as church men and women lost a sense of personal holiness.  The Spirit of God then shook up the base in the charismatic renewal.  Emphasis was given to prayer but, where it took a foothold, also to raising social concern and ecumenical relations. 

We might have to reconsider our attitude toward the charismatic renewal.  Often some among us have dismissed it as escapism into private devotion when corporate action is called for.  Those who know the renewal intimately, like Pope Francis, would disagree.  The renewal, largely led by laypersons, has brought hope and comfort to millions.  As a work of the Holy Spirit, it needs to be appropriated so that vigorous life within the Church can reemerge.