Monday, October 9, 2023

 Monday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary time

 (Jonah 1:1-2:2.11; Luke 10:25-37)

 It can be said that the Bible is ambivalent about religious pluralism.  Last week the Old Testament readings at mass chastised Israel for cavorting with foreigners.   Today the reading features God’s calling Jonah to preach repentance in Nineveh, Israel’s fiercest enemies.  Likewise, today’s gospel exalts a grace-filled, non-Jewish Samaritan.

 Jonah has evidently developed a bias against Assyria.  He quite deliberately boards a ship heading away from the country.  Likely depressed by his sin, Jonah sleeps through a violent storm.  When awaken, he is asked by the pagan sailors to pray to 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 most people are good.  We should not make rash statements condemning the people of Russia, Afghanistan, or North Korea.  It is also true that evil lurks over us so that good people may 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 forgiven and corrected.

Sunday, October 8, 2023

TWENTY-SEVENTH ORDINARY SUNDAY

(Isaiah 5:1-7; Philippians 4:6-9; Matthew 21:33-43)

The first reading and the gospel in Sunday mass are almost always related. Today the relationship is readily seen. The prophet Isaiah describes the nation of Israel as a vineyard that despite God's great efforts yields bitter grapes. In the gospel parable Jesus speaks of the vineyard as the Kingdom of God and the workers in it as the Jewish leaders. He shows how the leaders fail to give God his due and will eventually kill Jesus for denouncing their infidelity. As a result, in both cases God punishes the wicked severely.

I want to suggest another way to interpret the readings. Instead of thinking of the vineyard as the nation of Israel or the Kingdom of God, let us think of it as our individual lives. God has given each of us a life to do the best we can with it. Unfortunately we sometimes fail to produce much that is good.

Perhaps some of us have trouble imagining his or her life as belonging to God. They think their life is the only thing they have for sure. But it is God who lends us our life and takes it from us according to His will. Thus we are dependent on God for our life and also responsible to him for what we do with it. For this reason in both readings the people must produce good grapes for the owner of the vineyard.

Because God lends us our life, we should take good care of it. We have to attend to the needs of the soul and body. We know the body's needs, although we may not always meet them. Eating and drinking wisely, exercising regularly and resting for more or less seven hours daily are not secrets among the elite but general knowledge.

Likewise, the soul needs nutrition. We should associate with people who strive to stay close to the Lord and seek counsel from those who are truly wise. Equally important is that we do not ingest anything toxic to the soul such as erotic films and ideologies that emphasize our rights and forget about our responsibilities to others.

The fruit of our efforts to care for our soul and body is found in good works. We take care of our families and cultivate satisfying friendships. We practice citizenship not only by adhering to the law but also by cooperating in community projects. No matter that it costs us, we do acts of charity.

A Polish family that did a great work of charity has recently been beatified. The family of nine, parents and seven children, was martyred during World War II for sheltering eight Jews in their home. They were farmers committed to loving God and neighbor. When they were reported to the Nazi authorities, German officers came to their farm. They shot first the Jews, then the parents of the family, Josef and Wiktoria Ulma, and finally the six oldest children. In her martyrdom Wictoria Ulma gave birth to her seventh child. The Vatican proclaimed this baby a martyr as well. It reasoned that the baby received a baptism of blood by giving testimony to God with its life.

It is difficult to think of ourselves as martyrs. Thank God it is not likely that executioners will come to take our lives. However, we might ask, if it were a crime to do good deeds in our society, would there be enough evidence to convict us? If we cannot answer “yes,” our vineyard is not yielding good fruit.

Friday, October 6, 2023

Friday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time

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

The last verse of today’s gospel sounds strange.  When Jesus states, “’Who listens to you, listens to me…’”, can he be talking to the towns of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum who all rejected him?  Of course not.  That would be like making Judas Iscariot a credible apostle.

In naming Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum Jesus is speaking rhetorically to the towns that failed to heed his call to repentance.  Reference to these places is part of his address sending seventy-two disciples to preach the gospel.  The first part of the discourse comprised yesterday’s gospel.  Today’s section completes it.

Nevertheless, we should hear the discourse as both the disciples being sent and as the towns being denounced.  Jesus wants us to tell the world about the Father’s love that has come primarily through him.  He also wants to save us from thinking that we don’t need him.  Without Jesus God’s love would seem fleeting and wanting.  We need Jesus to show us that God’s love is everlasting and efficacious.

Thursday, October 5, 2023

Thursday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time

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

A few years ago the United States was enthralled by a freshly told story of Abraham Lincoln.  Stephen Spielberg’s Lincoln astounded the nation by the portrayal of the sixteenth president’s righteousness and integrity, his political acumen and his patriotism.  The movie no doubt invoked many tears as it showed the depth of sacrifice made by the country’s greatest statesman.  A very similar dynamic is at work in the first reading today.

The scribe-priest Ezra stands up before the people to read Israel’s Law.  He is not reciting a code of rules but the history of the people’s salvation.  He reads of Abraham and Jacob, of Moses and Pharaoh.  But most of all, Ezra tells of God’s care for Israel.  He recounts how God gave Abraham and Sarah a child when the couple had lost hope of descendants.  And how He rescued the Israelites from servitude in Egypt and formed them into a community worthy of His name.  No wonder that the people want to cry!

Christians can claim the story of the Patriarchs and the Exodus as their own, but we have an even greater love story to contemplate.  We speak of Jesus, God’s own son, who took on human form so that we might know God’s definitive will and be strengthened to do it.  We too weep at the boldness of God’s compassion on us and can never give Him enough thanks.

Wednesday, October 4, 2023

Memorial of Saint Francis of Assisi

(Nehemiah 2:1-8; Lucas 9:57-62)

Every Christian is called to be a “second Christ.” Perhaps no one has fit that character description more than St. Francis of Assisi.  As Christ left heaven to sojourn with humans, Francis gave up a life of comfort in his father’s house.  As Christ preached reconciliation and love throughout Israel, Francis preached Christ in Europe and into Asia.  As Christ had “nowhere to lay his head,” Francis embraced evangelical poverty with joy.

Like Christ as well, Francis’ openness to God was not always appreciated.  Some of his Franciscan brothers tried to mitigate his insistence on poverty.  But he did not compromise.  He knew that riches like power tend to corrupt the soul.  He also recognized that shared poverty buoyed by a hearty trust in God was itself a way to preach the gospel.

Francis is so lovable because he was so loving.  As we sometimes feel misunderstood and rejected, we should remember Francis and make every effort to love others. With diving grace to assist us, we will soon rise from feeling in the dumps.