Sunday Gospel Reflection 20070729
To love God is to love your neighbor. This love of neighbor cannot exist without justice.
Justice—society's recognition and protection of people's dignity and rights-is a necessary part of the Church's mission [and] an essential expression of Christian love. Hunger, refugees, prison reform, racism, sexism, and so many other issues can never be considered merely politics—they must also be at the heart of religion.
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How to Pray
July 29, 2007
Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Gospel
Lk 11:1-13
Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished,
one of his disciples said to him,
“Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.”
He said to them, “When you pray, say:
Father, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread
and forgive us our sins
for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us,
and do not subject us to the final test.”
And he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend
to whom he goes at midnight and says,
‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread,
for a friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journey
and I have nothing to offer him,’
and he says in reply from within,
‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked
and my children and I are already in bed.
I cannot get up to give you anything.’
I tell you,
if he does not get up to give the visitor the loaves
because of their friendship,
he will get up to give him whatever he needs
because of his persistence.
“And I tell you, ask and you will receive;
seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks, receives;
and the one who seeks, finds;
and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
What father among you would hand his son a snake
when he asks for a fish?
Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg?
If you then, who are wicked,
know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will the Father in heaven
give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”
The request of the disciples to Jesus, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1) can be understood as a quest for the proper disposition for Christian prayer. The reply that Jesus gives them can be summarized in one sentence: the right disposition for Christian prayer is the disposition of a child before its father.
All of us carry a longing to know God and enter into a relationship with him. Those who live a deep relationship with God attract us by the peace and serenity of their lives. They know they are loved, and they can handle the difficulties of life with joy and serenity. The disciples see how deeply and spontaneously Christ talks with the Father, and they realize they are far from that; so they ask Christ to teach them to pray. We too learn from Christ how to enter into a relationship of love with the Father. He teaches us to put our trust totally in the Father’s love.
They saw him praying and waited until he was finished. There must have been something very special about his prayer. That’s why they asked him, “Teach us how to pray. Teach us to pray as you are doing it…as John taught his followers.” We just heard his response in the gospel reading. But I believe there is more to his answer than just saying the “Our Father.”
THE LORD’S PRAYER
The Our Father…The Lord’s Prayer is so automatic…it is ingrained in us as a Christian people. I am always amazed when I visit residents/patients in nursing homes or in hospitals who experience dementia or Alzheimer’s and they ask to pray the Our Father. Many can not remember the simplest task or the names of loved ones but so many will race to recite the Lord’s Prayer with a look of wonder on their faces when they finish.
How often do we say this prayer? How often do we say the words without listening to what we are invited to experience? In some ways the Our Father has become a mantra that rolls off our tongues without the slightest recognition of what is expressed.
Many consider the Our Father to be the perfect prayer model. Not just because our Lord taught it himself, but because it provides all the elements of what a good prayer life should entail. First, it recognizes God as Our Father and gives him the glory and praise that He is due. Secondly, it provides for petitions in which we ask God for his blessings. Thirdly, it provides us with the opportunity to recognize our own sinfulness and ask for forgiveness. Finally, it forces us to realize that God knows better than we what is best for us and therefore submit to his will and not ours. That is why Jesus said, "When you pray, say..."
Jesus teaches us to pray in a very real way…in a very direct way…in a very simple way;
Our Father hallowed is your name…it is sacred…blessed…holy – we acknowledge with humility Your presence as we begin to pray.
Your kingdom come…your will be done on earth and in heaven. “Your will be done” …do we actually presume to know his will? Yet, Thomas Merton expresses this so well in his Thoughts in Solitude;
“My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor, do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so, but I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.”
Genuine prayer then seeks to make God’s will our will…always for us to be ready and willing to make whatever changes and transformations that are necessary in our lives.
Give us this day our daily bread
Forgive our sins as we forgive those who have sinned against us
Lead us not into the final test…temptation
As we pray…the persistence of our prayer, seeks the grace to do the work God calls us to do…forgiveness…charity…justice…reconciliation and to become the people God invites us to become.
This prayer comes alive in our hearts in so many ways. A friend mentioned how his grandmother always started the Lord’s Prayer when he was a boy growing up in Alabama. She would say:
Father, hallowed is your name…not mine
Your kingdom always…not mine
Your will be done…not mine
He said she would say these three simple phrases before beginning the actual prayer. He asked why she started it in this manner and she replied that her mother couldn’t read and this was how her mother learned to pray. It was for his grandmother a reminder to humbly place herself before God… as she began her day…as she went about her chores…and as she ended her day.
Jesus’ response to his disciples and to us is to understand that genuine prayer is not always a formula or a ritual but an awareness of God’s presence in our lives.
FORGIVENESS
Forgiveness is such a difficult thing. Many of us, I suspect, love to hold and cherish our hurts. Deep inside we find justification for not liking someone because of a hurt that they inflicted on us, whether they know it or not. In fact, there may actually be times when we hold a grudge over something that another didn't do or didn't say. In fact, it may be simply a matter of chemistry -- we simply don't want to be around another person.
There is something in our human nature that makes it easier to hold a grudge than to forgive. We may go through the motions of forgiving, but still harbor the memory of the hurt. If that's the case, have we really forgiven?
Our Gospel today suggests a different type of forgiveness, or, rather, a different price for not forgiving. The Lord's Prayer that is found in Luke's gospel contains something that should be a major incentive to forgive. How many times have we said this prayer without really listening to the words? Have we really heard what we tell God to do when we say: "forgive us our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us" or, as we are more used to saying it: "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us."
What does this mean? It means that we are telling God to limit His own forgiveness so that it matches our own ability to forgive. If we can't or won't forgive then we are telling God not to forgive us! There won't be any negotiations. Our sins will remain unforgiven if we cannot forgive others.
God wants to forgive us. He wants to do that so badly that he actually died on the cross for us. The Prophet Isaiah reveals how we are to forgive when he tells us what God does. God, speaking through Isaiah, says: "It is I, I, who wipe out, for my own sake, your offenses; your sins I remember no more." (Is 43:25) If God, who knows everything, can forget a sin, should we not be able to forgive and forget?
I realize that this is hard for us to do.
The Gospel suggests a way to accomplish this when Jesus reminds his followers: "What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish? Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?"
God will help us to forgive. I'm always reluctant to suggest asking for certain things from God in prayer because I remember the warning: "Be careful what you pray for, you might get it!" In this case, if we pray for God to help us forgive we may have many more things in our life to grant forgiveness for! Still, it is the only way to develop a habit of forgiveness.
Note that this is to be a habit! We don't forgive every once in a while, but constantly! Just as we are to pray constantly so, too, are we to forgive. Forgive those who cut you off in traffic, who take the parking place you waited 10 minutes for, or the person who took the last piece of pie! Forgive those who ignore you, forgive those who pay attention to you! Forgive and forget. Don't build up a treasure chest of hurts.
When Jesus came into this world St. Paul tells us he "emptied himself." That self-emptying is called "kenosis" and it should apply to us too. We can empty ourselves of our hurts, our prejudices, our grudges and embrace the emptiness that leaves behind. Yet, since nature abhors a vacuum we must fill that space with something. Let that something be love, not a self-serving love, but an agape love. A love that seeks the best for the other with no strings attached.
Love! Love because it is the only way to forgive. Love because it is, in the end, the only way to really live.
And, please, my brothers and sisters, forgive me if I have hurt you, ignored you, or not been available to you.
PERSISTANCE
Jesus invites us to persevere in imploring the Father for the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit brings holiness to our lives if we are docile to his inspirations. Christ reminds us that the Father wants to bless us with this holiness. But we must expand our capacity to receive this gift by increasing our desire for it. We must be persistent in asking for the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Children trust their parents to always do what is in the children’s best interest. “Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion?” (Verses 11-12). God’s children should likewise come to God with a spirit of trust and expectancy, knowing that God will always do for them whatever is in their best interest. Children, like the friend at midnight, refuse to take no for an answer. Say no to them and tomorrow they are sure to come back with the very same request. Jesus teaches us, as God’s children, to show the same spirit of perseverance in prayer. He makes this point with the Parable of the Friend at Midnight who refuses to take no for an answer.
But…they saw him praying and waited until he was finished. What was different about his praying this time that caught their attention? And Jesus does more than just teach them…he raises their awareness of prayer by immediately relating a parable that furthers their commitment to pray.
It is in the persistence of the man knocking at his neighbor’s door that finally persuades the owner to relent and open his home and give-in to the request. Culturally it would have been unthinkable…shameful to ignore the request. It is through the persistence of prayer that God will answer.
The lesson of the parable is reinforced when he says, “Ask and it will be given…knock and the door will be opened…if you then who are sinners know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him? ”
We are invited to examine our own prayer life…Do I pray? How do I pray? What do I pray for? To respond to these questions is to know that Jesus is in our midst and he gives us more than a prayer text. He teaches us the attitude necessary for genuine prayer. Give this some consideration…in our prayers, do we ask God to do what we want; or is our prayer meant to discover what God wants of us.
Persistence. If there was one word that best describes the characteristic of a good prayer life, it would be persistence. Our Lord himself very clearly illustrates this truism in today's gospel.
God does indeed listen to our prayers. However, it's only logical that He waits to see how committed we are to what we are praying for. Is this really something we want from God, or is it just some passing fancy that would be nice, but is really not all that important? God is waiting for us to be persistent in our requests. Only then, do we demonstrate our sincerity of praying. When something is important enough that we continually ask, we should expect to receive. When something is important enough that we continually seek, we should expect to find it. When something is important enough that we continually knock on God's door, we should expect Him to open the door for us to know how to obtain it.
The bottom line is God loves us. He knows what we want before we ask Him. He wants what is best for us. God does listen! But, how committed are we? Are we persistent with God? Persistence is a gift that not only helps God to determine our sincerity, but also provides us with the time for reflection as too whether or not what we feel is important, truly is. Pray that we are able to decipher what is truly good in our lives and then exercise the virtue that God is wanting us to show… persistence.
PRAYER WHILE ON VACATION
“I’ll pray for you… Keep me in you prayers.” So often those phrases are tossed out during a casual goodbye or especially when trouble is on the loose or some worry hovers in the air. What does it mean? It is perhaps forgotten as soon as the next person or crisis pops into consciousness, vanishing like so many other good intentions?
Many of us have grown up with an approach to prayer that was just asking God for things, offering a variety of novenas and prayers, pleading and bartering. We may become embarrassed treating God just like the emergency ward doctor coping with our casualties. We are more aware today of trying to have many other elements of prayer – praise, gratitude, and silent-adoration.
How about this time of year with prayer? Naturally this time of year we see where many are absent around us. From a personal experience it can be a time where prayer sometimes takes a holiday too, if I allow it. It’s the time of year for the seaside. Perhaps maybe a trip to the mountains or even that exotic country advertised on the television. How may one use a bit of vacation time in prayer? When we are at the beach we anoint our selves with the ultraviolet ray protection; we’ve brought the paper back novel. Maybe even the spiritual book. The walkman/disc player is brought for that bit of extra noise we think calms us down. If this is what the usual plan is, can I suggest that you drop them all… even the spiritual book.
If you are going to the seaside, simply take a look at the water. What do you see? Long before laptops, those waves were created to come in, one after another, in a pattern, a pace that predates us, and our ancestors as well. The ocean could care less how much we even have in our accounts or what brought us there to look at it. It asks no questions about our triumphs or travails. It seems to know that all our efforts to master it during a storm or hurricane would be useless. I think it would be safe to say it remembers one Master who did calm it amid a storm.
Why not pick up a few pebbles and pray? A few years ago I read an article by a woman who had devised her own visual aid to help her with her prayer life. She called it “praying with pebbles”. Her method went like this: after filling a bowl of water, she dropped a pebble in as she prayed for each person and situation she thought needed God’s special attention. A simple method easily done as we walk the vast beach beside the ocean. Throwing a pebble in the vast ocean, remembering the Creator is there who created it and the thrower. Yes, there are many moods in the sea as there is in us, however, just as the sea can be calmed so too can we be calmed by the sea.
Why not mediate just on one line of the Our Father? It calls us always to a continual conversion. Asking us in several ways to have the courage to be open to God’s will for us in our lives. God who is infinitely wise is always, desiring to help and support us. It is good for us, sometimes humbling, to have to ask even if it is while we are on holiday. Daily we are encouraged to place ourselves in the care of God. ‘Give us this day our daily bread’. The asking may be like the themes in our Gospel for today: ‘I can’t manage all this by myself. I want your help. I need you. I welcome your strength in my weakness, your support in my faltering steps, your joy in my sorrow.’
Opening our neediness, persistence and perseverance to God even on vacation makes us aware that God is always there. God is waiting for us – not we for Him. If you haven’t already; take prayer with you on holiday this summer. Prayer here keeps us and God in perspective and at the same time brings us very close to one another.
So you see…they saw him praying and waited until he was finished. And what was different about his prayer time was that Jesus emptied himself of all distractions…frustrations and concerns of his day; he focused only on his Father’s presence.
Jesus literally invites us to be men and women of prayer – to embrace the spirit and attitude of prayer that actively seeks out and gratefully celebrates God’s presence in all things.
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St. Peter Chrysologus
(406-450?)
A man who vigorously pursues a goal may produce results far beyond his expectations and his intentions. Thus it was with Peter of the Golden Words, as he was called, who as a young man became bishop of Ravenna, the capital of the empire in the West.
At the time there were abuses and vestiges of paganism evident in his diocese, and these he was determined to battle and overcome. His principal weapon was the short sermon, and many of them have come down to us. They do not contain great originality of thought. They are, however, full of moral applications, sound in doctrine and historically significant in that they reveal Christian life in fifth-century Ravenna. So authentic were the contents of his sermons that, some 13 centuries later, he was declared a doctor of the Church by Pope Benedict XIII. He who had earnestly sought to teach and motivate his own flock was recognized as a teacher of the universal Church.
Peter Chrysologus looked upon learning not as a mere opportunity but as an obligation for all, both as a development of God-given faculties and as a solid support for the worship of God.
Some time before his death, St. Peter returned to Imola, his birthplace, where he died around A.D. 450.
Comment:
Quite likely, it was St. Peter Chrysologus's attitude toward learning that gave substance to his exhortations. Next to virtue, learning, in his view, was the greatest improver of the human mind and the support of true religion. Ignorance is not a virtue, nor is anti-intellectualism. Knowledge is neither more nor less a source of pride than physical, administrative or financial prowess. To be fully human is to expand our knowledge—whether sacred or secular—according to our talent and opportunity.
Gospel Reflection 20070722
The spiritual life is not something different from your regular life.
Some people think prayer has to be something highly emotional and dramatic. It's more important that it be sincere, honest and coming from your real life. Whatever you pray, God can handle it.
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Welcome Your Distractions
July 22, 2007
Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Gospel
Lk 10:38-42
Jesus entered a village
where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him.
She had a sister named Mary
who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak.
Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said,
“Lord, do you not care
that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving?
Tell her to help me.”
The Lord said to her in reply,
“Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things.
There is need of only one thing.
Mary has chosen the better part
and it will not be taken from her.”
So, Martha asks a great question. After all, someone has to take care of all the logistics. So, does Jesus care that Mary is neglecting all the "work" associated with hosting a large group in their home? NO, he doesn't. He doesn't say it in so many words, but he is not about to recommend to Mary that she help serve the drinks.
Jesus doesn't care about what Martha wants Mary to do. Jesus cares about MARTHA. "Martha, Martha ... just relax a minute here ... I cannot make Mary help you because you think that's what Mary should be doing; what I can do, though, is love you right here, right now. I am with you here. You have no control over what Mary chooses to do. All you can do is love her and love me."
This Gospel is not just about prayer and work. Prayer is ultimately more important than work; both must be valued in our lives. But this Gospel is also about our inclination to judge others, about our asking God to take sides. Haven't we prayed like Martha ... "Dear Lord, help my neighbor to be just like me so I won't be bothered so much." The bottom line is: God does not care at all about our judgments of others. God cares about us.
What if Martha also chose the better part? What if they both sat at Jesus feet? What about the other guests? Are they not also important?
And if we are to be like God, to live in God's image, then perhaps we can care less about WHAT we think others should do and care more about others. Let's love one another into freedom instead of judging one another into fear.
Like Martha, I’m not a good “rester.” Never have been. Rest does not come naturally. I’ve come to realize how crazy I can become trying to “do something productive” with every spare moment of my time.
I have come to recognize that a mad dash to fill life with motion and light doesn’t necessarily fill it with meaning. In fact, God doesn’t want us to fill all the vacant moments of our days with activity and to fill every pause of silence with noise. God calls us to rest. He wants us to rest secure in his grace. He wants us to rest physically from our labor. He wants us to rest from our worries, pressures, and busy-ness. In fact, God calls us to be productive in our rest. How? By really resting—not worrying about things to do or places to be.
Jesus knew what it meant to rest as worship. Jesus’ teaching was built upon the principles of Sabbath rest---one day a week given to rest for our families, our animals, our associates, and us. It wasn’t intended as a gift of burden, but a gift of grace.
God doesn’t want our life to be a frantic dash through mayhem. Meaning isn’t found in cramming every square inch of our life with activity. So often our frantic lives steal from us the very things God made us to enjoy. After all, we were made to enjoy relationship with God, with each other, and with his creation.
Today’s story of Martha and Mary raises the question of what’s really valuable in life. Clearly, hospitality is important— But Martha’s “fault” is getting hung up on all the details of hospitality.
Years ago, an admiring fan asked pianist-composer Arthur Schnabel how he was able to handle the musical notes so beautifully.
The pianist answered, “The notes I handle no better than many pianists. But the pauses between the notes—ah! That is where the art resides!”
And that is where the art of living resides also.
That brings us back to today’s Gospel. If Jesus could speak to many of us living in today’s hectic world, he would say to us what he said to Martha:
"Martha, Martha! You are worried and troubled over so many things…Mary has chosen the right thing.”
Jesus would remind us that we can get so involved in doing things that we can forget why we are doing them.
We can get so involved in making a living that we forget about making a life.
We can get so involved in acquiring the things money can buy that we forget about the important things money can’t buy.
It’s this kind of mistake that Martha made in today’s Gospel. She got so involved in cooking a meal for Jesus that she forgot why Jesus came and what he really wanted.
He didn’t come for a free meal; he wanted to be with friends. He came to pause and relax in the midst of a hectic schedule of teaching and healing.
There’s a bit of Martha in all of us. We get so involved in activity that we forget to pause now and then and smell the roses, or rest.
We get so involved in activity that we forget that we need “moments of silence and contemplation.”
We get so involved in activity that we forget the art of living is often best served by observing the “pauses” than in our handling of the notes themselves.
We can get so involved in activity that we forget to pause to “sit quietly and unhurriedly in God’s presence,” making sure that where we seem to be going is where we want to go.
We forget we are both body and soul, and need to keep them both in balance.
A QUICK STORY: “What went wrong?” he asked himself. How did his flourishing mission collapse overnight. “What did I do wrong?” he asked his former church members. The truth hit home one day when a woman said to him, “Father, you did a lot for us. You gave our children clothes and built up our village. But there was one thing you did not do. You did not bring us to know Jesus as our personal Lord and Saviour.” Doing the work of the Lord is great. But knowing the Lord of the work comes first.
Today’s gospel is the story of two sisters, Martha who is busy with the work of the Lord, and Mary who is more interested in knowing the Lord of the work. For Martha service comes first, for Mary relationship comes first. Like the missionary in our story, Martha must have been shocked to hear the Lord himself saying that it is relationship with him that comes first, for without it our service is meaningless.
There are people who see Martha in this story as the material girl and Mary as the spiritual one. But this way of thinking in terms of separation between spirit and matter does not belong to the gospel of Luke. Rather Luke presents Martha and Mary as two sisters who are both interested in the Lord, two women who both want to please the Lord. The difference between them is the manner in which they go about trying to please the Lord. Martha takes the way of service or working for the Lord. Mary takes the way of relationship or being with the Lord.
Mark tells us that when Jesus called the apostles to follow him, he called them for a dual purpose: “to be with him, and to be sent out to proclaim the message” (Mark 3:14). The need, on the one hand, to be with the Lord, to know him, to fellowship with him and be nourished by his word and, on the other hand, to do the Lord’s work, to serve the Lord in others, to proclaim his message of love in word and deed, brings us to a conflict. Which one comes first? How much of my time should I devote to being with the Lord, to prayer and listening to God’s word, and how much time to doing the work of the Lord? In spite of the urgent need to throw ourselves into the work of the Lord, it is only logical to say that my relationship with the Lord of the work comes before my involvement with the work of the Lord.
The point of the story of Jesus with May and Martha is not to invite us to choose between being a Martha or a Mary. The true disciple needs to be both Martha and Mary. The point of the story is to challenge our priorities so that we come to see that fellowship with the Lord, being with the Lord and hearing his word should always precede the work we do for the Lord. Do we have a program of daily fellowship with the Lord? Whatever way we fulfill this need, today’s gospel invites all Christians first to be a Mary who sits with devotion at the Lord’s feet listening his word, and then also to be a Martha who throws herself with energy into the business of serving the Lord.
The story of Mary and Martha helps to answer the question, “What is prayer?” To answer that question we need to recall what kind of prayer Mary was engaged in. She was listening to Jesus. The principal part of prayer after all is listening, not talking. Martha could have been listening to Jesus too while she was serving her guests. The point of the story is that Martha was distracted by her service. She was busying her mind with the injustice that Mary was doing her in not helping.
St. Vincent de Paul told his followers that if they were at prayer and a beggar showed up at the door, they should get up and take care of the beggar’s needs. He did not see this as leaving prayer in order to serve someone else. Rather he saw that the service of a needy neighbor is a continuation of prayer. God speaks to us and expects our response, not only in the silence of the church, but in needs of our neighbors as well. We can be distracted from silent prayer by a thousand and one thoughts of what we should be or could be doing. We can also be distracted from hearing the voice of God in the plight of those around us by thoughts of how badly others are treating us.
Mary listened to Jesus’ teaching in words. Martha observed the needs of those around her. We should imitate both but without concern for the real or imagined injustices we experience from others.
I'd like to share with you an experience I had with God during one of my prayer times. I had begun to realize that I was becoming judgmental in my attitudes towards a certain political party, especially because of their views on abortion. I asked God to help me see these people as he sees them. The answer I received was that I was to see everyone-everyone-as a soul beloved by God. And, that's what I now try to do-see everyone as God sees them, even if their political and social views differ from mine. Where, before, I only saw people, I now see souls worthy of respect--souls worthy of Christian love, even if I know that they are wrong on certain issues--a soul who is my brother or sister, regardless of what they've done in the past.
For everyone here today, I encourage you to pray that prayer-to see all people as God sees them. I guarantee you, this prayer, if taken to heart, will change your life. Once you begin to see people as God sees them, you will no longer see other people as "us vs. them". There will only be brothers and sisters. Brothers and sisters loved equally by God, our Father.
Just think about what our world would be like. No wars. No drugs. No gangs. No third-world countries. Safety on our streets. Peace and prosperity. It could happen. It can happen. But, it has to begin with us. And it has to begin today-right here and right now.
1. “You Are Anxious About Many Things.” It seems that things are moving faster all the time. There is so much going on. The culture makes huge demands on my time. What is more, it seems at times like no one understands my dilemma. I am trying to do what is right, I am trying to be responsible, and it seems like no one else is.
2. “There Is Need of Only One Thing.” Love Christ. Live for Him. Lord, you are all I need. What else will matter when I finish my life? Who else can fill my soul with satisfaction and peace? Who else brings meaning to my life but you? Remind me of this, because many times it is so easy for me to lose my focus and direction in the world. It seems so easy for me to put other things first.
3. “Choose the Better Part.” Lord, your words to Martha strike a chord in my heart. I can let the noise and distractions around me nick at my heart and misdirect me, but all that will do is bring about more confusion and uneasiness. However, if I choose you, what great confidence it brings for me to know that you will not be taken from me. Everyone wants to be happy. Everyone wants to be fulfilled. Why should I fool myself looking for happiness in the things of this world when you supply it, Lord?
IMAGINE THIS: During your prayer time, you picture the face of someone who badly offended you. You feel resentment and anger; your heart beats faster; your facial muscles tighten; you sigh and fidget. Plus, you feel frustrated by the fact that you’ve been distracted from prayer; you feel bad because you have lost that consoling focus on Christ. So you conclude: I can’t pray because I just get distracted; you may also conclude that Christ’s reaction to you must be either one of disappointment or of bare tolerance.
It’s reality… sometimes during prayer we’re distracted, anxious and worried about many other things. We understand more easily the annoyance of Martha; we would love to experience the apparent carelessness of Mary. The “Martha-Mary tension” is the tension between prayer and action in the Christian life; it is the difficult challenge of keeping the vertical and the horizontal together in a balance. Like every tension, though, if handled properly, it can bring much life and fruitfulness.
When you come to prayer, God’s heart is stirred. He holds all creation in His hands, yet in prayer He is “all ears” just for you. But the you who goes to pray, and the you to whom God is listening, is the whole you, not just the part you consider more respectable, not just your “good face”. When you present yourself before Jesus, you are presenting to him all that you are, all that you carry in your heart, mind and memory, your experience in all the dimensions of your life, past and present. You present your body in its concrete reality, sick or healthy, in all its energies, from your sexuality to the blinking of your eyes. There is no other you! Just that one! That real you is the one whose ID the Lord recognizes, loves, forgives and enriches with His graces. He is real; you are real. The you to whom He listens is the same one whose “C.V.”, whose curriculum vitae (commonly known as a resume), is written into the very fiber of your consciousness and sub-consciousness. Prayer is not an escape from reality, but a profound and personal immersion in it. Indeed, it is a call to be more real than you realize.
In prayer, then, there is the encounter of two real persons, one human and, if it is Jesus to whom you pray, one divine. In such an encounter two things at least are inevitable. The first is that you come gradually to be truly present to one another. Real presence from our side takes time; you can’t be fully present to someone in a flash. Many people think they are really present to each other just because they are in the same room together, and even talking together. Presence is not exhausted in the physical nor guaranteed by talking. The second thing is that you both want to learn more and more about one another. Friends share things; friends in love share all things, freely and without reservation. That sharing comes through communicating, through telling one’s story. The Gospel is Jesus’ story, and we need to know and cherish the Gospel with great dedication and zeal. “Ignorance of the Gospel is ignorance of Christ.” How can I really relate to a friend if I do not want to know his story intimately and thoroughly? But the question then arises as to your story. In prayer, it is surely good that we ask for what we need according to the will of the Lord. It is also true that our heavenly Father knows what we need before we ask Him, but He still wants us actually to ask Him, to show we trust Him as a dear and generous Father. He certainly seeks us to worship Him in spirit and in truth through Jesus, His well-beloved Son, and in the power of the Spirit who helps us in our weakness. But … God also wants to hear our story from our own lips. In telling Him our story we come to understand ourselves in His sight. He leads us to know ourselves and so to love ourselves as does He.
Still, He knows that we are reluctant to tell Him our story. We are very conscious of our right to privacy, even before God. Our reluctance is, however, usually about the down side of ourselves. Think how much of a good face we put on our relationships even with the nearest and dearest to us. Yet there is likely not one of us who does not say to themselves, “if only they knew the whole truth about me!” There can be at least three reasons for our reluctance to tell our story to Christ. One is that we are ashamed of some things we have done or are still doing; we fear rejection by Him, and shame has that diabolically lying skill of convincing us that God will indeed reject us if we speak our sorry truth. Another reason is that, while ashamed of what we have done or are doing, we want to keep on doing it because we like it; telling it as it is to Christ would mean telling Him to His face that we do certain things and we see no reason, we have no intention, He has no right, to stop them. In the words of St. John: “The light has come into the world, but men have shown that they prefer darkness to light, because their deeds are evil.” I suppose there could be a third reason for some: they cannot tell Jesus their story simply because they do not even know it themselves. They have repressed it out of pain, they have chosen or been forced to forget it, and they live literally only on the edge of who they are. That is a great tragedy, one that the Lord alone will know how to heal and redeem.
Whatever the reason for not telling one’s full story to Christ in the course of a life of prayer, one thing seems very likely, even if surprising. The distractions that come to us in prayer, if not sent by the Lord Himself, can always be made the object of prayer.
Why would the Lord send us distractions when we are doing such a good and holy thing by having deeper insights into Him?! It follows from what was said above that the Lord can do this because He wants us to tell Him our story, all our story - not give Him classes in theology. He loves us when we come to praise Him, but He also knows that sometimes we indulge in “high spiritual escapades” as a clever way of avoiding and confronting real problems in our lives. It is natural to want to avoid and run away from difficult problems and feelings. But the more we do so, the less will we be able to deal with them, integrate them into our relationship with the Lord and, ultimately, have the courage and strength to see them through. As in the example I mentioned earlier, the distraction of someone’s face may bring back strong and unpleasant feelings of conflict and pain. Well, in prayer, Jesus wants to hear all about those feelings and that pain; He wants to hear all about that person, what happened, why it happened and how can it be brought to resolution in truth and charity. If there is a face I do not want to see, I am actually hiding my own true face from Jesus. Jesus wants me to see that face until I can once again accept that person. For, whether I like it or not, that person, too, is loved by “my Jesus” and will stand by His side and, hopefully, by mine in the Kingdom of God. Heaven is not exclusive, except for those who would make it so. Jesus brings us back from our spiritual fantasies to our concrete reality, in order to heal us and bring us peace. When love is real, fantasies are no more.
I am not suggesting that, in prayer, there will be a miraculous solution to your problems. I am very much suggesting, however, that there will be absolutely no solution to them if you do not yield them to Christ in prayer. In this sense, your distractions can become your salvation. There is no distraction, of any kind whatsoever, that cannot be exposed to Christ. To paraphrase St. Paul: “I take every thought and feeling and make it captive for Christ Jesus.” Faith, trust and perseverance in welcoming distractions and surrendering them to Him will eventually make your own story, however painful, a very unique and powerful version of the Gospel itself. Do not drop your jaw in disbelief at this: this is the meaning of our baptism, of being Church, of being redeemed. There are no dusty corners in heaven for those who “just made it”: there we are all first-born sons and daughters!
“The one thing necessary” of which Jesus speaks is, I believe, the effective willingness to focus all of one’s life, good and bad, on the person of Jesus Christ. That does not mean that we move out of active life, as if the horizontal dimension of life were not of God. Jesus did not ask Martha to stop serving, but to motivate it by, and to focus it on, Himself! This means that we are to understand, evaluate and judge the horizontal in virtue of the vertical, i.e. our relationship with Jesus, which we render explicit in intimate prayer and fraternal worship. There is no problem in the history of humanity, of each human person, that will not ultimately be judged by Jesus Christ. It only makes sense, then, that we seek to draw, by word and example, by prayer and action, ourselves, our activities and our relationships to Jesus. That is what Jesus wants of us and for us; that is the “better part” of our self-awareness before Christ and of our awareness of Him.
“Martha and Mary”: might we say “distraction and attraction”? Later in their lives, both of these holy women professed their faith in the divinity of Jesus as He raised Lazarus, their brother, from the dead. If we will trust in the Providence of God, our distractions, even in prayer, can be the doorway to greater attraction of all we are to the Son of God. Welcome your distractions, then, and in so doing you might well discover that you have left your tomb and been welcomed by Christ into His heavenly home.
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St. Apollinaris
(1st century)
According to tradition, St. Peter sent Apollinaris to Ravenna, Italy, as its first bishop. His preaching of the Good News was so successful that the pagans there beat him and drove him from the city. He returned, however, and was exiled a second time. After preaching in the area surrounding Ravenna, he entered the city again. After being cruelly tortured, he was put on a ship heading to Greece. Pagans there caused him to be expelled to Italy, where he went to Ravenna for a fourth time. He died from wounds received during a savage beating at Classis, a suburb of Ravenna. A beautiful basilica honoring him was built there in the sixth century.
Comment:
Following Jesus involves risks—sometimes the supreme risk of life itself. Martyrs are people who would rather accept the risk of death than deny the cornerstone of their whole life: faith in Jesus Christ. Everyone will die eventually—the persecutors and those persecuted. The question is what kind of a conscience people will bring before the Lord for judgment. Remembering the witness of past and present martyrs can help us make the often-small sacrifices that following Jesus today may require.
Quote:
During his remarks prior to the Regina Caeli on May 7, 2000, Pope John Paul II noted that later that day at Rome's Colosseum he would participate in an ecumenical service honoring 20th-century martyrs. He said, "It is the same paschal light that shines in them. Indeed, it is from Christ's resurrection that the disciples receive the strength to follow the Master in their hour of trial." What the pope said of those martyrs is true of all martyrs for Christ, including today's saint.
Gospel Reflection 20070715
Church is a place for sinners who want to do better.
When Jesus spent time in the company of tax collectors and other outcasts, the religious leaders criticized him. His answer? "The healthy do not need a doctor; sick people do. I have not come to invite the self-righteous to a change of heart, but sinners." (Check out Luke 5:31-32). So why be surprised to find people in Church who are not perfect? To expect anything else is naive; to demand it is immature.
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Love That Leads to Life
July 15, 2007
Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Gospel
Lk 10:25-37
There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test him and said,
“Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
Jesus said to him, “What is written in the law?
How do you read it?”
He said in reply,
You shall love the Lord, your God,
with all your heart,
with all your being,
with all your strength,
and with all your mind,
and your neighbor as yourself.”
He replied to him, “You have answered correctly;
do this and you will live.”
But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus,
“And who is my neighbor?”
Jesus replied,
“A man fell victim to robbers
as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho.
They stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead.
A priest happened to be going down that road,
but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.
Likewise a Levite came to the place,
and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.
But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him
was moved with compassion at the sight.
He approached the victim,
poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them.
Then he lifted him up on his own animal,
took him to an inn, and cared for him.
The next day he took out two silver coins
and gave them to the innkeeper with the instruction,
‘Take care of him.
If you spend more than what I have given you,
I shall repay you on my way back.’
Which of these three, in your opinion,
was neighbor to the robbers’ victim?”
He answered, “The one who treated him with mercy.”
Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
“Teacher, What Must I Do to Inherit Eternal Life?” Since the human soul is spiritual its longings are infinite in scope, and so we naturally want to live an eternity of happiness, an eternity full of life. Yet this scholar of the law has keenly perceived that eternal life is more that just the next step after death. I must do something in order to inherit it. My existence and my redemption are totally unmerited gifts from God: I never asked him for the gift of life nor did I ask him to die for me, yet here I am, alive and redeemed. What is more, I can never earn either existence or God’s free love. Yet there is at least an aspect of eternal life that derives from my merit. The quality of my eternal life corresponds to the quality of my love and the goodness of my deeds on this side of eternity. God in his wisdom and goodness has given me freedom, intellect, and earthly life to strive for eternal life as opposed to eternal death (hell). Since not even God can make me love him, he allows me the gift to "merit" eternal life with him. Merit is to freely choose to live according to God’s plan for my life by cooperating with his grace.
The scholar’s question could be put in another way: "What must I do to be saved?" One would expect the response to be: "Believe, have faith!" Yet Jesus already knows that this man has faith. He confirms that faith is certainly necessary for salvation, but that faith must be translated into love if we are to have eternal life. When Jesus says, "What is written in the law", he presupposes faith in God, the author of the moral law. But in addition, he is inviting him to apply his faith to the living of the law in love. Faith and works are inseparable. "Whoever says, ‘I know him,’ but does not keep his commandments, is a liar, and in such a person the truth does not exist; but whoever keeps his word, truly in this person the love of God has reached perfection. By this we may be sure that we are in him: whoever says, ’I abide in him,’ ought to walk just as he walked" (1 John 2:4-6).
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus completes the Old Testament Law of Moses by adding in the sentence, "and your neighbor as yourself." This in effect put a whole new "spin" on God's covenant. It showed how important Jesus considered our relations with each other. Jesus added to God's Covenant through Moses our need to serve him through others. The word "neighbor" comes from the old English root "nigh" which means someone near or close to us.
The Golden Rule, “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Luke 10:27) which we hear in today’s gospel is not just a Christian thing. Every conceivable religion and culture in the world has the Golden Rule in one form or another. Here is a sampling:
Judaism “What is hateful to you, do not to your fellow man. That is the law: all the rest is commentary.”
Islam: “No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself.”
Hinduism: “This is the sum of duty: do naught unto others which would cause you pain if done to you.”
Buddhism “Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.”
Confucianism: “Do not unto others what you would not have them do unto you.”
If the Golden Rule was so well known in ancient cultures why then did Jesus spend so much time teaching it as if it was a new thing? It is because Jesus brought a completely new understanding to the commandment. The Golden Rule is understood differently in different religions and cultures. And the key to its understanding lies in the question that the lawyer asks Jesus in today’s gospel, “Who is my neighbor?” (Verse 29). Who is my neighbor that I have an obligation to love?
Among the Jews of Jesus’ time there were those who understood “neighbor” in a very limited sense. The Essenes of Qumran, for example, required new members to swear to love the children of light and hate the children of darkness. For them, your neighbor is the one who shares the same religious persuasion as yourself. Other groups, such as the Zealots, would understand neighbor to include only those who shared the same nationality and ethnicity with them. The average Jew would not regard the Samaritan as a neighbor. They are outsiders. The circle of neighborly love does not include them. Jesus came into a world of “we” and “them,” “we” being the circle of those recognized as neighbors, and “them” being the rest of the world regarded as hostile strangers and enemies of the people.
The new thing in Jesus’ teaching of neighborly love is his insistence that all humanity is one big neighborhood. Thus he broke down the walls of division and the borders of prejudice and suspicion that humans erected between “us” and “them.” To bring home this point he tells the story of the Good Samaritan. This man regarded as Enemy Number One by the Jewish establishment simply because he is Samaritan, is the one who finally proves himself to be neighbor to the Jewish man in need. Thus to the question “Who is my neighbor” Jesus’ answer is: Anyone and everyone without exception.
We all need to be reminded that the Christian understanding of “neighbor” admits of no borders. Today is the day to identify and tear down all the borders we have erected between those who belong to us (and are, therefore, deserving of our love and concern) and those who don’t (those others who can go to hell). Sometimes these walls of division are religious in nature, as in the case of religious intolerance, or in the mutual distrust and hatred between those who call themselves “conservatives” and those who call themselves “liberals.” Other times they are ethnic and racial, as in the bad blood between Blacks and Whites in places like South Africa and parts of the United States. They could also be social and economic, as in the divide between suburban neighborhoods and the inner city. The gospel today challenges us all to dismantle these walls. This way we work with Jesus to realize his dream of the world as a neighborhood without borders.
*** The victim of robbery and violence in today's Gospel represents mankind brutalized by sin. ***
What about the Jewish priest and Levite (deacon) and the Samaritan?
The Jewish priest and Levite (deacon)
Sometimes we look at the priest and the Levite in the story as persons with a less than acceptable attitude – for they passed by and did nothing. But note that Jesus makes no more mention of them nor does he make any judgment about them. If the priest or the Levite believed the man to be dead, they wouldn’t touch him – they were on their way to the Temple to worship. Under Jewish Law (The Law of Moses kept them from keeping the law of love! According to the law they could not come within 30 paces of a dead person without becoming ritually impure. This would mean that he could not minister to the people until that ritual impurity was lifted from him.), had they touched the body of a dead person, they would have to undergo a purification rite and there wasn’t time enough for that prior to their attending services at the Temple. If the priest were scheduled to be a part of the service, an opportunity that fell to a priest “by lot”, he would do all in his power to avoid ritual impurity – this might be his ONLY opportunity in his lifetime, he wouldn’t risk losing out and that’s an understandable situation. As far as they could see, the Priest and the Levite were doing what was right. That’s hard for us to understand but that is what they believed. Even so, the Priest and the Levite chose to only follow the letter of the law and not the spirit of the law as taught us by Jesus.
The Samaritan
The story Jesus told about a Good Samaritan who loves God and neighbor was a shocking story. Samaritans were politically dangerous and religiously they were thought to be heretics. They were a people to shun. For generations even their great prophets had told every good Jew that the Samaritans were definitely not and would never be their neighbors. In the story that Jesus tells, a Samaritan is the hero. To the Jews, there really wasn’t anyone any lower in stature or more hated than a Samaritan. To a Jew of Jesus’ time, a Samaritan was a vile, undeserving person of the lowest race. In effect … this is a RACIAL thing. Notice how the law scholar replies when Jesus asks, “Who was neighbor to the victim?” The law scholar’s reply is “the one who treated him with mercy”. He can’t bring himself to say “the Samaritan” so he says ”the one who treated him with mercy” that’s how deep rooted and hideous is his prejudice. Racial prejudice has a history as old and as long as the history of mankind. How do we speak of a collection of persons of different color, race or nation of origin? – Most often not very well. Like the young law scholar in the gospel, our prejudices are deep rooted and rarely, if ever, have any foundation in real reason.
Sisters and brothers, who are your neighbors? Are there Samaritans in your life? Do you treat and see others as less than neighbors because they are different from you or believe differently than you? If it were a black man at the side of the road would you help? Racism is rampant in our land and the religious people of today are not immune from it. What about the man or woman suffering from AIDS? Are we willing to be merciful or do we look the other way righteously proclaiming, “it’s their own fault or it’s God’s punishment”? How often is the one lying wounded by the side of the road a spouse, a parent, or a child who we treat abysmally? Are not those closest to us our neighbor also? Do we treat one another with compassion and mercy? Are we genuinely concerned about those near to us and do we treat all with care?
*** Please understand that Jesus is the real Good Samaritan who takes pity on all of us and comes to our aid, heals us and restores us to life. ***
“Ask not who is your neighbor, but prove that you are a neighbor by acting in mercy”
Jesus speaks of eternal life as “knowing the one, true God, and Jesus Christ whom He has sent.” That is ultimately the eternal life the lawyer sought and Jesus offered under the guise of the Good Samaritan.
So the Good Samaritan is clearly Jesus Himself. He is revealing that God loves the human person beyond the misery of his plight. Jesus Himself is the ultimate neighbor to the human person. As a Samaritan, Jesus depicts Himself as a hated foreigner, a suspicious stranger; indeed, it is true, is it not, that God is oft treated as a stranger among sinful humanity? “He came to his own people, but his own received Him not.” But at root, Jesus is a unique person who perceives and receives the unique person of every victim of humiliation and manipulation. We are each of us such a victim; our vulnerability comes from our sin and from the sins of others, who use us to get out of us what they please and then dump us to die. I suppose we are all robbers and victims at the same time. Christ, however, sees beyond this outrage, and seeks to restore both the robber and the victim to strength and peace. Christ, the divine Neighbor restores the true neighbor in each of us.
It is safe to say, I hope, that few human beings are completely devoid of true neighborly love; and those who seem to be, are perhaps not completely responsible for their “nothing for nothing” attitude. We can, and should, do all the analyzing we want to understand why people are the way they are, but, beyond analysis, the challenge of the Gospel remains. Jesus summarizes that challenge in the words: “go and do likewise.”
With reason, we can lament all of the problems that we face today in both the world and the Church, which contribute to our lack of neighborliness, in the true, Gospel sense of the word. At the risk of generalizing, contemporary man has lost the understanding of ultimate moral values, probably because he has lost the sense of both God and sin. Power, be it economic, technological, intellectual or political, has seduced us into thinking, indeed believing, that some of the ultimate questions of life can be answered by human effort alone, while others, as part of that same seduction, have simply been deemed redundant or irrelevant. But consider what we seem to be left with. Can it be possible that the American dream is to own a house? Are we so blind as to think the pursuit of happiness is exhausted in financial prosperity and the “freedom” to enjoy it? Can American values, British values, indeed any nation’s values, really be of any value without the law of God? Is death itself now as meaningless as conception? Is public discourse to be exhausted in proving others wrong, or in questions that only scrape the surface of the real sufferings and needs of people? Is it possible that the well being of the international community depends on a market economy? Is that all we are?
The only way for us, and for all humanity, to avoid falling into the temptation of theorizing, talking and even legislating our way into oblivion is to fulfill the command of Jesus, to follow the example of Jesus, to put on the mind and heart of Jesus: “go and do likewise.” On a daily basis, in a spirit of prayer and openness to Jesus, we need to ask ourselves, no matter how young or old: “to whom will I be a neighbor today? How can I be a neighbor in such-and-such a situation? What is the neighborly thing to do or attitude to adopt?” Practical charity in the here and now is worth more than all the homilies, books, debates and laws possible, for practical charity is the power and wisdom and holiness of God. Charity is not just giving a few dollars to the poor: charity is saying no to stealing, no to drugs, no to drunkenness, no to marital infidelity, no to laziness in worshipping God. Charity is saying yes to fairness and honesty, yes to the joy of self-control, yes to being sober for my family and friends, yes to deep and lasting respect for the body and soul of my spouse, yes to the Lord’s desire to love me.
Practical charity is God’s way; indeed, it is God Himself. It is neither weak nor stupid, but the power and the life of God. It is such charity that will change the world; it certainly starts at home, but it will not end there, for charity never ends. Where charity is, there is God; a mortal life lived in charity will be a life lived in God and will end, therefore, not in death, but in eternity. If you want eternal life, do charity, be a neighbor to all. The eternal fire of divine love will already burn within you. The recipe for eternity is not “mysterious or remote; no, it is something very near, already in your mouths and in your hearts; you have only to carry it out.”
“Go and do likewise” With these words Jesus brings the lesson to a full conclusion. By loving as the Good Samaritan loves we are on the path to a life that is never-ending, a life that we naturally long to experience and possess. We must always trust Jesus when we find that he places us in situations that truly stretch our love and generosity to limits that often hurt. He knows that we long for eternal life, but he also knows that the path to that life is a love that purifies, stretches, and demands our all. Therefore, Jesus invites us to follow him down the road of life-giving love. Every crucifix reminds us of this self-giving love that leads to life.
The living words of Jesus speak to us today. He tells again what he told the people 2000 years ago, “Go and do likewise.” Be merciful and compassionate to all God’s creatures. Be kind and considerate to all. Show your concern and your care for all who are in need of you. In other words, love God and love your neighbor.
Jesus challenges us in the gospel today. He challenges us to go beyond the minimal dictates of the law, to go beyond excuses no matter how righteous we think we are, to go even beyond authority when to follow the rules would keep us from care and compassion.
“Which of these three in your opinion was neighbor to the robbers’ victim?”…”The one who treated him with mercy.” And Jesus says, “Go and do likewise.”
Our message today, our challenge, is to truly serve God through others.
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St. Henry
(972-1024)
As German king and Holy Roman Emperor, Henry was a practical man of affairs. He was energetic in consolidating his rule. He crushed rebellions and feuds. On all sides he had to deal with drawn-out disputes so as to protect his frontiers. This involved him in a number of battles, especially in the south in Italy; he also helped Pope Benedict VIII quell disturbances in Rome. Always his ultimate purpose was to establish a stable peace in Europe.
According to eleventh-century custom, Henry took advantage of his position and appointed as bishops men loyal to him. In his case, however, he avoided the pitfalls of this practice and actually fostered the reform of ecclesiastical and monastic life.
Comment:
All in all, this saint was a man of his times. From our standpoint, he may have been too quick to do battle and too ready to use power to accomplish reforms. But, granted such limitations, he shows that holiness is possible in a busy secular life. It is in doing our job that we become saints.
Quote:
“We deem it opportune to remind our children of their duty to take an active part in public life and to contribute toward the attainment of the common good of the entire human family as well as to that of their own political community. They should endeavor, therefore, in the light of their Christian faith and led by love, to insure that the various institutions—whether economic, social, cultural or political in purpose—should be such as not to create obstacles, but rather to facilitate or render less arduous man’s perfecting of himself in both the natural order and the supernatural.... Every believer in this world of ours must be a spark of light, a center of love, a vivifying leaven amidst his fellow men. And he will be this all the more perfectly, the more closely he lives in communion with God in the intimacy of his own soul” (Blessed Pope John XXIII, Peace on Earth, 146, 164).
Sunday Gospel Reflection 20070708
Conversion is not a once-in-a-lifetime moment but a continuous, ongoing, lifelong process which brings us ever closer to the holiness and love of God.
The conversion process begins with a "coming to one's senses," with a realization that all is not right with our values and style of life. Prompted by a faith response to God's call, conversion initiates our desire for change.
Persons who turn to God in conversion will never be the same again, because conversion implies transforming the way we relate to others, to ourselves, to the world, to the universe and to God. Unless we can see that our values, attitudes and actions are in conflict with Christian ones, we will never see a need to change or desire to be reconciled. Each experience of conversion prompts us to turn more and more to God, because each conversion experience reveals God in a new and brighter light.
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Like Lambs Among Wolves
Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
July 8, 2007
Gospel
Lk 10:1-12, 17-20 or 10:1-9
At that time the Lord appointed seventy-two others
whom he sent ahead of him in pairs
to every town and place he intended to visit.
He said to them,
“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few;
so ask the master of the harvest
to send out laborers for his harvest.
Go on your way;
behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves.
Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals;
and greet no one along the way.
Into whatever house you enter, first say,
‘Peace to this household.’
If a peaceful person lives there,
your peace will rest on him;
but if not, it will return to you.
Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you,
for the laborer deserves his payment.
Do not move about from one house to another.
Whatever town you enter and they welcome you,
eat what is set before you,
cure the sick in it and say to them,
‘The kingdom of God is at hand for you.’
Whatever town you enter and they do not receive you,
go out into the streets and say,
‘The dust of your town that clings to our feet,
even that we shake off against you.’
Yet know this: the kingdom of God is at hand.
I tell you,
it will be more tolerable for Sodom on that day than for that town.”
The seventy-two returned rejoicing, and said,
“Lord, even the demons are subject to us because of your name.”
Jesus said, “I have observed Satan fall like lightning from the sky.
Behold, I have given you the power to ‘tread upon serpents’ and scorpions
and upon the full force of the enemy and nothing will harm you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you,
but rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”
For those who believe in Jesus Christ his life, death, and resurrection brings God’s merciful kindness into sharp focus. We hear him telling his disciples in today’s Gospel reading not to rely on the material resources they can take with them to guarantee the success of the mission upon which he sends them. He warns them not even to rely on the power they have experienced over demonic powers. He tells them rather to rejoice because their names are written heaven, because his Father in heaven has chosen them. We know that his followers could not understand what he was telling them until they had witnessed his passion and resurrection. Once they had seen God’s love and mercy shining through their risen Lord they were able to rejoice in the midst of suffering themselves. The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ is the source of true peace and mercy.
Christian tradition identifies the Twelve apostles with ordained ministry in the church. When at the Last Supper Jesus commissioned his followers to “do this in memory of me” he was addressing the Twelve, the clergy. If this is so, then the Seventy who are sent out on mission in today’s Gospel must be understood as lay people. Today’s Gospel, therefore, is the commissioning of lay ministry. Luke is saying, therefore, that mission is not only for the clergy, mission is not only for the “big guns,” mission is for us all, ordained and non-ordained followers of Christ alike.
What is the reason for lay involvement in the spreading of the gospel? Because “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” (Luke 10:2). This is as true today as it was in the days of Jesus. What role are the laity supposed to play in fulfilling the mission of Christ? The role of the laity is twofold: “Therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” (verse 2), i.e. prayer, and “Go on your way. See, I am sending you” (verse 3), i.e. active involvement. It is not a question of doing either the one or the other. Every Christian is called to participate in the spreading of the message of Christ through a commitment to prayer and a commitment to action. Pray as if everything depends on God, work as if everything depends on you. Jesus goes on to detail the disposition we should bring to the work of evangelization: a spirit of meekness and vulnerability, a spirit of politeness and adaptability to the changing and challenging local situations in which we find ourselves in the course of mission work.
Like Lambs Among Wolves. Being called “lambs” surely surprised the disciples. These weak and fuzzy animals are hardly creatures with which mature men or women might easily identify themselves. Yet Christ makes an important point. Before the aggressive nature of evil we can feel as powerless as little lambs. The Second Vatican Council states, “The whole of man’s history has been the story of dour combat with the powers of evil, stretching, so our Lord tells us, from the dawn of history until the last day. Finding himself in the midst of this battlefield man has to struggle to do what is right, and it is at great cost to himself, and aided by God’s grace, that he succeeds in achieving his own inner integrity” (Gaudium et Spes, 37).
Lambs Taking on Demons. The disciples were given the power to expel demons and tread upon serpents. In other words, the forces of evil are no match for an apostle of Christ. But how can this be, since evil is so powerful and overwhelming? A Christian “treads upon serpents” and “expels demons” by living the virtues of kindness and charity. The best response—indeed the only worthy response—to the evil of sin, is charity. A lamb’s goodness is more attractive and wins more hearts than a wolf’s malice. Goodness wins souls for Christ’s Kingdom.
Jesus places special emphasis on the work of curing the sick. This is not an optional task in the work of spreading the gospel. Someone may ask: Is health of body necessary for salvation? Is holiness of soul not enough? We tend to forget that holiness is another word for wholeness. It has to do with the whole person, body and soul. The Good News is good not only for the soul but for the body as well. The seventy disciples went on their way trying to implement what Jesus charged them to do. They were surprised to see that, acting in Jesus’ name, not only physical sicknesses but “even the demons” submit to them (verse 17). A similar happy surprise awaits all followers of Christ, ordained or non-ordained, who dare to embrace the work of spreading the Good News of our Lord Jesus Christ just as he directed us.
Many of us are old enough to remember when there were no automatic dishwashers in our homes … some of us still possibly don’t have one in our home. Many of us can remember when there were three or more children in almost every home. Most of us can recall what happened after each meal … “NO, it’s YOUR turn to wash…HER turn to dry and MY turn to put the dishes away …always the bickering about whose job it was to do what, for almost every task to be accomplished.
It’s been that same way in the church …it’s the Pastors job to spread the Good News… I’m not trained for that. But training is and wasn’t the answer… by our baptism each and every one of us was and is called to discipleship, to spread the Good News.
The Church is a family, and just like our own individual family, unless everyone takes up some part of the task, things just don’t get accomplished. We all know that, but like children of old, there is always the bickering of whose turn it is to wash, dry and put away, we in the Church keep trying to pass the task off to someone else. In the case of the Church, we want the task of evangelization and discipleship to be done by our Pastors.
When we grew up and began to recognize our responsibilities we came to understand that if the family’s household was to run with some smoothness and tranquility, we would have to shoulder certain task and guide younger members of the family into doing things without a lot of bickering. Quite often that meant we had to take on the task that was least desirable, be that, wash the dishes, take out the garbage or mow the lawn. If the family was to be a happy family we couldn’t afford division and dissension - we had to work things out…and to our great surprise, when we undertook the least desirable task, the younger members learned to do those things without being made to do them.
So it is with the Church, each of us is called to take on the role of discipleship, to spread the Good News. The Vatican II documents on the Laity gave us some direction – Hear them … “There are innumerable opportunities open to the laity for the exercise of their apostolate of making the gospel known and mankind holy. The very testimony of their Christian life and good works done in a supernatural spirit, have the power to draw men and women to belief and to God”.
But we all know that no matter how powerful good example is, it is not enough. The document recognized this and so it continued “An apostolate of this kind does not consist only in the witness of one’s way of life, a true apostle looks for opportunities to announce Christ by words addressed either to non-believers with a view to leading them to the faith, or to believers with a view to instructing and strengthening them and motivating them toward a more fervent life”.
But again like children, we are quick to respond… but I’m not trained to do that, I don’t know enough, I’d make too many mistakes… and besides, that’s the job for the Pastor… when will we grow up? When will we realize we don’t have to have all the answers? When will we start? Our answer should be - TODAY … I WILL START TODAY!
How to start? … That’s a good question. I don’t know what is best for everyone, but let me suggest a very simple way that will give results … at least some results to all who try it.
Take the bible off the shelf and start with the New Testament portion… it begins with Matthew who starts off giving us the Ancestors of Jesus Christ … This is the list of the ancestors of Jesus Christ, a descendant of David, who was a descendant of Abraham.
Read for five (5) minutes – NO LONGER – STOP wherever you are after five minutes. Then spend five or ten minutes just thinking about what you have just read … after doing this for several days … you won’t have to think about what you have just read, because the Spirit will soon enter in and tell you what you just read…and you’ll start to understand in a way you haven’t in the past. Are you aware that if you take just five (5) minutes each day NO MORE – just 5 minutes a day, that one year later you will have read EVERY WORD in the New Testament … think of that, five minutes a day and you complete in one year the reading of the New Testament. And that’s reading at a comprehension rate, not speed-reading. If you start today, next year at this time you will have done what you most likely haven’t done in your lifetime … read the entire New Testament.
Like St. Paul tell us … when I was a child I spoke like a child, thought like a child … now that I am a man ... I must speak like a man, think like a man, etc. Each of us, man or woman, now that we are grown, we must begin to act like adults, we can’t leave evangelization to everyone else … we must do our part … and why?? … hear once again the ending of today’s gospel and know that we really don’t need any other reason…”REJOICE … BECAUSE YOUR NAMES ARE WRITTEN IN HEAVEN.”
Today’s harvest is abundant and spilling over. Laborers are desperately needed, and each of us has been called to help.
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Blessed Emmanuel Ruiz and Companions
(1804-1860)
Not much is known of the early life of Emmanuel Ruiz, but details of his heroic death in defense of the faith have come down to us.
Born of humble parents in Santander, Spain, he became a Franciscan priest and served as a missionary in Damascus. This was at a time when anti-Christian riots shook Syria and thousands lost their lives in just a short time.
Among these were Emmanuel, superior of the Franciscan convent, seven other friars and three laymen. When a menacing crowd came looking for the men, they refused to renounce their faith and become Muslims. The men were subjected to horrible tortures before their martyrdom.
Emmanuel, his brother Franciscans and the three Maronite laymen were beatified in 1926 by Pope Pius XI.
Comment:
The world in which Emmanuel and his companions lived was very different from our own. We cherish the freedom to worship as we choose. No one is likely to threaten us with torture and death if we refuse to follow another path. The peril we face is much more subtle: the lure of a materialistic culture. It may not persuade us to give up the practice of our faith, but neither does it encourage us to live it fully. Just as Emmanuel and his companions were generous with their lifeblood, so must we be generous with our goods and our time.
