November 24, 2016

Thanksgiving Day

(Sirach 50:22-24; I Corinthians 1:3-9; Luke 17:11-19)

Europeans are said to become indignant with Americans for their politeness.  They cannot understand why their neighbors across the western sea always say, “Thank you.”  Even when the person offering them a service for which she is well paid or which is of no value to them, Americans are likely to express appreciation.  But gratitude becomes a person even when its expression is not sincere.  It is also true that when thanks are given to God, they can never be over-exaggerated.

All three readings today exhibit a grateful heart.  In the first Jesus ben Sira credits God for assuring the growth of every human.  He recognizes that the magnificence of the mind and body are the handiwork of a benevolent designer.  In the second St. Paul thanks God for allowing the Corinthians to experience the grace of Jesus Christ.  God has blessed them with every kind of spiritual gift.  The gospel shows the Samaritan going out of his way to thank Jesus.  The man would naturally want to share his joy with his family, but he shows the due priority.  God, the author of life and of grace and of virtue, is always to be thanked first.

Perhaps the importance of giving thanks has been etched in American minds because we celebrate Thanksgiving.  The celebration started with early American immigrants giving thanks to God for survival.  It was given national prominence by President Lincoln as an expression of gratefulness to God for sustenance.  It continued through the years of the prosperity during the twentieth century.   And we do not stop today because we know that the gift of creation and the grace of salvation are much more than our doing. 

Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Wednesday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time

(Revelation 15:1-4; Luke 21:12-19)

Preachers used to talk a lot about the wrath of God.  The topic easily captured people’s attention.  Also, there is enough reference to it in Scripture to make it seem very important. Today's first reading refers to it quite directly.  Seven angels hold the last seven plagues of God's fury.

However, we must be careful in using human qualities to describe God.  He (forgive this gender reference, but it is the language used to reveal God in Scripture) is beyond human emotion since he is pure Spirit.  Indeed, God is beyond our ability to describe Him.  Yet a few qualities stand out because they were used by Jesus in speaking of his Father.  God is just, for example.  Indeed, justice is what Revelation is trying to get at when it refers to God’s wrath.  For all human indifference to God's goodness, justice would seem to require the imposition of severe punishments.  But God’s justice is not a tit for tat.  Its aim is to make humans just, and its primary tool is mercy.  Both the Old and the New Testaments constantly show God acting mercifully toward His people so that they might finally learn His ways.

We cannot imitate God by becoming angry.  Although anger is not necessarily sinful, it is neither an attribute of God.  We do imitate God when we show mercy, but not mercy as permissiveness.  No, when we show care for others, are willing to pardon their transgressions, and firmly hold them accountable to improvement, we give testimony to God’s love.

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Memorial of Saint Cecilia, martyr

(Revelation 14:14-19; Luke 21:5-11)

Today, the feast of St. Cecilia, we remember church musicians.  They continually edify us by lifting our

spirits to God.  When an organ thunders a sonorous hymn, how can we not think of God’s the glory?  We feel much like the people in today’s gospel admiring the beauty of the Temple.

Yet Jesus warns the people not to get carried away by the Temple’s splendor.  It too will pass away -- he indicates -- sooner than they think.  “Will anything remain?” we may ask.  The answer to our question depends on what we mean by remain?  Nothing will remain as it was, but creation will not be destroyed.  It will be transformed in the manner of Jesus’ resurrection.  Human beings, possessing God’s very Spirit, will have a body like the glorified Lord’s.  That is, we will enjoy robustness without knowing decay.

Our task now is to live in the Holy Spirit as we await the transformation that is to come.  Indeed, we are to witness the transformation of reality by our prayer and effort.  We pray for peace and exemplify the peace of Christ.  We lift up Jesus’ self-sacrificing love as the model for interpersonal relations and strive to practice it in what we say and do.

Monday, November 21, 2016

Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

(Revelation 14:1-3.4b-5; Luke 21:1-4)

Much is said of the early Christian martyrs.  Traditionally they have been seen as the spur that moved many pagans to become Christians.  The theologian Tertullian claimed, “The blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church.”  However, there is little evidence to support the assertion.  But the early martyrs performed two important services.  They encouraged Christians who were willing to apostatize rather than be killed to change their minds.  “We want to join our brothers and sisters in the arena,” they said in seeing brave Christians go to their deaths.  The martyrs also became the heroes of the Church whose members named their children after them.  Today’s first reading celebrates these early saints.

The number 144,000 is the square of a perfect number, twelve, with three zeroes added for good measure.  It represents all the early martyrs whose actual number probably was not that high.  They maintained their faith under trial and are rewarded special recognition in eternal life.

Interestingly, the number 144,000 is not much larger than the estimated figure for Christians being martyred every year in recent times.  It seems incredible to someone living in the United States, but men and women professing faith in Christ are being slaughtered every day in countries near and far.  Some of them are hunted down simply because they are Christians.  Others are murdered because faith impels them to defend human rights.  In every case martyrs still provide us a model for us to live by.

Friday, November 18, 2016

Friday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time

(Revelation 10:8-11; Luke 19:45-48)

Franz Jӓgerstӓtter died a martyr of the faith at toward the end of World War II.  He was an ordinary farmer with a wife and three daughters until he was called to fight in the German army.  He knew that the Nazis were thugs and took his stand as a conscientious objector.  For a while the Nazis tolerated his resistance.  But as the tide of the war turned, they tried Jӓgerstӓtter for sedition.  Jӓgerstӓtter was told by friends and churchmen to think of his family and repent.  But he defended his position writing, “I cannot believe that, just because one has a wife and children, a man is free to offend God."

In the first reading, Presbyter John conveys how Jӓgerstӓtter must have felt before the guillotine ended his life.  John says that when a prophet first proclaims God’s word, it is like honey on the tongue.  But words have meaning, and actions have consequences.  People will reject a prophet’s criticism and then the prophet.  If the message is strong enough, they will seek to kill the messenger.

Having made the ultimate sacrifice for his faith , Jӓgerstӓtter’s story has a sweet ending.  In 2007 he was beatified by the Church.  There was no need for a miracle to show Blessed Franz Jӓgerstӓtter’s sanctity.  Pope Benedict XVI declared that his execution was in fact a martyrdom obviating any other proof of holiness.