Sunday, October 10, 2021

 TWENTY-EIGHTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

(Wisdom 7: 7-11; Hebrews 4: 12-13; Mark 10: 17-30)

Some of us remember the television quiz show, "The Sixty-Four Thousand Dollar Question." The host would ask the contestant questions whose correct answers were worth different, increasing amounts of money. Of course, the questions got harder and harder until the last, sixty-four thousand dollar question. In the Gospel today, the rich man asks Jesus a question whose correct answer is worth much more than sixty-four thousand.

The man says to Jesus: "Good Teacher, what must I do to attain eternal life?" He is an accomplished man. He has not only accumulated a lot of money but has also followed the Law of God. However, he knows that something is missing in his life. We too will have this disturbing sense that something is missing. Sometimes we feel empty after having followed all the rules. We tell the truth. We work assiduously. We take care of our parents. We give to the poor. However, we wonder if all these acts are really worth the effort. We don't feel like we're going to get the promised reward. We imagine that we are like dogs in the circus just jumping through hoops.

Jesus responds to the man in a surprising way. He asks why he calls him "good." Didn't he know that only God is good? Jesus is not implying that he is God. At this time in his life, Jesus looks at the Father with such awe that he cannot identify himself with him. However, the man's question and Jesus' answer makes us wonder: What do we have to do to make ourselves if not good than at least better men or women?

Now we recognize the need to repent not just once but many times. Each time we repent, we will see ourselves closer to the Father. When we leave the fascination with immodest behavior, we will become more like God. When we stop talking about our achievements to listen to others, we will draw closer to God. Then something almost impossible to describe happens to us. We discover that we have fallen in love with God. We feel deep within us the desire for His goodness, His truth, His beauty. Nothing less than God can satisfy us. This is the beginning of eternal life.

To help us reach our destiny, God has given us his word, the Scriptures. As the second reading says, it is more penetrating than a two-edged sword. One edge accuses us of sin - pride, lies, laziness. The other edge assures us of the love of God that surpasses all understanding, all rationality. Meditating on the word of God every day, we come to the conclusion that it is true. God loves me despite my lack of virtue.

"Kiss me, kiss me often " are the words of a particularly romantic song in Spanish. They make us think of two young lovers. At first thought we do not imagine that one of the lovers can be God. Then we realize how lovable, how truthful, how beautiful God is. We are falling in love with him. We feel that we do not lack anything. Everything will turn out fine. We want to be more and more like Him. We have reached the beginning of eternal life.

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.