Monday, October 6, 2025

 Monday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary time

 (Jonah 1:1-2:2.11; Luke 10:25-37)

 Several years ago a leading Catholic university removed the crucifixes from its classrooms.  Having a multi-ethnic student body, the university administration reasoned that the crucifixes might offend students of other religious traditions.  One Muslim student, however, was bothered by the removal.  After all, he asked, what kind of guest would he be if he could not respect the symbols and artifacts of his hosts’ religion?  Eventually, the crucifixes were returned to the classrooms, and their removal, no doubt, was attributed to political correctness.

 The Book of the Prophet Jonah similarly testifies to people from other religions showing greater sensibility to true religion than they of the dominant tradition.  Jonah, the Jew, is disgusted with the Lord for his parallel love of other peoples.  He flees when God commands him to preach in the city of Nineveh, Israel’s captors.  In his flight the sailors on the ship that transports Jonah show more regard for the Lord than he.  They pray to God for help and shudder to think that their act of appeasement may not please God.

 We find Jesus making a similar point in the gospel.  He describes the heretical Samaritan who comes to the aid of the dying stranger as giving God greater praise than the priest and Levite. The Holy Spirit works among different peoples and religions just as surely as it lavishes graces upon us.

Sunday, October 5, 2025

 

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time, October 5, 2025
(Habakkuk 1:2-3; 2:2-4; 2 Timothy 1:6-8, 13-14; Luke 17:5-10)

Today's three readings seize our attention. In the Gospel, the apostles ask Jesus: "Increase our faith." This plea has resonated through the centuries. People of every age have felt their feet slipping in following the Lord Jesus. The world has often been a desert that does not nourish living faith. No matter the era, it has always been difficult to place trust in the sacraments and the teachings of the Church as the path to salvation. In the Middle Ages, great plagues that killed half the population in various parts of the world turned the earth into a "vale of tears." During the Industrial Revolution, multitudes lived in subhuman conditions that fostered hatred and rebellion. In the last century, television created a new desert of distractions that diverted attention from Christ, our leader.

The internet age has not freed humanity from the feeling of being lost. Computers and smart phones have taken control of many lives. Young people, in particular, are plagued by the easy access to pornography, which corrupts both healthy relationships and sound minds. Screens have led many into a virtual, unreal world, with superficial relationships and experiences almost devoid of meaning. Many Catholics have settled for "Mass on TV." They find it appealing because it doesn't require the effort of dressing up, traveling, or meeting undesirable people. But by following this way of praying, they miss the opportunity to receive the Lord in Holy Communion and to meaningfully unite with the community.

A cartoon released last Thanksgiving summarized well the predicament of our social breakdown today. The first frame finds a family gathered around the holiday table thirty years ago; everyone is talking with one another, smiling, and having a good time. The second shows the same family today, sitting in the living room, each one staring at a phone with bored faces.

We ask ourselves how we can lead our loved ones out of this digital desert. We are like the prophet Habakkuk in the first reading, crying out to the Lord: “How long, O Lord, must I cry for help without you listening?” We too feel the need to ask for more faith, like the apostles, so that we can believe our situation is not hopeless. But the Lord answers us, as he did them, that we already have enough faith—we only need to put it into action.

That is also the response Paul gives his young disciple Timothy in the second reading. Timothy was facing a challenge as bishop of the Christian community in Ephesus. Paul tells him to rekindle the gift of the Spirit he received when Paul laid hands on him. We don’t know exactly what Timothy’s problem was, but it likely involved false doctrines circulating at the time like the claim that Jesus was not truly human. Whatever the case, Paul urges Timothy to make full use of the gifts given to him by the Holy Spirit.

In the same way that Paul laid his hands on Timothy in the sacrament of Holy Orders, the bishop or his delegate laid hands on us in Confirmation. That sacrament sealed us with the Holy Spirit to serve the Body of Christ, the Church. His many gifts enable us to resist the obsession with computer devices that plagues our society. They strengthen us with courage not to give up the struggle; they balance us with moderation so as not to recognize the positive value of computers and telephones; and above all, they guide us with love so that our efforts may always give glory to God.

 

Friday, October 3, 2025

 Friday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time

 (Baruch 1:15-22; Luke 10:13-16)

  On the anniversary of his being ordained a bishop, St. Augustine said: “Where I’m terrified by what I am for you, I am given comfort by what I am with you.  For you I am a bishop, with you, after all, I am a Christian.  The first is the name of an office undertaken, the second a name of grace; that one means danger, this one salvation.”  More than most clerics, Augustine was aware of the great responsibility he assumed with ordination.  Jesus suggests the enormity of the undertaking in today’s gospel.

Jesus is dismissing the seventy-two disciples for their missionary journey.  He has mandated that they announce the kingdom of God.  Now, after indicating the consequences for those who reject the disciples’ proclamation, he identifies himself with them, and God the Father with him.  It may be a privilege that they have been chosen to preach God’s word, but it entails a huge mortgage.  They will be responsible for other people’s salvation.  If they fail because of carelessness or give rise to scandal, they can expect a more disastrous fate than the condemnation of Tyre, Sidon, and Capernaum.

All of us are being called today to be missionary disciples.  We are to learn from Jesus the ways of holiness, love, and justice.  And then we are to show these qualities to others.  There is not much room for slack on the mission.  But let us not be troubled too much by the responsibility.  After all, as Augustine knew well, knowing Christ has graced us.  We not only can but are delighted to share his love with others.

Thursday, October 2, 2025

 

Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels

(Nehemiah 8:1-4a.5-6.7b-12; Matthew 18:1-5.10)

Out of sync with his time, Jesus championed children.  Others marginalized children regarding them as foolish adults after sever years of age.  Jesus, however, valued their confidence in God and demanded that they be duly cared for.  In today’s gospel he referred to God’s assignment of an angel to safeguard each child’s welfare.

In contemporary times children are protected with rights.  But oddly, modern protection sometimes has undermined the responsibility of parents and even jeopardized children’s welfare.  Parents with the assistance of health professionals should determine the medical care children need.  Nevertheless, adolescent girls in many places are given birth control drugs without parental permission.  A few jurisdictions likewise allow adolescents to receive puberty blockers in cases of gender dysphoria.

Determining and providing what is good for children requires prudence.  Parents will hopefully develop this virtue when the natural love they have for their children moves them to seek learned counsel.  We can offer prayerful support to parents as they strive to do what is best for their children’s development.

 

Wednesday, October 1, 2025

 

Memorial of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, Virgin and Doctor of the Church

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

A parochial vicar was relatively new to parish ministry. When told by a Jewish laywoman that she wanted to become a Catholic, he invited her to register for RICA with the parish office.  The priest then relayed the news to the seasoned deacon who directed the parish’s Christian Initiation ministry.  The deacon responded unenthusiastically. He said that many people express a desire to join the Church, but few in fact take the necessary steps to do so.

No doubt non-Catholics interested in the Church are often impeded by considerations like the ones mentioned in today’s gospel.  They want to wait until the death of their parents who might be upset by their desire.  Or perhaps all the rules of the Church make it seem like a place impossible to give the soul rest.  They do not realize that it is the Lord who is calling them to come now.  Chances are if they wait for a more propitious time, they will never answer the call.

Christ calls even cradle Catholics to a deeper relationship with himself.  For some it will be a religious vocation, for others a lay ministry, and again for others more intense prayer.  We should not lightly delay responding to the call.  He is the Lord whose love makes us ever more fulfilled women and men.