Tuesday, October 26, 2021

 Tuesday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time

(Romans 8:18-25; Luke 13:18-21)

Back in the 1960s there were a number of folk songs that expressed the futility of creation.  Peter, Paul and Mary sang of the “Great Mandala” which keeps rotating through cycles of war and peace.  The Kingston Trio popularized “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” which asks when will humanity learn to end war.  In today first reading St. Paul tells Christians not to give up hope for lasting peace.  He expresses this peace as the redemption of our bodies from death.

Paul begins by noting how the world suffers.  Not just humans, he says, but all creation.  Yet Christians have the Holy Spirit which allows them to prefigure the new creation.  The palpable kindness, love, and joy that are found in Christian communities assure that full redemption is on the way.  Meanwhile, Christians carry on in hope that the day of redemption will come soon.  Alternatively, hope assures Christians that if the waiting continues, they will survive the trials.

Paul probably expected the coming of Christ and full redemption long before the two thousand years it has taken so far.  But this time – the “meantime” – has proven to be more than tolerable, even enjoyable for many of us.  It is the Spirit moving us to help one another that allows us to rejoice in the midst of suffering.

Monday, October 25, 2021

 Monday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time

 (Romans 8:12-17; Luke 13:10-17)

 It’s a sin against the first commandment to put one’s trust in another god, but does this mean that I cannot keep a tiger tooth for good luck?  It’s a sin against the second commandment to take the Lord’s name in vain, but does this mean that I sin by saying “Oh God” when I see something awesome?  It’s a sin not to honor one’s father and mother, but what am I to do when they tell me that they do not want to hear from me again?  These questionable situations are similar to what Jesus faces in today’s gospel.

 Apparently nothing in the Mosaic Law forbids healing on the Sabbath.  However, certain Pharisees at the time of Jesus interpreted such an act as violating Sabbath observance.   Following such an interpretation, the leader of the synagogue chastises the crowd for seeking cures from Jesus.  Knowing that the leader’s criticism is an unsubstantiated interpretation, Jesus corrects him.  He sees the Father’s activity among His people as essentially liberating.  He knows that God’s hand freed the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt and constantly liberates the people from ignorance with the Law.  So Jesus is only imitating his Father by freeing the woman from a particularly gruesome malady.

It would be unfair to say that Jesus is rationalizing his action.  Again, the Law does not expressly forbid Sabbath healing.  However, he is appealing to the people’s sense of justice and prudence in interpreting the Law.  Always, he indicates, we have to use our intelligence aided by the virtues to determine what the Lawgiver expects with any given statute.

Sunday, October 31, 2021

 

THE THIRTY-FIRST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

(Deuteronomy 6: 2-6; Hebrews 7: 23-28; Mark 12: 28-34)

My friends love me. Thank God! They want me to have a long life. They give me different foods to extend my years. One friend has given me several bottles of agave which, she says, has many life-giving properties. Another has given me a bottle of apple cider vinegar. She says that one ladle daily resists most diseases. I am grateful to these people for their care and don't doubt the efficacy of their remedies. But I prefer to trust the advice of Moses in the first reading to be sure of many years.

Moses says that the people of Israel can prolong their lives if they fear the Lord by keeping his commands. Above all, they must recognize that there is only one God, who is “the Lord.” They must not worship any other god, be it a planet, an artisan object, an emperor, or an ideology such as the primacy of money. These things are only creatures of secondary importance.

Then Moses proclaims the supreme commandment. People are to love God with all of their being. This command may leave us with questions: How can love be mandated? Isn't love a passion that we feel or not feel? And how can one love an entity that seems as remote as God in heaven? The answers to these concerns require meditation.

The second reading gives us the key to the last question. He calls Jesus the Son of God who possesses the same divine nature. Jesus shares our human nature as well. Therefore, we know him as a brother like us in everything except sin. Therefore, we should not consider God as residing beyond the clouds but closer to us than even our neighbors. The Israelites had a sense of God's presence in the temple. However, this presence was completely spiritual. They did not claim, as we do, that they have touched him with their hands.

By referring to the first reading, Jesus in the gospel instructs us how to love him. We have to love him with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind, and with all our strength. This is a large order. Somehow we have to find ways to fulfill what he says. The heart is the seat of the emotions, among which is desiring or longing. We long for Jesus Christ when we think of what a wonderful person he is. He dared to touch lepers in order to heal them. He could, as a famous song says, walk on water and calm the stormy sea. He knew everything about the Samaritan woman without ever having met her. Who wouldn't yearn to know him?

The soul serves as the source of animation for the human person. Loving Jesus with all our soul means that we live for him. We will accomplish this task when we make it both the model and the purpose of our life. This is what San Martín de Porres did. This Black saint from the Americas had great devotion to Christ crucified. Testimonies of his life include stories of him prostrating before the crucified with outstretched arms in the shape of a cross. More to the point, Martin like Jesús always showed mercy to the poor, the sick, and the hungry.

The mind makes it possible for us to think. Loving Jesus with all our mind requires that we study to know him better. Mainly, this is a “lectio divina”, the meditation on the gospel. It also encompasses the vast literature on the Bible and the Church. With many great people, the more we know of them, the less we appreciate them. Revelations of the private lives of John Kennedy and Martin Luther King, for example, have tainted their character. But not so with Jesus. The more we know him, the more we will love him.

We love Jesus with all our strength when we sacrifice ourselves for his sake. This does not mean so much that we waste our energy on pilgrimages, although they are good exercises. As everyone knows, Jesus identifies himself in the Gospel with "the least of his brothers." That is why we love Jesus when we care for those in need. In Dallas there is a couple from Mexico who have developed a jail ministry. Every week they visit the incarcerated sharing the love of Christ.

A famous poem says: “How do I love you? Let me count the ways ”. So the poet describes her love for her husband as high and deep, pure and passionate. Although her words are very beautiful, they only say that Jesus prescribes for our love for God. May we love him with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind, and with all our strength!

Sunday, , October 24, 2021

 THIRTIETH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME

(Jeremiah 31:7-9; Hebrews 5:1-6; Mark 10:46-52)

Not long ago a song with a religious theme gained a lot of attention. "All God’s Creatures " tells of the choir of animals praising the creator. It goes: “All God’s creatures have a place in the choir; some sing low and some sing higher.” The choir signifies the Church that encompasses men and women from different walks of life. For the past three Sundays we have heard in the gospel Jesus calling different types of people to himself.

Two weeks ago Jesus recommended that the rich man leave his money to the poor and follow him. Last Sunday Jesus allowed the two arrogant brothers, called at the beginning of the gospel, to remain in his company despite their scandalous request. Today Jesus calls the daring blind beggar Bartimaeus to his presence. These men represent the range of people who inhabit the world. Implicitly or explicitly, everyone is called to follow the Lord.

Jesus always calls the person with love. The gospel makes it clear that Jesus looked at the rich man with love when he called him. To the brothers Jesus showed his love by calmly explaining the ways of his kingdom. Now Jesus shows mercy to the beggar when he hears him yelling his name. He has love for us as well. He knows our troubles and our obligations. He wants to help us overcome these challenges.

As good as Jesus is, we cannot fail to fall in love with him. He becomes the goal of our life. This is what happens to Bartimaeus. After receiving sight, he can do nothing but follow the Lord. The story reminds us of a movie about the seven monks who were martyred in Algeria thirty years ago. One of the monks was a doctor who had a dispensary for the townspeople in the monastery. One day a Muslim girl asked him what it is like to fall in love. The monk replied: “It is an attraction, a desire, a revival of the spirits, an intensification of life itself.” The girl then asked him if he had ever fallen in love. The monk replied that yes, a number of times. She continued questioning: "Why did you never get married?" The man explained that he found a greater love that led him to the monastery.  Of course, the love that he found was Jesus.

However, it is not necessary that love for Jesus lead us to a monastery. It can lead to a marriage with Christ as its center, or to a single life dedicated to the good of others. Our love for Christ has different forms, but each one is characterized by sacrifice and obedience to his commands.

Falling in love with Jesus changes our perspective. We rearrange our values. Instead of having wealth or importance as the goal of our life, we put Jesus first. We act like Bartimaeus. Upon healing from blindness, he does not return home to share the wonder he experienced with his family. Much less does he stop to collect the coins that he has been given. He immediately follows Jesus to Jerusalem.

Is it possible for us to fall in love with Jesus? Didn't he live two thousand years ago? How can we even know him today? No, Jesus is alive and dwells among us. We hear him at least weekly through the gospel that tells us about his love. We see him in the poor who live with both humility and integrity. Above all, we find him in the Bread of the Altar that strengthens us to overcome life’s challenges.

Friday, October 22, 2021

 Friday of the twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time

(Romans 7:18-25a; Luke 12:54-59)

In today’s first reading St. Paul writes as if he just heard the confessions of hundreds of contemporary men.  He might as well have in mind Internet porn as any compulsive sin of his day.  Too many men today are tormented by the temptation to look at lascivious pictures.  At the same time they feel both attracted and repulsed by the images.

The resolution of this dilemma, as Paul suggests, is “Jesus Christ our Lord.”  Not only was he a man who knew temptations like all humans so that men today might emulate his sinlessness.  More importantly, he won for us the grace to overcome selfish desires.  His grace keeps many people walking without stumbling.  And if they fall, he is there to pick them up – a million times if necessary.  He will stay with them, in Penance and especially in the Eucharist, so that they overcome their weakness.

We need Jesus to live upright lives.  We find him in the sacraments, in Scripture, in one another, and in prayer.  We should recognize him as Lord -- not one to trifle with – and follow the counsel he conveys in our conscience.