Thursday, October 12, and Friday, October 13

Thursday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time

(Malachi 3:13-20b; Luke 11:5-13)

Today’s first reading is reminiscent of the so-called “New Atheists.”  These writers not only expressed their disbelief in God but also showed contempt for Him.  One wrote a book entitled, “God Is Not Great.”  Another blamed religion – often defined as “the love of God” -- for most of the wars in history. 

The reading from the prophet Malachi looks at the world from God’s perspective.  It expresses His outrage that people would deny that they have defied God after commending evil-doers and doubting the need to repent of one’s sins.  God then promises justice.  He says that those who fear Him will be duly rewarded while those who flouted His authority will perish.

We must take care not to become too impressed with the arguments of the “New Atheists.”  Generally they can be reduced to the questions people have asked for centuries.  Why do bad things happen to good people?  Why do bad people seem to prosper?  It is good to keep in mind that Jesus, the Son of God, suffered terribly before being raised to glory.  Walking in his way is to often skirt trouble, but completing the journey is to find true happiness.

Friday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time

(Joel 1:13-15.2:1-2; Luke 11:15-26)

A local parish just had its first “Christ Renews His Church” retreat.  The men responded well.  Most who signed up for the event attended, and most who came on Friday night stayed until Sunday.  But the end of the retreat was not the end of the process.  As the retreat was closing, the leaders scheduled a follow-up meeting where the men would share how they felt returning to “the world.”  Such follow-ups are prevalent in popular movements from Cursillos to Marriage Encounters.  Jesus hints at their necessity in today’s gospel.

Jesus has just driven out a demon.  The people wonder how he obtained such power.  He tries to convince them that it comes from God not the devil because the devil would not work against himself.  Then Jesus teaches the people that once cleaned of their impurities they must stay close to the Lord.  He might say that trying to remain in virtue without prayer and penitence is trying to stay clean without soap and water.  As he puts it, the devil can return with evil spirits more pernicious than what possessed the person before.

We do not use the terminology of spirits and demons even of evil today.  But this does not mean that they do not exist.  More sophisticated, we typically call the moral problems people face vices, deviant behaviors, and the like.  In any case, once we emerge from a bout with evil, we are wise to remain close to the Lord so that greater problems do not overwhelm us. 

Tuesday, October 10, and Wednesday, October 11, 2017

Tuesday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time

(Jonah 3:1-10; Luke 10:38-42)

Since no historical records exist of the mass conversion of Nineveh and since the story of Jonah drips with exaggeration, the book is taken as an instruction to later Jews rather than a chronicle of an actual event.  It certainly indicates God’s will that other peoples be saved.  It also warns against prejudice.

Nineveh’s complete repentance is seen in the way both king and people change their hearts.  This sense is punctuated by dressing the animals in sackcloth.  Given that every society has some backsliders, Jews would have marveled to hear how thorough the conversion of their feared neighbors to the northeast was.  These were the same barbarians who had ravaged their ancestors.  Perhaps, the Jews could conclude, they are not as bad as they seemed.

The Book of Jonah is instructive to us as well.  It tells us not to consider any people or any person as beyond saving.  God works wonders. Those whom we may regard as despicable may come to surpass us in rendering true worship to God.

Wednesday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time

(Jonah 4:1-11; Luke 11:1-4)

With Halloween approaching, let’s reflect on what the word means.  We find a form of it in the first petition in the Lord’s Prayer read in today’s liturgy.  The prayer asks God to make “hallowed” His name.  It is a request that God’s name be reverenced or made holy.  The word Halloween is short for all hallows even, the eve of all the holy ones.  We have a sense of this meaning since the next day we celebrate the Feast of All Saints.

When we pray “hallowed be your name,” we express our desire that God’s name be reverenced throughout the world.  We want God to be honored and obeyed that He might have His due glory and we might live in peace with all.  It is then a giant petition even though it sounds simple.

The movement toward a universal recognition of God’s name should begin with us.  We should do more than not take His name in vain.  We should give it honor by testifying to others our gratefulness and continuous need for God.

Friday, October 6, and Monday, October 9, 2017

Friday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time 

(Baruch 1:15-22; Luke 10:13-16) 

In 1863 Abraham Lincoln signed a bill declaring a “day of national humiliation, fasting and prayer.” America was experiencing the blight of civil war and rightly held itself responsible. “We have forgotten God,” the bill declared, and also “we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace.”  Such a public call to repentance would never be made today.  But it is exactly what Jesus expects in today’s gospel. 

Chorazain, Bethsaida, and Capernaum – these are not notoriously bad cities.  There sin is likely a malaise that prevents them from noticing that the Messiah stands in their midst.  Rather than repent, they carry on business as usual.  Jesus declares that they have missed their opportunity, that their train left the station, that they will be left in oblivion. 

Just because our nation may never repent does not mean that individuals or groups should not.  We do offend God and should ask pardon and do penance.  While we are at it, let us go beyond the superficial.  We get angry ourselves and make others angry, but these are hardly the worse of our sins.  More grievously, we lie, lust, and ridicule.  We ignore the needs of others while we forever grasp at what our hearts desire.   

Monday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary time 

(Jonah 1:1-2:2.11; Luke 10:25-37) 

A few 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 Samaritan who comes to the aid of the dying stranger as giving God greater praise than the priest and Levite who, most likely for liturgical reason, would not touch him.  Everyone is wise to recognize the Holy Spirit working among different peoples and religions just as surely as it lavishes graces upon her or him. 

Wednesday and Thursday, October 4-5, 2017

Memorial of Saint Francis of Assisi, religious 

 

One of the reasons that St. Francis of Assisi has been so popular through the centuries is that he is seen as a romantic.  It is said that Francis separated himself from his money-driven father by taking off his fine clothes and giving them back to his appalled father in the public square.  Even more charming is the story of his taming a vicious wolf by appealing to the wolf’s reason: if the wolf would stop ravaging the town, the townspeople would feed it every day.  The difficulty with such stories is that they are not always accurate. 

 

A recent biography by a hard-nosed but still admiring historian dismisses a large amount of the legend surrounding Francis.  What he finds is a man like the rest of us groping to God through a troubled situation.  But Francis, of course, reached his object without the pains of purgatory.  Perhaps it was devotion to Christ that gave him the critical edge.  Francis loved the Lord because Jesus truly impoverishes himself not just in the incarnation and on the cross but in the Eucharist where he makes himself food for human edification. 

 

We do well to emulate Francis of Assisi.  We need not go barefoot or eschew swatting flies.  But we should carefully contemplate the mystery that confronts us at Mass.  It is Jesus under the guise of bread and wine who calls us to humble ourselves so that we might strengthen others. 

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. 

Monday and Tuesday, October 2-3,2017

Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels

(Zechariah 8:1-8; Matthew 18:1-5.10)

An anecdote about St. Thomas Aquinas may help us understand what Jesus is trying to convey in today’s gospel.  Whenever Thomas was to make a presentation, he went to the chapel and prayed.  He said more than a “Hail Mary”; rather, he spent a considerable time asking God’s assistance in his effort.  Here one of the greatest intellects in history petitions God’s help as if he were a little child begging his father to give him a puppy.

Jesus is telling his disciples that being so suppliant is the best way to approach God.  By referring to “angels in heaven” he is saying that God is ready to help His people with their every need.  But, he would add, the people must open themselves to the Father’s love.

This is no easy task today.  We live in a world that prides itself on competence.  Often we don’t want to admit that we need help.  We think that we can do anything worth doing by ourselves.  Never mind that this isn’t true; it is also wasting our energy by ignoring God’s graciousness.  Thomas Aquinas knew better.  As always, we have a lot to learn from him.

Tuesday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time

(Zechariah 8:21-23; Luke 9:51-56)

No doubt Jerusalem is one of the most visited cities of the world. Christians and Muslims as well as Jews recognize it as a holy place where God has spoken to humans.  The prophecy that Zechariah makes in today’s first reading has evidently been fulfilled.  Inhabitants of many cities want to go up to Jerusalem to seek God’s favor.  But it was not always this way.

The gospel relates an incident in Jesus’ life when Samaritans not only refused to go to Jerusalem but did not want to deal with anyone going there.  Jesus seems more disturbed by his disciples’ intolerance than by the Samaritans’.  He chastises James and John for their desire to violently punish the Samaritans.  They have been with him a good while now and should have known better.

The name Jerusalem actually means in Hebrew “city of peace.” We should look forward not just to visiting but to residing there.  For it is more than a place of prayer; it is a symbol of heaven.   In the sense that we seek eternal peace with Christ at death we want to go up to Jerusalem.  To this end we must remember Jesus’ censure of violence.