Thursday, September 17, 2026

 

Thursday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time

(I Corinthians 15:1-11; Luke 7:36-50)

At the beginning of his letter, Paul wrote that he was responding to questions he had received from the Corinthians.  He reserves addressing the question of the resurrection from the dead for last because it is the most important of all.  Indeed, as John 3:16, proclaimed at Mass just the other day, testifies, human salvation hangs upon belief in it.  Why is the question of resurrection so critical? Two reasons come to mind.

The first reason presents the issue from the human perspective.  Death is the greatest of evils, the most formidable of human enemies.  This is evident in the death of a youth when most of the joys and hopes of life are yet unrealized.  But even for an elderly person, death takes away all that is of greatest meaning – loving relationships, growth in knowledge and wisdom, and hope of union with the Creator.  God’s gift of resurrection from the dead assures the realization of these blessings.

The second reason suggests God’s perspective.  Belief in the resurrection– the permanent and completely unexpected victory of life – implies acceptance of Jesus’ message.  Jesus came to preach God’s gratuitous and inviolate love for humans.  Acceptance of this love requires a similarly radical belief in the outrageous claim of resurrection from the dead.  Paul provides a long list of witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus.  Nevertheless, belief for rational people is still daunting.  It takes an abiding trust as well as a firm conviction of will to reorient our lives in line with God’s love.

Wednesday, September 16, 2026

 

Memorial of Saints Cornelius, Pope, and Cyprian, Bishop, Martyrs

(I Corinthians 12:31-13:13; Luke 7:31-35)

N.T. Wright is a well-known Anglican Biblical scholar and bishop.  He introduces one of his books on Jesus with a controversial claim.  He says that people don’t want to accept Jesus for how he is described in the gospels.  Rather they accept him for how he confirms their pre-established religious and social convictions.  It’s the same problem that Jesus faces in today’s gospel.  The people don’t want to listen to him because he differs from their expectations of God’s prophet.

What was Jesus like and what did he teach that was so difficult to accept?  The answer to these questions is perhaps best expressed by St. Paul in today’s first reading.  Jesus incarnated God’s perfect love and taught it to anyone who would listen.  Because of the radicalness of that love, he bore the enmity of religious leaders, believed in people who had given up hope for salvation, and endured the greatest human suffering.

Saints Cornelius and Cyprian, the martyrs we celebrate today, were different from most people in this respect.  They understood that Jesus called them and everyone else to a self-sacrificing love and did not waver in practicing it.  They died a premature and violent death to honor Jesus for his sacrifice and his teaching.

Tuesday, September 15, 2026

 

Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows

(I Corinthians 12:12-14.27-31a; John 19:25-27)

In today’s gospel Jesus is doing more than providing for his mother in his absence.  He is making his Church a family of followers.  The Beloved Disciple, faithful to Jesus to the end, represents all Christian believers.  With Mary as their common mother, they are to love one another as brothers and sisters.  That is, they now share more than common ideas and values but an intimacy of blood -- Christ’s blood in their veins.  Helping one another will be as natural for them as an elder sister taking care of younger siblings when parents are off giving birth to another child.

Mary provides the community a sure and substantial influence with Christ, her Son.  She is especially close to the Lord not only because of her natural relationship as mother but, strangely even more so, because of her attention to him as a follower. Like Catherine of Siena’s mother followed her mystic daughter on her benevolent missions, Mary accompanied her ever-gracious son on his salvific journey.

We do not have to pray to Mary.  After all, as the Letter to the Hebrews teaches, Jesus himself is our most efficacious mediator with God, the Father.  But there are times and conditions when we can pray to Mary with more fervor.  Certainly, a mother mourning her dead child will have common cause with the Mother of God.  And so might most of us when we think of how close our mothers once were to us.  As hurting or needing children, we called upon our mothers and unfailingly had their assistance.

Monday, September 14, 2026

 

Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

(Numbers 21:4b-9; Philippians 2:6-11; John 3:13-17)

A very successful businessman was defending his care for the oppressed. He said that as a boy, his father taught him to respect all people.  One day he used a racial slur in front of his dad.  The elder became so irate that he had the future man of success wash his mouth with soap.  The man never forgot the lesson and regretted his prejudicial remark for many years to come.

Today’s first reading tells how the Hebrews in the desert began to resent their liberation from slavery.  After their all but impossible deliverance from Pharaoh’s army, they grumbled that the Lord had delivered them.  Like the businessman’s father had his son wash his mouth with soap for the youngster’s insolence, God had the snakes bite the people for their ingratitude.  However, seeing the image of the snake that bit them mounted on a pole, the Hebrews repented of their sin and were healed of the deadly snake venom.

The Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross reminds us to see in Jesus mounted on the cross the result of our sinfulness.  He suffered one of the most excruciating deaths imaginable that we might be forgiven of our failure to live as God commands.  By allowing himself to be crucified, Jesus took upon himself our sins.  We have life – eternal life even – because he suffered such a horrible death.

Sunday, September 13, 2026

 

24TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

(Sirach 27:33-28:9; Romans 14:7-9; Matthew 18:21-35)

Today’s gospel passage addresses one of Jesus’ hallmark themes: forgiveness. It shows that Christ came to reconcile us with God and with one another. Alienation—that is, being at odds with others—is a primitive human condition. We find it in the garden immediately after the man and woman ate the forbidden fruit. Instead of acknowledging his disobedience, the man tries to blame his partner for everything. He tells God, “The woman… gave me the fruit…”

It is always a passion that causes us to offend one another. It may be envy, anger, or another of the “deadly sins” that leads to vicious acts or hurtful words. However, in Adam's case in the garden, it was simply the fear of punishment that moved him to alienate himself from Eve.

Our offenses never simply affect another person or people but always involve God. By sinning, we separate ourselves from God. For we disobey his will that we live in peace with everyone. Like any human head of household, God wants all his people to get along with one another.

To restore peace between brothers and sisters separated by sin, Jesus insists on forgiveness. The word forgiveness has Old English roots: for meaning completely and giefan meaning to give. To forgive, then, is "to give completely" or, better, "to give a complete benefit." In the case of a debt, forgiveness is to completely cancel the debt.

Let us apply this to Jesus' parable in today’s gospel. Jesus is giving instructions on the reconciliation of sinners with God and with the community. Peter asks him if it is necessary for the community to forgive a sinner up to seven times. Jesus replies with an unexpected answer -- not just seven times but seventy times seven. In other words, Jesus wants us to always forgive a sinner, at least if he or she sincerely asks us to.

Then he tells the disciples the parable of the servant who owed the king 10,000 talents. This was an almost unimaginable amount of money at the time. (The talent was the most valuable currency then, and 10,000 was the largest number used.) However, by asking for time to pay the debt, the servant touched the king's heart and received a complete cancellation of the debt.

Understood in the transaction was the condition that the servant show mercy to others, as the king had shown him. However, as soon as he was given the opportunity, the servant refused to forgive a debtor a relatively small amount. In fact, he wanted to imprison the debtor until he was paid back in full. When the king heard of this abomination, he became angry. He ordered that the wicked servant be delivered to the torturer until he "paid back what he owed." That is, for the rest of his life, given how enormous his debt was.

The parable applies to our “brothers and sisters” in the Church when they ask for our forgiveness. We must forgive them “from the heart,” not only monetary debts but all kinds of offenses when they sincerely ask for it.

But what would Jesus say if our offenders do not ask for our forgiveness? And what would he do with offenders with whom we do not share the same faith? Last Sunday’s gospel reading ended with the command that, if the sinner does not repent of his crime, he should be treated like “a pagan or a tax collector.” At first glance, it seems that Jesus is advocating disdain for the sinner or, at least, his isolation. But how did Jesus treat tax collectors and pagans? Didn’t he strive to reconcile them with God? That is how we should act toward our hardened offenders. We should pray that they repent and be ready to forgive them if they do. We should always remember that God has forgiven our sins. Therefore, we want to do everything possible to help those who offend us to be forgiven.