Friday, October 8, 2021

 Friday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time

 (Joel 1:13-15.2:1-2; Luke 11:15-26)

A local parish had its first “Christ Renews His Church” retreat.  The men responded well.  Most of those who signed up attended.  Just as wonderful, most who came on Friday night stayed until Sunday.  But, of course, the end of the retreat was not the end of the “Christ Renews His Church” process.  Before people went home, a follow-up meeting was scheduled.  At that reunion the men would share how they felt when they returned to the regular ways of the world.  Such follow-up meetings are typical of the popular movements that invigorate the Church today.  Jesus hints at their necessity in today’s gospel.

Jesus has just driven out a demon.  The people wonder where he got such power.  He tries to convince them that it comes from God 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 would say that thinking one can remain in virtue without prayer and penitence is tantamount to playing a trick on oneself.  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, evils, and demons today.  But this does not mean that they do not exist.  More sophisticated, we typically call the moral problems we face “psychological pathology,” “deviant behaviors,” or the like.  In any case, if we can rid ourselves of moral deviances, we are wise to stay close to Jesus in prayer and virtue.  If not, we are likely to experience even greater moral difficulties than before.

Thursday, October 7, 2021

 Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary

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

The old lady was not Catholic, but she enjoyed praying the rosary.  She had prayed it as a girl when she attended a “convent school.”  She seemed to find the prayers a request for access to the Lord that would be surely granted.  In today’s gospel Jesus assures similar efficacy for all prayers made with persistence.

Jesus helps his disciples appreciate the need of prayer by comparing God to humans.  He says that God answers prayer to stop being badgered.  He adds that God is like a father who would not want anything evil to happy for his child.  As ridiculous it is to think of God as being badgered and as customary it is to think of God as father, God’s benevolence goes beyond these analogies.  God wants us to be like Himself – trusting and merciful.

God trusts us with freedom to choose what is true and good.  He wants us also to be kind to others – ready to forgive their sins and help them improve.  When we pray, whether it be the rosary or suppliant intercessions, we draw closer to God, our goal in life.

Wednesday, October 6, 2021

 Wednesday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time

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

It is said that the indigenous of mid-Guatemala were so fierce that their territory was called the “land of war.”  Then Dominican priest Bartolomé de Las Casas proposed a plan to convert the hostile natives.  Without any guns at all he and other Dominicans would trach native traders the gospel.  In turn the traders brought the good news into rural areas.  Soon the people were evangelized and pacified.  Since then, there land has been renamed. It is called “Verapaz” or “true peace.” Today’s first reading intimates a similar story.

Jonah has carried a prejudice against the Ninevites.  They conquered and oppressed his ancestors who were brought into exile in Nineveh.   Now they have repented of their sins and are being shown God’s mercy.  Jonah would have them annihilated not exonerated.  For this reason, he broods over what his preaching at God’s insistence has wrought.

We might not want to forgive those who have harmed us either.  Even though they apologize and extend a hand, we might want to see them suffer.  The Book of Jonah tells us that this is not the attitude God expects from us.  Quite the contrary, we should thank God for converting the hearts of people.  We should also rejoice with the people for coming to know God’s mercy.

Tuesday, October 5, 2021

 Tuesday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time

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

Seven years ago ISIS blew up what they thought was the tomb of the prophet Jonah.  However, Jonah was not buried on that site because he never existed, at least as the biblical book pictures him.  Jonah is a story inspired by God to teach Jews and the rest of humanity about God’s mercy.  It extends to all creation, not just to Israel.

The Book of Jonah was written after the Jewish exile in Babylon, probably in the fifth century B.C. Jews suffered greatly during the exile, but God had delivered them. God seemed on their side, but they questioned how God relates to other nations?  The Book of Jonah shows that God extends the same mercy if the people there repent of their iniquity.  God is bigger than Jewish nationalists at the time wanted to admit.

It is a mistake to think that God does not love and cannot forgive those who have not been baptized.  Vatican II made clear that His love reaches out to all.  Christ is absolutely necessary for salvation, but access to him may be made secretly, even unknowingly.  What is necessary is the person’s exhibiting the love Christ shared with us on the cross.

Monday, October 4, 2021

 

Memorial of Saint Francis of Assisi

(Jonah 1:1-2:1-2.11; Luke 10:25-37)

 Not long after his conversion St. Francis was riding on his horse. He came across an odor so foul that his horse reared back.  Francis looked for the source of the odor and saw a leper in the middle of the road.  He had always been repelled by lepers, but now he dismounted and went to the leper. The leper held out his hands, and Francis kissed them.  It was the sign of reverence people in the Middle Ages given to a bishop.  Francis saw something priestly in this leper.  Indeed, he saw him as another Christ.

In today’s gospel Jesus tells the familiar story of the good Samaritan.  Tradition as long identified this Samaritan with Christ who saved humanity from death.  Jesus would have identified the man beaten and left half-dead with himself.  What the Samaritan did for that poor man, he did for the Lord.

It sounds impossible, but we are to imitate Francis of Assisi just as he became “another Christ.”  Like Francis, we should have a special sensitivity to for the poor and suffering.  Like Francis, we should have a special love for Christ.