Thursday, September 11, 2025

 

Thursday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time

(Colossians 3:12-17; Luke 6:27-38)

Jesus calls his disciples in today’s gospel to a discipline that would make a marine despair.  They are to turn the cheek when struck and offer their tunic when someone has already taken their cloak.  This agenda of nonresistance will not appear to many as virtuous.  Quite the opposite, the one who accepts it will appear sheepish.

Such a stance is redeemed by two conscious choices.  First, disciples must put on, as the first reading says, “compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.”  Each of these virtues serves in the rejection of the impulse to defend oneself and one’s belongings.  The second choice is to pray for the grace to overcome the desire for vindication.  One needs the grace of the Spirit to resist the impulse of “fight or flight.”  Demonstrating these compassion and godliness, Christians will be recognized not as cowards but as promoters of a new way of being in the world – the way of divine love.

Today many of us remember the horrific attacks on America perpetrated by Muslim terrorists twenty-four years ago.  The President of the United States at the time, George W. Bush, a practicing Christian, ordered a reprisal against the terrorists’ operating facilities in Afghanistan.  We should ask ourselves whether he violated Jesus mandate to his disciples.  The answer must be “no.”  The President has the responsibility of defending the people.  Still there were limits to the reprisal.  Nevertheless, the counterattacks did not exonerate American Christians from praying for the conversion of their Muslim terrorist enemies.

Wednesday, September 10, 2025

 Wednesday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time

 (Colossians 3:1-11; Luke 6:20-26)

“There is a difference between the rich and the poor,” the writer F. Scott Fitzgerald told his friend Ernest Hemmingway.  “Yes,” replied the other with characteristic terseness, “money.”  As attractive as Hemmingway’s truism sounds, Fitzgerald makes a better argument.  The poor are generally less educated and more likely victims of various social pathologies.  Also, the poor have God on their side as Jesus makes clear in the gospel today.

Preachers have long noted that the beatitudes in Luke have none of the spiritualizing tendencies that are seen in Matthew.  In Luke it is “the poor” who are blessed, not “the poor in spirit.”  Likewise, those who are simply “hungry” in Luke are being filled, not those who “hunger and thirst for righteousness.”  The needy can now rejoice because Jesus has come to champion their cause.  In contrast, those who know abundance are wise to better beware because Jesus will not allow them much slack at judgment.

Are we to be condemned then if we own a house and a car?  And if we sleep in the night shelter, are we assured of Paradise?  Such conjectures are inevitably made and should be determinedly resisted.  Jesus makes a priority of the poor but sends his Spirit on all of us to take up his causes.  The poor also have to respond to his grace with care for others.  The rich can be saved by showing compassion on the needy.

Tuesday, September 9, 2025

 Memorial of Saint Peter Claver, priest

(Colossians 2:6-15; Luke 6:12-19)

Whatever the author of the Letter to the Colossians had in mind by “empty, seductive philosophy,” it is not difficult to find such sophistry in the world today.  From the amount of pornography available on the Internet, sexual pleasure obviously holds many people captive.  Even more pernicious is the cult of the ego.  People believe the absurd ideas that they are the creators of themselves and may do whatever they please.

The writer sees Christ as the salvation from all such erroneous ideas.  Christ brings people together in mutual love rather than allow them to exploit one another.  He does this not by imposing himself on others as was done with Israel’s Law.  Rather he takes the burden of the Law on himself by sacrificing himself on the cross, a faithful Jew until the end and at the same time the God of all. 

Whether Paul authored the letter or one of his disciples, the writer asks his readers to “walk in (Christ).”  We are to avoid sin, love our neighbor, and depend upon God for moral support.

Monday, September 8, 2025

 

Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

 (Romans 8:28-30; Matthew 1:18-23)

Final cause denotes the purpose for which something is made.  The final cause of a cup is to hold a drink.  What is the final cause of humans?  Why are they born?  Some will respond quickly “to know, love, and serve God.”  This catechism answer is true but not complete.  Each person has a particular purpose or final cause.  The first reading indicates this truth where it mentions that humans “are called according to his purpose.”

Somehow humans must discern God’s purpose for themselves.  They are to assess personal talents, interests, needs and necessities to determine what God wants of each of them.  Mary, the Virgin of Nazareth, was called to be the Mother of God.  Luke’s gospel records how she received this vocation through the message of an angel.  Yet the episode indicates some discernment on her part as she asked the angel how it could happen since she had “no relations with a man.”

Of course, youth is the time when most of us discern the monumental callings of marital state, career, and general stance in life, including faith commitment.  Yet as we age, we are called to refine our choices.  We can turn to Mary for assistance.  She provides more than intercessory prayers.  She also models careful discernment.

Sunday, September 7, 2025

23rd SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

(Wisdom 9:13-19; Philemon 9-10, 12-17; Luke 14:25-33)

The second reading and today’s Gospel challenge us to be better Christians by calling into question our commitment to the Lord Jesus. In this way they echo one of the most prophetic works of the twentieth century, The Cost of Discipleship, written by the German pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  Just before World War II Bonhoeffer warned the German people that being a Christian means opposing injustice such as was occurring in Hitler’s regime. He said that one cannot simply declare oneself a believer, say a few prayers, and expect eternal life. He called such an approach to faith “cheap grace.” Today we might say “Christianity light,” which cannot save. With this perspective, let us interpret the Gospel and apply it to Paul’s Letter to Philemon.

Many people were following Jesus because of the healings he had performed. As he noticed the crowds growing with each mile he walked, Jesus turned to confront them with the challenge of discipleship. He said that in order to be his disciples, they had to love him and “hate” everyone else. This is the literal translation of the Aramaic Jesus spoke. In reality, he does not want us to hate anyone. Rather, he wants us always to give him priority -- to do his will, not our own nor anyone else’s. Even when it costs us dearly, we are to conform our ways to his, who is the perfect image of God the Father.

To show that everyone must submit to him if they are to accompany him to salvation, Jesus gives two examples. The first is for the poor. A small farmer must determine if he has the resources to build a tower before beginning the project. In the same way, any man or woman must discern whether they have the courage to commit themselves fully to Jesus. If they do not, it would be better for them to turn away. The rich, too, cannot avoid the costly decision of following Jesus. A king must determine whether he has enough troops to defeat the enemy army before meeting it in battle. In the same way, the wealthy person must ask themselves if they are willing to sacrifice their riches in order to follow Jesus. If not, it would be better for them to walk away.

We might ask ourselves: what are the particularly great challenges today? One is the dilemma of a couple who desires a child of their own but has not been able to conceive. They must resist the temptation of turning to in vitro fertilization, which dehumanizes marital love. Another challenge today, especially at universities, is the temptation for students to use artificial intelligence to do their assignments. Some say it is merely taking advantage of available resources, but in reality it is just another form of cheating. In the Gospel, Jesus indicates that everyone has a personal challenge to face regarding doing his will when he says: “Whoever does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.”

In the second reading, Paul confronts Philemon with a demanding challenge. He asks him to free his slave Onesimus because of his faith in Jesus Christ. Onesimus had fled from Philemon’s house and found Paul who instructed and baptized him. Now Paul wants Philemon not only to accept Onesimus back, but to welcome him with all the rights of a brother. At stake in the dilemma that faces Philemon is his acceptance of the transforming grace of the Gospel.  Has Philemon truly accepted the grace which changes hearts from rancor to peace, from superiority to equality?  Paul is implying that if Philemon refuses to allow his heart to be changed, then he is not truly a disciple of Jesus.

Sooner or later, Philemon’s dilemma will become our own. Each of us will be challenged in a very personal way to act according to the will of Christ and not according to our own. For all the promise it carries, may we act as Christ would have it.