Thursday, November 13, 2025

 

Memorial of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, Virgin

(Wisdom 7:22b-8:1; Luke 17:20-25)

Two years ago, a major motion of the life of St. Frances Xavier (Mother) Cabrini made its debut. A hundred or so years ago Mother Cabrini was in the United States what Mother Teresa came to signify throughout the world sixty years later.  She worked untiringly for the poor, in her time mostly Italian immigrants.  The movie depicted her as especially capable of dealing with Church authorities and civic officials for the benefit of children.

Mother Cabrini demonstrated what the first reading today teaches about wisdom.  She was “…intelligent, holy, unique, manifold, subtle, agile, clear, unstained, certain, not baneful, loving the good, keen, unhampered, beneficent, kindly, firm, secure, tranquil, all-powerful, all-seeing, and pervading all spirits…”

“Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?” T.S. Eliot asked decades before the Information Age.  Wisdom fully develops our human potential so that we may become saints.  Like Mother Cabrini, we should not just admire it but embody it.

Wednesday, November 12, 2025

 

Memorial of Saint Josephat, bishop and martyr

(Wisdom 6:1-11; Luke 17:11-19)

The Book of Wisdom was most likely written in the city of Alexandria, Egypt, around the time of Christ.  Today’s reading instructs earthy rulers on the need of wisdom.  The passage reverberates with gospel passages.  As Jesus told his disciples that more will be expected from those who are given more (Luke 12:48), Wisdom warns princes, “…the lowly may be pardoned out of mercy but the mighty shall be mightily put to the test.”

Judgment in Wisdom is not only found in the hope of earthly reconciling of accounts between victims and assailants, but also in eternal reckoning.  The Book of Wisdom assures the existence of eternal life.  It declared in the passage read yesterday at mass “…the souls of the just are in the hand of God.”  Christ, of course, validated this statement in his resurrection from the dead.

The warning of Wisdom to earthly rulers applies to most of us.  We may not be leaders of state or heads of departments, but most of us are given responsibility for others.  Teachers are responsible for students; head nurses for their staffs; and parents for their children.  We too will be judged on whether we “walk(ed) according to the will of God.”

Tuesday, November 11, 2025

 

Memorial of St. Martin of Tours, bishop

(Wisdom 2:23-3:9; Luke 17:7-10)

Today’s gospel sounds counterintuitive. How are we going to maintain a positive self-image while we claim to be “unworthy servants”?  The resolution lies in considering whom we serve.

In speaking to his apostles, our Lord sees the master-servant relationship applying to God and His people.  We serve God by our worship and our treating others with the appropriate love.  However, our capacious pride prevents us from fulfilling these duties.  Therefore, recognizing our limitations, we should be modest about thinking how good we are.  As Jesus says, in regard to God we are “unworthy servants.”

Yet we are His servants, created in His image with intelligence and freedom.  Even more enhancing, we have been recreated with divine grace.  We like today’s patron, St. Martin of Tours, can do what pleases our Master.  St. Martin, today’s patron left us a legacy of how we might do this.  He exemplified for us evangelical love for the poor, peaceful nonviolence, and fatherly solicitude for those in our care.

Monday, November 10, 2025

 

Memorial of Saint Leo the Great, pope

(Wisdom 1:1-7; Luke 17:1-6)

It was said at the time of his election that Robert Prevost took the name Leo XIV because of Leo XIII, the pope of great social consciousness.  He also might have had today’s patron saint in mind.  Saint Leo the Great, the first to take the name, was the most distinguished pope of the first five hundred years of the Church.  He laid the groundwork for universal papal authority so that future bishops of Rome could be considered not just successors of their immediate predecessors but, first and foremost, successors of St. Peter.

In the fifth century many considered the bishop of Rome as only one of five authoritative Church leaders of the Church.  He was given primacy of honor because the Roman see had been considered the see of Peter, the head of the apostles.  However, the eastern church envisioned him (and still do) sharing authority with the bishops of four apostolic sees of the East.  Rome’s argument for having supreme authority rocketed with Leo’s contribution to the critical debate over the humanity of Christ. Some thought that Jesus’ humanity was assumed into his divinity once he was born.  Others thought what amounts to the opposite.  Leo, assuming an idea that had been already expressed, wrote an excellent treatise saying that Christ’s human and divine natures were permanently united -- unmixed and unconfused – in a single person.  His formulation of the issue won the day at the Council of Chalcedon.  Eastern bishops recognized that Peter had spoken through the Roman bishop this time although they withheld recognition that it was always the case.

Not all popes have been free from error as not all have been holy men.  But all do have the authority of Peter, the Vicar of Christ.  Whether or not we see things exactly as the pope does, we must take to heart his teaching and pay him all due respect.

Sunday, November 9, 2025

 

Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome

(Ezekiel 47:1-2, 8-9, 12; 1 Corinthians 3:9-11, 16-17; John 2:13-22)

Perhaps you are wondering, as I am, why we celebrate the dedication of a church. Also, how can the feast of the dedication of a church replace Sunday, the Lord's Day? It may seem strange, but the Basilica of St. John Lateran is the cathedral of the Bishop of Rome, the Pope, the leader of the universal Church. For this reason, we are celebrating today not only the Lateran Basilica but also all the churches of the world.

The term "church" has different aspects that we should explore. For most of us, however, church means the building where God is worshipped. Thus, it has a special significance. It is a place sanctified not only by the Eucharist and the relics of the saints but also by the prayers of the faithful. Their voices have resonated in many churches for centuries, making the place holy. This is certainly the case with the Lateran Basilica. Furthermore, the church is a privileged place of encounter between God and human beings. When we enter a church, we make the sign of the cross with holy water to cleanse ourselves of contamination of the world as we meet the Lord. 

We also speak of the church as the community that gathers to pray. The church is seen as a community of disciples of Christ in today's second reading. Saint Paul calls the Christian community in Corinth "the temple of God." He means that the men and women who comprise that community are learning how to act as the Body of Christ in the world. Pope Leo had this idea in mind when he addressed the Catholics gathered in his honor in Chicago in June. The pope exhorted them to “build a community” of light and hope.

A community of light and hope will serve others so that the world may know Christ. In the first reading from the prophet Ezekiel, water flows from the Temple to irrigate the fruit trees. The fruit of these trees will feed the people, and their leaves will produce medicine to heal the sick. Likewise, the Church serves the world through countless charities and hospitals, providing for people’s physical needs.

Above all, the community of Christ, the Church, is a sacrament. That is, the Church is a sign established by Christ to transmit God’s grace. How can this be? From its earliest days, the Church has identified itself with the Body of Christ. Jesus himself, in today’s Gospel reading from John, identifies his Body with the Temple where sacrifices are offered. Indeed, His Body became the perfect sacrifice on the cross, bestowing the grace that forgives sins and justifies sinners. This same sacrifice is celebrated wherever the community of Christ gathers. Proceeding from the Mass to the world, the community radiates the holiness of Jesus Christ to all.

The Church as servant of the world, community of disciples, and sacrament does not encompass all its aspects. Many know the Church by its hierarchy, its rules, and its organizations. That is, they know the Church as an institution. Because it has been an effective institution, it has been able to endure for almost two thousand years. Another dimension of the Church is its role as herald, announcing Jesus Christ as Savior of the world. We would not be faithful to Christ if we did not proclaim this Good News. Finally, the Church is a mystery imbued with the presence of God. Human participation has created faults in the Church’s performance, but it has been able to overcome the challenges of history because of this permanent presence of God. And God will be present to us as long as we remain faithful to Christ.