The 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time [C]
Exodus 17:8-13  +  2 Timothy 3:14—14:2  +  Luke 18:1-8
Catechism Link: CCC 101
October 16, 2022

“… proclaim the word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient ….”

In Sunday’s Second Reading, Saint Paul describes how God’s Word speaks to us through the words of Scripture.  But the “Word of God” is found not only in the Bible.  We listen to the Word of God in the Bible in order to receive an even greater gift:  the Word of God made Flesh.  Opening ourselves to this greater gift is one of the chief dynamics of the Christian life.

The very structure of the Mass invites us into this spiritual dynamic.  It’s not a coincidence that Holy Mass follows the pattern that it does.  The two main parts of the Mass—in the Ordinary Form called the “Liturgy of the Word” and the “Liturgy of the Eucharist”—are not interchangeable.  That is to say, the Mass would not make sense if the Liturgy of the Eucharist were celebrated first, and then the Liturgy of the Word.  After all, the Word is proclaimed and preached as a preparation for the Word made Flesh.

We see this if we superimpose the outline of the Mass upon the outline of salvation history.  Consider what we might call the “first half” of salvation history:  the time of the Old Testament.  During this long period of time, “God spoke” his Word “in partial and various ways to our ancestors through the prophets” [Hebrews 1:1].  But in the “second half” of salvation history—the time of Christ and His Church—“God spoke to us”, and speaks to us today, “through [His] Son” [Hebrews 1:2], the Word made flesh, who proclaimed to His followers:  “Take this, all of you, and eat it.  This is my Body, which will be given up for you.”

Catholics are at times accused of being ignorant of the Scriptures.  Unfortunately, there are times when this criticism is justified.  To that extent, we must dispel our ignorance, for St. Jerome’s words are just as true today as when he lived:  “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.”

But if our devotion to Scripture does not lead us to a deeper devotion to the Eucharist, we miss the entire point of God becoming human:  the point of the divine Word becoming flesh and blood.  After all, what did God the Son say on this earth that God the Father could not have said from the heavens?  Couldn’t God the Father have spoken the Beatitudes from Heaven, rather than Jesus speaking them during the Sermon on the Mount?  Couldn’t God the Father have taught His People from Heaven how to pray to Him, rather than Jesus teaching us the “Our Father”?  What words had to be spoken by one who is both fully divine and fully human?  “Take this, all of you, and eat it.  This is my Body, which will be given up for you.”

Jesus calls us to the Supper of the Lamb—the sacrifice of the divine Word made Flesh—for two reasons.  The second and more ultimate is to give us while on earth a foretaste of what we would experience in the Banquet of Heaven if we were to persevere in the Faith until death.

The first and more immediate reason is to strengthen us through the Eucharist for the difficult work of our vocations within this world.  If our devotion to the Eucharist—whether in Adoration, or weekday Mass, or even only our Sunday obligation—does not deepen our Christian service, we’re missing an important point of the Word becoming flesh.

In Sunday’s Second Reading, St. Paul writes about the nature of the Word of God as found in the Bible.  He makes three specific points.  First:  “All Scripture is inspired by God”.  Second, Scripture “is useful for” four purposes:  “for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness”.

But then St. Paul explains that those four purposes serve a larger, overarching purpose.  All Scripture is inspired and useful “so that one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work.”

As faith is meant by God to express itself in a Christian’s good works, so Scripture also orients the Christian to good works.  As the Word becomes Flesh in the Eucharist, the Eucharist strengthens the members of the Body of Christ for service in this world.  That service aims to call even more persons into the life of the Church, and through the Church’s life with Christ, into Heaven.

Tuesday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time
Luke 11:37-41

“Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside?”

Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel passage highlight the distinction between “the outside” and “the inside”.  The Pharisees are focused upon the outside to the exclusion of the inside, while Jesus wants His disciples to focus upon both, but in a certain order:  the inside first, and then from the inside the outside will flow fittingly.

In Christian terms, we can draw an analogy between Jesus’ words here and God calling each Christian to carry out good works.  It’s often said that the Catholic view of Christianity is not an “either/or” approach, but an approach that is “both/and”.  This is true when it comes to good works.  In the Catholic view of the spiritual and moral life, there is no division between faith and good works.  Both are necessary.  As St. James says in his New Testament epistle, “So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.  … Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith” [James 2:17-18].

Speaking by analogy, authentic faith in God is the soul of authentic good works.  They ought no more be separated from each other than the soul from the body.  In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus calls the Pharisees to a more integrated view of good works.  Likewise, Christ calls each of His disciples to authentic faith, and authentic good works.

Monday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time
Luke 11:29-32

“… no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah.”

Given the dramatic narrative of Jonah in the Old Testament, one might be tempted, when hearing Jesus in today’s Gospel Reading refer to the “sign of Jonah”, to think that the sign of which Jesus speaks is the miracle of Jonah surviving his ordeal within the belly of the sea beast.  While Jonah’s survival after three days in the belly of the beast foreshadows Jesus’ Resurrection, there is another sense to the phrase “sign of Jonah”.  This other sense refers to something much simpler, yet just as dramatic as Jonah’s survival inside the beast.

God communicated the “sign of Jonah” to the Ninevites, and they read the sign aright.  The “sign of Jonah” was the prophet’s preaching about the need for repentance.  Because of his preaching, the Ninevites repented, and the Ninevites, as Jesus’ audience would have known, were a pagan people.  The fact of the Ninevites’ pagan background and their repentance stand in contrast to the current “generation” to whom Jesus refers, who were members of God’s elect People, yet all too often did not heed God’s Word.

What’s more, we who are Catholics receive God’s Word made Flesh in the Holy Eucharist.  We are often more obstinate and sinful than those in the Old Testament or in the Gospel accounts, in spite of the sacramental sign that is an infinitely greater gift than the “sign of Jonah”.  We no less than the Ninevites need to repent, to make room in our minds and hearts for the Word of God made Flesh to dwell not just among us, but within each of us.

Saturday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Luke 11:27-28

“Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.”

In the Catholic Church, Saturday is a “little day” devoted to Our Blessed Mother Mary.  It is little because liturgically, the day only runs until mid-afternoon (some would specify this as 4:00 p.m.).  From that point on, the day is celebrated liturgically as the vigil of Sunday.

This “little day” is traditionally devoted to Our Lady because as Jesus came to us from Mary, so Sunday follows on this brief span of time.  Even in a parish, Saturday mornings and early afternoons are quieter than the rest of the week (unless, of course, a funeral or wedding is celebrated).  Even on a quiet Saturday, though, there’s work to be done behind the scenes in preparation for the Lord’s Day, as our Lady worked quietly to prepare for her Son, and to minister to Him during His public ministry.

Today’s Gospel passage is fittingly short, then:  only two verses long.  A woman from the crowd honors Mary without naming her.  Jesus then seems to cast aside the honor accorded His mother.  In fact, however, He’s describing Mary, and so is pointing out to us our need to be like her:  “blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.”

We’re familiar with the Third Commandment:  “Keep holy the Lord’s Day.”  This commandment binds us under pain of mortal sin.  It lies at the heart of what it means to be a Christian.  Nonetheless, each of us needs to “keep hallowed Our Lady’s Day”.  This is not a command that binds under pain of sin, and while the Third Commandment lies at the heart of what it means to be a Christian, the counsel to “keep hallowed Our Lady’s Day” lies at the heart of what it means to grow as a Christian.

No one can grow closer to Jesus, and no one can live his or her life in Christ, without honoring Jesus’ Blessed Mother.  While the Third Commandment binds under pain of mortal sin, devotion to Our Lady’s Day binds under pain of lukewarmness in the Christian life.  Make certain in your life to enkindle, nurture, and foster devotion to Our Blessed Mother each and every Saturday morning and afternoon.

Our Lady of the Rosary
Acts 1:12-14  +  Luke 1:26-38

“Hail, full of grace!  The Lord is with you.”

Is there a better manner in which to offer prayer and sacrifices for Holy Mother Church than through the intercession of Our Blessed Mother Mary?  Like the many lay faithful who’ve expressed to me a desire to do something more for the Church in these difficult times, I prayed about a desire to pray something more.  One of my responses following that prayer was to begin praying the Carmelite Rosary.

The Carmelite Rosary has six decades, rather than the five decades of the Dominican Rosary.  Another difference is that whenever in the Dominican Rosary the Glory Be is prayed, in the Carmelite Rosary the Apostles’ Creed is prayed.

St. Teresa of Jesus, who with St. John of the Cross reformed the Carmelite Order during the Catholic Reformation, adopted this six-decade rosary from the Sisters of St. Bridget of Sweden.  However, since the Carmelites friars and nuns are more numerous than the Brigittine Sisters, this rosary is more often known as the Carmelite Rosary.  The Carmelite Rosary is a beautiful means by which to grow in Carmelite spirituality.

Because this rosary has six decades following the usual introductory beads, there are a total of seven Our Fathers (six decades plus the introductory Our Father), and sixty-three Hail Marys (six decades plus the three introductory Hail Marys).  These seven Our Fathers honor the sorrows and joys of the Blessed Virgin, while the sixty-three Hail Marys commemorate the number of years that Mary, according to tradition, lived on this earth.

Since there are six rather than five decades to the Carmelite Rosary, each set of mysteries has one additional mystery to be pondered in prayer.  Within the Joyful and Luminous Mysteries, the extra mystery is added at the beginning:  the first Joyful Mystery is The Immaculate Conception, while the first Luminous Mystery is Jesus Being Obedient to Mary and Joseph at Nazareth.  By contrast, within the Sorrowful and Glorious Mysteries, the extra mystery is added at the end.  The sixth Sorrowful Mystery is the scene of the Pietá:  The Deposition of the Lord’s Body into the Arms of His Sorrowful Mother.  The sixth Glorious Mystery is The Patronage of Mary, Our Lady of Mount Carmel.  These mysteries help us not simply to pray more words, but also to pray with more fervor and devotion.

Many might feel overwhelmed in the midst of so much confusion today:  what the bishop calls “the current crisis in the Church”.  Many might feel that there’s nothing they can do to help.  But that’s wrong.  Making sacrifice and praying to Our Blessed Mother means joining Our Lady within the very heart of the Church:  not only seeking solace, but joining one’s self to the love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

To understand better how our own praying of the daily Rosary can contribute to the Church in her current need, we would profit from reflecting back on the wisdom of St. John Paul II about the Rosary.  At the beginning of the twenty-fifth year of his papacy, the Pope promulgated an apostolic letter on the Rosary, titled Rosarium Virginis Mariae.

In this letter, the Pope teaches that the “Rosary, though clearly Marian in character, is at heart a Christocentric prayer.  … it has all the depth of the Gospel message in its entirety, of which it can be said to be a compendium.  It is an echo of the prayer of Mary, her perennial Magnificat for the work of the redemptive Incarnation which began in her virginal womb.  With the Rosary, the Christian people sits at the school of Mary and is led to contemplate the beauty on the face of Christ and to experience the depths of his love.  Through the Rosary the faithful receive abundant grace, as though from the very hands of the Mother of the Redeemer.”[1]

The saintly Pope offers two reasons for the emphasis that he was putting upon the Rosary at that particular time within his papacy.  These reasons are justly as timely today.  One reason is negative, the other very positive.

St. John Paul first explains that there is an “urgent need to counter a certain crisis of the Rosary”, caused by two objections.  The first objection is posed by those “who think that the centrality of the Liturgy, rightly stressed by the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, necessarily entails giving lesser importance to the Rosary.  Yet, as Pope Paul VI made clear, not only does [the Rosary] not conflict with the Liturgy, it sustains it, since it serves as an excellent introduction and a faithful echo of the Liturgy, enabling people to participate fully and interiorly in it and to reap its fruits in their daily lives.”[2]

Also, “there are some who fear that the Rosary is somehow unecumenical because of its distinctly Marian character.  Yet the Rosary clearly belongs to the kind of veneration of the Mother of God described by the Council:  a devotion directed to the Christological center of the Christian faith, in such a way that ‘when the Mother is honored, the Son … is duly known, loved and glorified’.  If properly revitalized, the Rosary is an aid and certainly not a hindrance to ecumenism!”[3]

But then St. John Paul the Great moves on to present the very positive reason for his decision to focus this apostolic letter and other endeavors upon the Rosary.  Given that the reason that he explains is a timeless lesson for the Church’s members, let me leave off today with this thought from our saintly pope:  “the most important reason for strongly encouraging the practice of the Rosary is that it represents a most effective means of fostering among the faithful that commitment to the contemplation of the Christian mystery which I have proposed in the Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte as a genuine ‘training in holiness’:  ‘What is needed is a Christian life distinguished above all in the art of prayer’.  Inasmuch as contemporary culture, even amid so many indications to the contrary, has witnessed the flowering of a new call for spirituality, due also to the influence of other religions, it is more urgent than ever that our Christian communities should become ‘genuine schools of prayer’.

[1] St. John Paul II, Rosarium Virginis Mariae (Oct. 16, 2002), 1.

[2] Ibid., 4.

[3] Ibid., quoting Lumen Gentium 66.

For a video in which the Carmelite Rosary is further explained, please click HERE.

 

Thursday of the 27th Week in Ordinary Time [II]
Galatians 3:1-5  +  Luke 11:5-13

O stupid Galatians!

This week and early next, we are hearing from the letter that Saint Paul wrote to the people in the region of Galatia.  It’s not hard to tell that Saint Paul was unhappy when he wrote his Letter to the Galatians.  Saint Paul wrote thirteen of the letters in the New Testament, and only in this letter, to the Galatians, does Saint Paul call people “stupid”.  It must be something very serious that the Galatians have done to be called this by a saintly apostle.

The mistake that Saint Paul is trying to correct is about the Galatians thinking that they are going to get to heaven only because of what they do.  The Galatians think that they are “making” the Holy Spirit present in their lives because of their good choices.

Instead, Saint Paul teaches, echoing the Gospel, that everything begins with God.  Our good works are accomplished only because of the time and talent that God gave us.  The Holy Spirit comes into our lives through the divine virtue of faith.  Even within the Trinity, the Holy Spirit comes from the love of God the Father and God the Son for each other.

Everything begins with God.  Jesus in today’s Gospel passage is teaching us about one specific type of prayer.  There are four basic types of prayer (there are others as well, but these are the four main types).  One way to remember them is to think of the word “pact”, as in an agreement.

The word “pact” has four letters.  Each letter stands for a different type of prayer.  The first of these—“p”—stands for “petition”.  We should ask God for whatever we believe we most need in life.  Sometimes God does not answer our prayers the way we want:  but this helps us grow spiritually, too, because when one of our prayers doesn’t get answered the way we wanted, it’s a chance for us to learn once again that God gives us not what we want, but what we need.

Wednesday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Luke 11:1-4

“Father, hallowed be your Name, your Kingdom come.”

Every Christian knows by heart the ‘Our Father’:  the only recited prayer that Jesus taught to His followers.  But the ‘Our Father’ that we know in our hearts—which we pray at every Mass before receiving Holy Communion, and which we pray several times throughout the course of a rosary—is not exactly the ‘Our Father’ that we have just heard Jesus teach in today’s Gospel passage.

The version of the ‘Our Father’ that Luke records for us is shorter than the version that we know by heart. Maybe this shorter version is the first version that Jesus taught to his followers, much the same way that a teacher introduces just the key points first, and then later fleshes it out some more.

In this shorter version of the ‘Our Father’, there are three petitions that Jesus teaches us to pray.  In the silence following Holy Communion, of after Mass, or in your home, read and pray this shorter version, and see what the three petitions are.  What are the three things that Jesus teaches us to ask of our Heavenly Father?

The 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time [C]
II Kings 5:14-17  +  2 Timothy 2:8-13  +  Luke 17:11-19
Catechism Link: CCC 1272
October 9, 2022

… if we persevere we shall also reign with him.

“This saying is trustworthy:  If we have died with Him we shall also live with Him….”  Saint Paul, in saying this, is not subscribing to the belief that some Christians hold:  namely, that Jesus suffered and died so that you don’t have to.  In fact, Jesus suffered and died so that your suffering and death would not be meaningless:  so that your suffering and death would not be a brick wall, but a doorway.

Living with Jesus is our goal.  Dying with Jesus is our means.  Dying with Jesus is the way by which we enter into Jesus’ life.  But the choice is ours.

The first way that we can die with Jesus is baptism.  Now, you might say to yourself, “I was baptized as an infant, so I don’t remember anything about my baptism, and besides, that was a long time ago.  A lot of sins have passed under the bridge since then.”  Nonetheless, it’s important to look back at what happened at your baptism.

In his letter to the Romans, St. Paul asks:  “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?  We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” [Romans 6:3-4].

One of the important truths that St. Paul is setting down is that the effects of Baptism don’t completely vanish once you commit your first mortal sin.  On the contrary, dying and being buried with Jesus in baptism changes a person’s life forever.  The Sacrament of Baptism marks one’s soul with an indelible mark or seal that cannot erased later in life even by the worst of sins.

But what exactly is this mark or seal that Baptism imprints upon your soul?  You’ve probably seen individuals who have towels in their bathrooms with their initials on them.  It’s something like that with your soul, except it’s not your name, but God’s divine Name that’s imprinted on your soul.  This mark or seal is God’s way of saying, “This person belongs to me.  This person is my child and is destined for Heaven.”

Clearly we need never to presume upon this great gift, but there is a flip side to this coin.  The other side reminds us that with every gift comes a responsibility.

The first responsibility that comes with every gift is gratitude.  The great English journalist G. K. Chesterton once wrote:  “I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder” [A Short History of England].  The responsibility of gratitude is illustrated by Our Lord in today’s Gospel Reading.

“Where are the other nine?”, Jesus asks.  “Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?”  This “foreigner” was a Samaritan, a group of Jewish people not only looked down upon by most other Jews.  The Samaritans, in fact, were people who refused to worship as God had asked in the Old Testament.  Nevertheless, in spite of this fact, Jesus praises this Samaritan because he knows the first responsibility of being given a gift:  that is, to give thanks in return.

The second way to die with Jesus is through our moral life.  When we decide whom to vote for in November, and when we decide whether or not to participate in gossip that someone else in the room initiated, and when we decide whether to spend money for luxuries, or for necessities, or for others, we are making moral choices.

Some moral choices are easy to make, but others demand a difficult dying-to-oneself.  It’s not difficult for a mother to love her infant and take care of him, although it might be more difficult at 2:00 a.m.  Nonetheless, the bond of love between mother and infant moves her to care for the child even when that requires self-sacrifice.

But other forms of dying-to-oneself are far more difficult, such as choosing to love someone who is not lovable, as an infant so naturally is.  This is akin to Christ’s love for you on the Cross.  His crucified love, in turn, has the power to lead you into the heavenly love who is the Most Holy Trinity, and even to let you dwell within this love during your earthly days.

Tuesday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Luke 10:38-42

“Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.”

In discussing, or learning about, the Catholic Faith, there’s often talk about how the Faith’s saving mysteries have a “both/and” dynamic at work.  The Church does not believe in reaching Heaven by “faith alone”; nor does she believe that one can earn Heaven by means of good works.  The Church’s perennial approach to the dynamic between faith and good works is “both/and”.  Likewise, Jesus is not a God who appears to be human, nor a human being that appears divine.  Jesus Christ is “both/and”:  fully divine and fully human.

Today’s Gospel passage raises another central duality among the Church’s saving mysteries.  The Church preaches that in the life of each Christian, both prayer and good works are vital to the Christian life.  Yet the point that Jesus makes in this passage is one of primacy.

Prayerful abiding at the feet of Jesus is primary in the Christian life.  Good works—even those done for Christ Himself—are secondary.  In turn, taking Jesus’ lesson here to heart helps us see that within every duality among the saving mysteries, one of the two is always prime.  Faith is primary to good works.  Jesus’ essential divinity is primary to His assumed humanity.  The Old Testament prepares for and is fulfilled by the New Testament.  The Liturgy of the Word prepares for and is consummated by the Liturgy of the Word made Flesh.

Our Christian faith challenges us to give ourselves over fully to all of the Church’s saving mysteries, yet to root our self-sacrifice in what is primary.  Striving to serve and striving to good works demands that we live like the sister of Martha:  beginning all we do with giving all we are in listening to Jesus.