Saturday in the 26th Week of Ordinary Time, October 1, 2022

The Feast of St. Therese of the Child Jesus

Luke 10, 17-24

The seventy-two disciples returned rejoicing and said to Jesus, “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.” At that very moment he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.”  Turning to the disciples in private he said, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I say to you, many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.”

At this point in St. Luke’s chronology, Jesus had sent seventy-two of his disciples in pairs to those towns and villages where he intended to go.  If we think about this, he was proposing to visit another thirty-six towns and villages.  This tells us of how extensive was his preaching in Galilee and Judea, and of the torrid pace he put himself on.  The travel on foot by itself would have been exhausting, but this combined with preaching and healing makes his labor very difficult to imagine.  His relentless dedication to preaching the Gospel gives example to us of how dedicated we must be to living the Gospel we have received from him.

“Lord, even the demons are subject to us because of your name.”  The disciples, to whom the Lord had given a temporary share in his power to cast out demons, are amazed at what God has accomplished through them.  They are quite conscious of the fact that it is not their own doing that causes the demons to flee, but that it is the name of Jesus that does this.  To this, the Lord replies: “I have observed Satan fall like lightning from the sky.”  The tense of the Greek verb is actually in the imperfect rather than the perfect, and so what he says is more like, “I was beholding Satan, who fell like a flash of lightning from the sky.”  The imperfect indicates an ongoing action that took place in the past.  The sense is that the Lord saw Satan before he fell, as he fell, and after he fell.  “Like lightning”, indicating the blaze of Satan losing his place in the firmament and the horrific nature of his fall.  If the fall was so great, we can only wonder at the crash that finally came.  Jesus is also likening Satan’s fall to that of a meteorite coming down at night.  At the time, the nature of meteorites was not at all understood and the streaks they made in the sky as they plummeted caused fear among those observing them.  The Lord’s sharp description would have startled his hearers, and also would have made them wonder about who this was who could speak in this way.  “Rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”  Satan, the great angel, was cast out of heaven and forever lost his place there, but the names of the disciples are set in heaven indicating their places there.  This is as though to say that Satan’s fall allows for the rise of the disciples, and we can see how this works through Divine Providence, for the devil’s tempting provides opportunity for the disciples to grow in virtue through resisting his temptations, and the devil would not be tempting them if he had not fallen from heaven.

“I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike.”  These words seem detached from the episode of the return of the disciples: what is the Lord saying the Father has revealed to them?  He means the Gospel that he has given them to preach.  As it happens, this perfectly fits St. Therese, whose feast is celebrated today.  She, in her smallness, possessed wisdom that the great philosophers of ancient times did not, and that very many of her own time did not, either.  In the last part of the nineteenth century, during which Therese lived, the leading people of society were flinging aside belief in God as though it were a thing of childhood.  The writings of Charles Darwin and Thomas Malthus were making faith seem unnecessary and antiquated.  The new modern spirit even began to creep into the Church as well, such as through the French ex-priest Alfred Loisy.  Ernest Renan, a distinguished scholar of ancient languages, wrote a book about Jesus which became hugely popular in Europe at that time.  Renan attempted to portray the Lord only as an exemplary human who performed no miracles.  Little Therese, without a university education and who only once traveled outside her country, knew more than they, and more than multitudes of their followers.  She wrote no polemics or treatises, either, but the book made of her notes about her life with Jesus has influenced countless souls ever since it was put in print.  

We pray to St. Therese in our own day, asking her to obtain for us the graces we need to persevere in our faith and to grow in true wisdom through prayer.

 Friday in the 26th Week of Ordinary Time, September 30, 2022

Job 38, 1; 12-21; 40, 3-5

The Lord addressed Job out of the storm and said: Have you ever in your lifetime commanded the morning and shown the dawn its place For taking hold of the ends of the earth, till the wicked are shaken from its surface? The earth is changed as is clay by the seal, and dyed as though it were a garment; But from the wicked the light is withheld, and the arm of pride is shattered. Have you entered into the sources of the sea, or walked about in the depths of the abyss? Have the gates of death been shown to you, or have you seen the gates of darkness? Have you comprehended the breadth of the earth? Tell me, if you know all: Which is the way to the dwelling place of light, and where is the abode of darkness, That you may take them to their boundaries and set them on their homeward paths? You know, because you were born before them, and the number of your years is great! Then Job answered the Lord and said: Behold, I am of little account; what can I answer you? I put my hand over my mouth. Though I have spoken once, I will not do so again; though twice, I will do so no more.

After arguing back and forth with the three men who had purportedly come to comfort him, the stricken Job began to call out to God to come down and tell him why he allowed so many evils to come upon him: “Oh, that I had one to hear me! Here is my signature! Let the Almighty answer me! Oh, that I had the indictment written by my adversary!” (Job 31, 35).  At that point, a young man named Elihu arrived and joined in, very self-righteously, arguing with Job that he had no right to call upon God to justify himself.  At the end of his words, God finally speaks to Job: “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up your loins like a man, I will question you, and you shall declare to me” (Job 38, 2-3).  God then demands answers of Job: “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if you have understanding?  Who laid the measures thereof, if you know? Or who stretched the measuring line upon it?” (Job 38, 4-5).  And: “Who shut up the sea with doors when it broke forth, as if it had issued out of the womb? When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddling band for it,And broke up for it my decreed place, and set bars and doors, and said, Hitherto shall you come, but no further: And here shall your proud waves be stayed?” (Job, 8-11).  The whole passage, chapters 38-41, should be read sheerly for its beauty and power, preferably in the King James translation or the Revised Standard Version.  Here, more than anywhere else in the Old Testament, do we get a sustained sense of God’s Providence, his infinite might, and of his glory.  Before him, even the mighty angels quail and the universe shudders.  What then can the human person expect when questioning God?  At the end of God’s speech, Job’s voice is small and contrite: “I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42, 6).  God does not charge Job with sin, but he is angry with the three men who supposedly came to comfort him, for they enflamed him instead, and he ordered them to bring oxen to Job for him to sacrifice on their behalf.

It would be good to read those three chapters of Job in which God spoke of himself in conjunction with today’s Gospel reading, Luke 10, 13-16, in which the Lord Jesus spoke out against the towns of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, where he had performed many miracles, yet where the people did not repent of their sins.  This was the God whom they refused to honor, the God whose commandments they refused to obey.  At the same time, we see the power of God in creating and ordering the earth, the sky, and the sea, and how they do his will, but that men and women do not.  He respects our will even when he rebukes us for not using it properly.  This is the God of love, beside all else, who treats us not like slaves, as he does the forces of nature, but as his children, even in our willfulness.  

 Thursday in the. 26th Week of Ordinary Time, September 29, 2022

Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14

As I watched: Thrones were set up and the Ancient One took his throne. His clothing was bright as snow, and the hair on his head as white as wool; His throne was flames of fire, with wheels of burning fire. A surging stream of fire flowed out from where he sat; Thousands upon thousands were ministering to him, and myriads upon myriads attended him.  The court was convened, and the books were opened. As the visions during the night continued, I saw One like a son of man coming, on the clouds of heaven; When he reached the Ancient One and was presented before him, He received dominion, glory, and kingship; nations and peoples of every language serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not be taken away, his kingship shall not be destroyed. 

Meditation upon the vastness of God’s glory and power helps us to grasp something of the magnificence of those creatures whom he first created who serve him in heaven.  Even the least of the angels is capable of moving stars and planets if commanded to do so.  Their beauty, too, as purely spiritual beings, far exceeds anything else in nature except that of God himself.  They know things directly in seeing them without having to go through the sometimes painful process of learning about them over time such as we humans go through.  They move easily and without effort.  And we know that they love perfectly because we know that they look upon the very face of God, which no one can do unless he be perfect.  When we read such passages as that from the Book of Daniel, “Thousands upon thousands were ministering to him, and myriads upon myriads attended him”, we get a sense of their numbers, and that they “minister” to Almighty God and “attend” him.  But it was not for this that they were created.  Like us, they were created by God because, from all eternity, he loved them.  This is a difficult concept for us because it involves a God, for whom all existence is present in a single moment, and our way of processing existence, which is through time, including a past present and future.  But even before we and the angels came to be, he loved us, and so have us the inestimable gift of being and life.  The angels also perfectly love us and assist us, according to God’s direction.  Some act as guardian angels, and any time we ask them they will gladly intercede for us.  Many prayers to the angels and invocations of them are included among the traditional prayers for the dying, such as the final commendation made to a human in their final moments on earth: “Depart, Christian soul, from this world, in the name of God the Father almighty who created you; in the name of Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, who suffered for you; in the name of the Holy Spirit who sanctified you; in the name of the glorious and blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God; in the name of St. Joseph, her illustrious spouse; in the name of the Angels and Archangels, Thrones and Dominations, Principalities and Powers, Cherubim and Seraphim; in the name of the patriarchs and prophets, the holy apostles and evangelists, the holy martyrs and confessors, etc.”  

The vision recorded in the Book of Daniel that is used as an option for today’s First Reading prefigures a vision which St. John describes in his Book of Revelation: “Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, ‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!’ ” (Revelation 5, 11-12).  The Son of God is presented as the Son of Man in Daniel and as the Lamb of God in Revelation. It is as though the same vision, perceived in different ways.  Countless angels are shown adoring him both in their ecstatic love.  We pray that through their intercession, we may one day join them in this.

 Wednesday in the 26th Week of Ordinary Time, September 28, 2022

Job 9, 1-12; 14-16

Job answered his friends and said: I know well that it is so; but how can a man be justified before God? Should one wish to contend with him, he could not answer him once in a thousand times. God is wise in heart and mighty in strength; who has withstood him and remained unscathed?  He removes the mountains before they know it; he overturns them in his anger. He shakes the earth out of its place, and the pillars beneath it tremble. He commands the sun, and it rises not; he seals up the stars. He alone stretches out the heavens and treads upon the crests of the sea. He made the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the constellations of the south; He does great things past finding out, marvelous things beyond reckoning. Should he come near me, I see him not; should he pass by, I am not aware of him; Should he seize me forcibly, who can say him nay? Who can say to him, What are you doing? How much less shall I give him any answer, or choose out arguments against him! Even though I were right, I could not answer him, but should rather beg for what was due me. If I appealed to him and he answered my call, I could not believe that he would hearken to my words.

The irony in the Book of Job is that while most people when they suffer loss and are in agony forget God entirely or, if they are believers, they do not feel his presence, Job very much is aware of his presence and of his immanence.  For him, that is part of his struggle: since God is so present as to be within him, how could he let these catastrophes and sufferings come upon him?  In the verses that make up the First Reading for today’s Mass, Job professes his profound belief in God’s presence and in his power.

“Job answered his friends.”  Three male friends came to Job to commiserate with him, but they offer no real help and even add to Job’s misery.  “How can a man be justified before God? Should one wish to contend with him, he could not answer him once in a thousand times.”  Job agrees with his friend Baldad, who pointed out that our lives are shadows and that God is not to be argued with.  “How can a man be justified before God” is better translated, “How can a man appear righteous before God” or, “in comparison with God”.  “God is wise in heart and mighty in strength; who has withstood him and remained unscathed?”  This brings to mind Abraham, who appeared to persuade God not to destroy Sodom if he found ten righteous people within it (in reality, God had this in mind all along, but allowed Abraham to intercede for the city).  Abraham proceeded very carefully, lest he be destroyed for tasking God’s patience.  “He removes the mountains before they know it; he overturns them in his anger. He shakes the earth out of its place, and the pillars beneath it tremble.”  God alone is able to create and shake the foundations of reality.  “He commands the sun, and it rises not; he seals up the stars. He alone stretches out the heavens and treads upon the crests of the sea. He made the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.”  The constellations of the Great Bear and Orion as well as Taurus the Bull, which contained the Pleiades star cluster, were grouped together in the sky and were quite prominent.  While distinguishing these groups of stars from one another, the ancient Jews would not likely have known the Greek myths which are connected to these names.  The Hebrew names were, of course, very different from the Greek names by which we known them. “He does great things past finding out, marvelous things beyond reckoning.”  God will repeat and expand on Job’s litany of his powers in the final chapters of the book.  Among the “things beyond reckoning” is the design of his Divine Providence, by which all in existence is ordered.

“Should he come near me, I see him not; should he pass by, I am not aware of him.”  Job has described God’s power on earth, on the sea, and in the heavens.  He now speaks of his immanence.  This brings to mind Psalm 138, 2-4: “You have known my sitting down, and my rising up. You have understood my thoughts afar off: my path and my line you have searched out.  And you have foreseen all my ways.”  Job says, “I am not aware of him.”  Almighty God lives far beyond us and deep within us.  He upholds us at every moment, not only our lives but our very existences.  He speaks to us in the silence of our hearts so quietly that we hardly know it is him unless we ourselves are very silent and attentive.  He moves us along in our lives and directs us according to his plan of salvation for us.  For the faithful, obeying his will comes so easily that they do not usually recognize that is what they are doing.  We should pause frequently throughout the day to thank him for all the gifts he provides us with so unostentatiously.

“Should he seize me forcibly, who can say him nay?”  Isaiah also notes this absurdity: “shall the clay say to him that fashions it: What are you making, your work is without handles?” (Isaiah 45, 9).  “How much less shall I give him any answer, or choose out arguments against him! Even though I were right, I could not answer him, but should rather beg for what was due me.”  This is in fact what Job does at the end of the book, when God comes in a whirlwind and questions him.  We can know that God questions us when we consider performing a good act and hesitate.  Our continuing to hesitate is as though we were trying to answer God’s question.  But who is it we are trying to make excuses to?  This is like the wicked on the last day: “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?” (Matthew 25, 44).  “If I appealed to him and he answered my call, I could not believe that he would hearken to my words.”  That is, he is so transcendent that it would seem impossible for my feeble cry for help to be heard, but he is so present that he knows my needs before I do and is ready to provide for me.

Daily prayer is so necessary for us to know both God’s transcendence and his nearness, and to learn to trust him utterly.

 Tuesday in the 26th Week of Ordinary Time, September 27, 2022

Job 3, 1-3; 11-17; 20-23

Job opened his mouth and cursed his day. Job spoke out and said: Perish the day on which I was born, the night when they said, “The child is a boy!” Why did I not perish at birth, come forth from the womb and expire? Or why was I not buried away like an untimely birth, like babes that have never seen the light? Wherefore did the knees receive me? or why did I suck at the breasts? For then I should have lain down and been tranquil; had I slept, I should then have been at rest With kings and counselors of the earth who built where now there are ruins Or with princes who had gold and filled their houses with silver. There the wicked cease from troubling, there the weary are at rest.  Why is light given to the toilers, and life to the bitter in spirit? They wait for death and it comes not; they search for it rather than for hidden treasures, Rejoice in it exultingly, and are glad when they reach the grave: Those whose path is hidden from them, and whom God has hemmed in!

Along with the other wisdom books, that of Job cannot be dated except in a general way, and its author is not known.  It would seem to have been written at the time after the Jews had returned from the Babylonian Exile.  The book is an exploration of the problem of evil in the world: why do terrible things happen to people who are doing everything right, represented by a man named Job.  It is also a meditation on the transience of human life.  In the early chapters of the book, the righteous and prosperous Job has been afflicted with catastrophic loss by Satan.  Faced with the deaths of family members as well as property, Job laments, but does not despair, recognizing that everything he had came from God and that he can take it back whenever he wants.  However, when grievous physical suffering sets in as well, it is too much, and he desires death.  The verses that make up the First Reading for today’s Mass are some of the most intense and most vivid found in the Scriptures or anywhere else.  From the point of view of even a believer in God, there seems no point to life in the midst of such horror and pain.  Life is so empty anyway, why persist in it when no relief is possible, especially when God has evidently turned away?  For those who believe in Christ, this life is a preparation for the world to come, and suffering is something to be borne patiently, imitating the Lord Jesus in his Passion and Death.  Indeed, since the Son of God himself entered the greatest depths of human suffering and death, suffering is a way to be with him.  The Christian also sees suffering as an opportunity to do penance for one’s sins or as an offering to be made to God for another’s sake.  Finally, for the Christian, suffering strengthens one’s faith through perseverance.

At the end of the Book of Job, God himself speaks to him of the wonders and mysteries of creation and explains to Job that suffering is among them.  Job accepts God’s words and repents for any sin he may have committed in his complaint.  God then restores his health and his prosperity.  Suffering remains a mystery, but it is accepted along with the good that God gives.  For us who believe in Jesus and in his promises of eternal life with him, suffering has gained a purpose, and appoints to the joy to come..

 Monday in the 26th Week of Ordinary Time, September 26, 2022

Luke 9, 46-50

An argument arose among the disciples about which of them was the greatest. Jesus realized the intention of their hearts and took a child and placed it by his side and said to them, “Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. For the one who is least among all of you is the one who is the greatest.”   Then John said in reply, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow in our company.” Jesus said to him, “Do not prevent him, for whoever is not against you is for you.”

While the first verse of today’s Gospel Reading makes it sound as though the Apostles were engaged in a heated exchange over who of them was the “greatest”, the Greek literally means, “A reasoning came among them who of them was the greatest.”  The word translated in the lectionary as “argument” is the word from which we derive our “dialogue”.  Rather than a bitter fight, it sounds like a reasoned discussion.  The same word follows in the next sentence: “Jesus, having known the reasoning of their hearts, etc.”The tenses of the verbs tell us this: for some time the Apostles had wondered about who was the greatest, but only at this particular time did they discuss it among themselves.  Meanwhile, the Lord knew about their wondering all along, and waited for the open discussion to furnish him the occasion for teaching them about the meaning of “greatness” as a follower of his.  For the Apostles, “greatness” meant rank and influence.  It might seem strange to us that these men, largely uneducated and without any military or political background, could think of himself or anyone else of their group as “great”.  Perhaps they were not discussing “greatness” so much as importance to Jesus: who did Jesus show the most favor to, or who did Jesus rely on more than any other.  As Luke tells the story, this discussion occurred relatively early in the Lord’s Public Life, so definitely before Peter’s profession of faith.  

“Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. For the one who is least among all of you is the one who is the greatest.”  We might wonder in what way the Lord’s first sentence has anything to do with “the intention in their hearts”.  The Lord Jesus, who heals the blind and expels demons, equates himself with a child.  The Lord is telling his Apostles how he regards himself: as a child.  And, truly, he insisted on his Sonship and consequently on his duty to carry out his Father’s will.  Having established his, he carefully shows the Apostles their places: they are lesser than he, and to obtain true greatness they must make themselves “least”, like him.  The one who perfects himself in humility, then.  

“Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow in our company.”  It is very valuable to have such a snapshot in his youth of the later great theologian of love.  It is akin to the time when James and John wanted to call down fire on a Samaritan town that was giving them trouble.  John is perhaps eighteen at this point, and maybe a couple of years younger.  Even the Apostles had to grow up.  And we can trace their growing up and their maturity from their original calls (in the case of seven of them) through their hesitations, mistakes, silly questions, and concern for importance, to their later solidity, wisdom, and courage.  The Lord’s answer here to John’s announcement, “Do not prevent him, for whoever is not against you is for you”, counsels patience.  John, after all, does not know for certain that Jesus did not give this an the power to exorcise.  At any rate, if he could exorcise, that was good.  If he could not, John was not harmed by the man’s pretension.  

We pray Almighty God to grant us the virtue of humility.  It is fundamental to the spiritual life.  By beginning with the understanding and acceptance of who we truly are, we prepare ourselves to become like Jesus.

 The 26th Sunday of Ordinary Time, September 25, 2022

The year passes so quickly!

Luke 16, 19–31

Jesus said to the Pharisees: “There was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linen and dined sumptuously each day. And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table. Dogs even used to come and lick his sores. When the poor man died, he was carried away by angels to the bosom of Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried, and from the netherworld, where he was in torment, he raised his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he cried out, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me. Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am suffering torment in these flames.’ Abraham replied, ‘My child, remember that you received what was good during your lifetime while Lazarus likewise received what was bad; but now he is comforted here, whereas you are tormented. Moreover, between us and you a great chasm is established to prevent anyone from crossing who might wish to go from our side to yours or from your side to ours.’ He said, ‘Then I beg you, father, send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they too come to this place of torment.’ But Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.’ He said, ‘Oh no, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ Then Abraham said, ‘If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.’ ”

St. Luke here presents to us a parable that includes the name of one of the characters, a singular feature among the parables.  It is also singular in its graphic description of suffering.  While all of the Lord’s parables perplex and sometimes disturb, this particular parable is most definitely not for the weak of stomach.  Yet it is very necessarily for us to hear and to learn from so that we might avoid the fate of the unnamed condemned man.

“There was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linen and dined sumptuously each day.”  The Lord indicates that the man, not satisfied with having great wealth, felt the need to parade it around as well.  “And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table.”  The Greek word translated as “lying” means something else entirely: “had been cast”, “had been thrown”, “had been dropped”.  Perhaps the translator found these options too harsh, but that is what the Greek word means.  The verb is used to describe what a warrior does with his spear, for instance.  The verb is also in the pluperfect passive: some action “had been” done to or with him by someone else.  Someone, then, had picked Lazarus up at some point and thrown him up against the rich man’s “large gate”, “gateway”, or “porch”.  Lazarus had not been able to move himself from that place.  It is not clear whether the person(s) who threw him at the gate or porch did this so that someone in the grand house might take notice of him and feed him or as an insult to the rich man inside, cluttering up his property in this way.  This is suggested by the fact that the rich man made no move to help Lazarus.  At the same time, he did not have him removed, his stench, the dogs, the flies, and all.  Perhaps this was because his interior reflected Lazarus’s exterior.  There was a connection between them that the rich man will seek to exploit in the next world.

“When the poor man died, he was carried away by angels to the bosom of Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried, and from the netherworld, where he was in torment.”  Whereas before he had been hurled or dumped at the gate of the merciless rich man, Lazarus is now borne aloft on the loving arms of the holy angels who behold the face of God.  They left him off at the “bosom of Abraham”, that is, fully embraced as his child by our father in faith.  Through the faith of Abraham, a land flowing with milk and honey was promised to his descendants; Abraham himself has become the gateway or porch to the country of heaven signified by that earthly land.  His bosom is not heaven, but a place or warmth and comfort for those awaiting the opening of heaven by the Lord Jesus.  Luke uses the word “Hades”, familiar to the Greeks, instead of transliterating the Hebrew “Sheol” as he might have done, to describe the punishments inflicted upon the rich man.  He is not at a gate or a porch, and the gate to heaven is separated from him by an immense gulf that cannot be crossed.  As Lazarus was pitched at the gateway to his fabulous house, he has been dumped into the abyss of hell.

The Lord Jesus presents no new doctrine here regarding the existence of a heaven and hell and a sort of temporary limbo of peace provided for those who are to be saved with the Lord’s Resurrection.  The Lord does confirm this doctrine, which developed over time from the earliest beliefs in Sheol, a shadowy underworld.  

“He raised his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side.”  The Greek has, “in his bosom”.  Abraham is holding Lazarus close.  The fact that the rich man could see the peace and consolation of Lazarus is part of his punishment, a manifestation of God’s justice.  Likewise, that Abraham could speak to the rich man indicates that he can see him.  The just look upon the damned without gloating or feeling personal satisfaction, but rejoicing in the justice of Almighty God which is delayed to give space for possible repentance but finally and irrevocably is fulfilled.  At the end of the world, at the great manifestation of God’s justice, the just will glance at the wicked as they are cast into hell, but will from then on fully occupy themselves with the dazzling sight of the Holy Trinity.

“Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am suffering torment in these flames.’ ”  We should not imagine a calm exchange of thoughts here, for the former rich man is screaming in his agony.  His character has not changed much since his being dumped into hell as though garbage to be burned: he even tries to manipulate Abraham.  The latter, however, is not moved from his serene state and is not distracted from Lazarus, whom he cradles just as a parent cradles a child who has suffered some terrible trauma.  

The crowd would have heard this parable in breathless silence.  Because the Lord gives the poor man’s name and seems not wishing to defile himself by speaking the rich man’s name, and because of the details the Lord provides, it seems to me that the crowd had known them.  Former friends of the rich man in that case would have been present in the crowd.  Perhaps the events in the parable had occurred a few years previously, before the Lord had come to the town, so that he would have shocked people that he knew of this case, which to them was just an ordinary event in the life of the town.  Possibly the shock of the Lord’s words and his revelation of the true fates of these two men threw the people of the town into a desperate rethinking of their lives and of their need to repent.  We can hope.  The Lord’s final words, however, sound like a kind of foreshadowing: “If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.”

 Saturday in the 25th Week of Ordinary Time, September 24, 2022

Ecclesiastes 11, 9—12; 8

Rejoice, O young man, while you are young and let your heart be glad in the days of your youth. Follow the ways of your heart, the vision of your eyes; Yet understand that as regards all this God will bring you to judgment. Ward off grief from your heart and put away trouble from your presence, though the dawn of youth is fleeting. Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come And the years approach of which you will say, I have no pleasure in them; Before the sun is darkened, and the light, and the moon, and the stars, while the clouds return after the rain; When the guardians of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, And the grinders are idle because they are few, and they who look through the windows grow blind; When the doors to the street are shut, and the sound of the mill is low; When one waits for the chirp of a bird, but all the daughters of song are suppressed; And one fears heights, and perils in the street; When the almond tree blooms, and the locust grows sluggish and the caper berry is without effect, Because man goes to his lasting home, and mourners go about the streets; Before the silver cord is snapped and the golden bowl is broken, And the pitcher is shattered at the spring, and the broken pulley falls into the well, And the dust returns to the earth as it once was, and the life breath returns to God who gave it.  Vanity of vanities, says Qoheleth, all things are vanity!

Qoheleth concludes the Book of Ecclesiastes by exhorting the young not to despair in light of the apparent purposeless of human life.  Throughout the book he taught that God has provided structure and order in the world he  created.  He also cautions against tricking ourselves into believing that we can learn how to predict actions and events from our observances and study of this structure and order — through astrology, auspices, and other attempts to attach meaning to physical reality that exists independently of us.  This frees us to live in accord with the world as it is, which ultimately leads us on to salvation.  And so Qoheleth says, “Rejoice, O young man, while you are young and let your heart be glad in the days of your youth.  Follow the ways of your heart, the vision of your eyes.”  At the same time, “Yet understand that as regards all this God will bring you to judgment.”  At the time this book was written, belief in a final judgment had begun to spread through Judaism and is alluded to in the later Prophets and in apocryphal religious works written  at this time.  The author here, speaking to believing and practicing Jews, tells them to enjoy life, but to do so with the judgment in mind.  This is a teaching we can take to heart even more than the original readers because the Son of God himself has come down to instruct us about heaven and even to die for us so that we can go there ourselves.  We can “ward off grief from [our] heart and put away trouble from [our] presence, though the dawn of youth is fleeting” with complete confidence that the Lord will lead us to heaven, provided we follow him there.  We can choose whether to follow him or to give ourselves over to the “vanities” of this world.

Friday in the 25th Week of Ordinary Time, September 23, 2022

Ecclesiastes 3, 1-11

There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every thing under the heavens.  A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to uproot the plant. A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to tear down, and a time to build. A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance. A time to scatter stones, and a time to gather them; a time to embrace, and a time to be far from embraces. A time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away.  A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to be silent, and a time to speak.  A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

In the ancient world, there was a vastly held belief in fate, and that a person’s destiny was predetermined by forces not even the gods could control or influence.  This belief co-existed with that of the apparently chaotic nature of the universe from which people attempted to protect themselves with charms, amulets, and spells.  Because the destinies of every person and all events were preordained by higher forces, they were essentially written into the fabric of the universe and so could be read by prophets and soothsayers.  These would peer into the entrails of sacrificed animals and into the depths of the sky at the movements of the planets and stars in order to understand the present and to forecast the future.  Sometimes the gods would speak through oracles of what had been decreed.  Qoheleth’s “There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every thing under the heavens”, should be read against this background.  That is, not as confirming a determinist universe, but as describing an orderly universe created and ruled by Almighty God. 

“A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to uproot the plant. A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to tear down, and a time to build.”  Qoheleth sees the regularity of the events in human life as a kind of cycle.  The time to plant gives way to a time to uproot, which later gives way to another time to plant.  This does not bring about an improvement in one’s lot, but a maintenance of it.  Looking at these verses in spiritual terms, however, we know that the time of planting is the initial reception of the gift of Faith, or the first hearing of the words of the Gospel.  The Lord himself uses the image of planting to teach about this.  The time for “uprooting” is the time for rejecting beliefs contrary to the teachings of Christ and for acting in accord with his commandments.  “The time to kill” means the killing of the power the devil has over us, while the “time to heal” is for going to Confession and being absolved of sin, as well as for living penitentially.  The other times are to be understood in similar ways.  

“The time to be born” is the time for baptism, while “the time to die” means dying to sin.  This in turn gives way to a new “time to be born”, to live the life of Christ here so as to prepare for eternal life in heaven.  In this we can see how far unaided human wisdom can go, and how much further divine Revelstion can take it.

Thursday in the 25 Week of Ordinary Time, September 22, 2022

Ecclesiastes 1, 2-11

Vanity of vanities, says Qoheleth, vanity of vanities! All things are vanity! What profit has man from all the labor which he toils at under the sun? One generation passes and another comes, but the world forever stays. The sun rises and the sun goes down; then it presses on to the place where it rises. Blowing now toward the south, then toward the north, the wind turns again and again, resuming its rounds. All rivers go to the sea, yet never does the sea become full. To the place where they go, the rivers keep on going. All speech is labored; there is nothing one can say. The eye is not satisfied with seeing nor is the ear satisfied with hearing.  What has been, that will be; what has been done, that will be done. Nothing is new under the sun. Even the thing of which we say, “See, this is new!” has already existed in the ages that preceded us. There is no remembrance of the men of old; nor of those to come will there be any remembrance among those who come after them.

The Book of Ecclesiastes lays out for us the grim situation of the human race before the coming of the Son of God into the world.  It also paints for us the picture of the modern human living without Christ and the hope of heaven.  It is a short book, but just long enough to remind us of our great good fortune in what we have and what will be our fate should we lapse into a life of sin.  It also ought to motivate us to help others who do not know the Lord to get to know him, most of all by praying for them, for without grace, nothing changes.

“Qoheleth” is not a name but a position in which a person acts as a teacher or the speaker to an assembly.  Verse one identifies him with Solomon, but nearly all Hebrew wisdom was attributed to Solomon in the same way that we might say a king conquered a territory — his generals and soldiers in fact accomplished this.  The word translated here as vanity means “breath” or “vapor” in the Hebrew.  The ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew word means “emptiness”, “purposelessness”, “nonsense”, and “emptiness”.  With this in mind, we can translate verse two as “It is all nonsense”, or “It is all without purpose”.  While perhaps striking some of us as a negative way to start a book, particularly a biblical book, this teaching reassures us of what Jesus teaches.  For instance, in the Parable of the Rich Farmer, the farmer has an abundant crop one season and decides to take it easy from now on and live on his enormous surplus.  But the Lord speaks to him in his bed: “You fool, this night do your soul will be demanded of you. And whose shall those things be which you have gathered?” (Luke 12, 20).

“One generation passes and another comes, but the world forever stays.”  This verse sounds like the inspiration for “Ol’ Man River”, which points to the universality of this wisdom.  A given human person will make scant impact on the world — unless he becomes a saint.  We might think that an inventor could make a big difference in how the people of the world live, but ultimately nothing substantial improves.  There is no progress in the world of men and women, only change.  We find cures to one disease only for another to appear.  We create one technology only to find that the convenience it gives us does not make up for the dangers it unleashes.  Progress only occurs in the spiritual realm, where the most wretched sinner can repent and grow in grace and become a John of God, or a Mary of Egypt.

“The eye is not satisfied with seeing nor is the ear satisfied with hearing.”  Fallen human nature makes us ever restless to find peace.  The godless self-medicate on things far worse than narcotics in order to forget the pointlessness of their existence: pornography, violence, our jobs.  They do not ease their suffering and find no answers, and at the same time the spouses and children they have accumulated suffer from their absence.

“Nothing is new under the sun.”  This held true until the Son of God became incarnate of the Virgin Mary.  And he came precisely in order to renew us.  This is why we Christians use words like “resurrection”, which literally means “to rise again”.  We do not just rise on the last day, we rise again.  That is, this is an entirely new kind of rising: not only the soul, but the soul and the body rejoined and glorified.  Jesus changes everything that matters.

“There is no remembrance of the men of old; nor of those to come will there be any remembrance among those who come after them.”  Even three or four hundred years before the Birth of Christ, when this book was written, ancient ruins abounded.  Babylon and Nineveh, once so mighty, lay crushed to the ground.  The great pharaohs of Egypt were no more and hardly anyone knew their names anymore as the land was controlled  by the Greeks, who would later give way to the Romans.  

We give God thanks for making himself known to us, and for the grace which enables us to do his will so that he have purpose in our lives and heaven to look forward to.

 Wednesday in the 25th Week of Ordinary Time, September 21, 2022

The Feast of St. Matthew

Matthew 9, 9-13

As Jesus passed by, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post. He said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him. While he was at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat with Jesus and his disciples. The Pharisees saw this and said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” He heard this and said, “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. Go and learn the meaning of the words, I desire mercy, not sacrifice. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”

The Jews in the time of Jesus paid several different taxes: the Temple tax, which went to Jerusalem; the head tax, which the Roman authorities charged and which did not cost a lot, but which had to be paid in a coin bearing the likeness of the emperor.  Using a coin of this type reminded the people that they lived under a foreign thumb and it also smacked of idolatry.  Then there were the customs or toll taxes, paid on merchandise on its way to its destination.  The toll stations were set up in cities and at crossroads on the trade routes.  Wealthy men would bid for the appointment to these tolls stations.  Once appointed, they paid Rome the expected tax in advance and then recouped their costs through what they charged the merchants who had to pay it.  There might be several toll stations along any given trade route.  Of course, the opportunities for gouging and extortion abounded.  These tax collectors were despised by the population for their exorbitant wealth, their power, and the abuse of their responsibilities.  In addition, the people considered them unclean because of their familiar dealings with the Gentiles.  St. Matthew would have been one of these.  Zacchaeus would have acted as a regional supervisor who received kickbacks from them.

Despite their status and the feelings of the people against them, some tax collectors were attracted to John the Baptist, who stood against all that they stood for.  The tax collectors, in their rich clothing, would have made an odd sight among the followers of John and the mostly ordinary people drawn to him.  Yet they braved the comments and whatever unease they felt to stand by the Jordan River to hear him preach.  We do not know of any who became more or less regular disciples.  Like most folks, they would have gone to hear John preach on the coming Messiah and how they should live their lives in anticipation of his arrival.  Matthew might have been one of these.  Though swathed in wealth and luxury, he felt an urgency in his heart that he could not explain.  John’s words would have provided a little soothing, but the urging did not go away.  Instead, it increased.

Capernaum was not such a large town that Jesus could have gone unnoticed even if he had wanted to.  But all in the town had seen him, heard him, and many would have been healed by him.  Matthew would have known about him and probably had heard him.  But if he had any hope of speaking or following Jesus, he knew that a greater gulf existed between them than between he and John the Baptist.  John performed no miracles, but Jesus seemed to be alive with the power to heal.  At the same time, the urging he felt within himself grew ever more persistent every moment that Jesus was near.  

It was Jesus who came across the gulf.  “As Jesus passed by, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post.”  Probably the customs post was set up near the gate of the town or just outside it, on the road.  The Lord would have had to deliberately come there.  “Follow me!”  Jesus did not call to him in the act of walking, as though casually, but looked deep into his eyes, right into his soul, and called out to him.  A large number of people would have heard him.  And just as Peter and Andrew were in the midst of their work when the Lord called, so was Matthew, perhaps at that very moment making an assessment or issuing a receipt.  The Lord always seems to call when it is least convenient for us.  And then Matthew stopped and felt unable to bear the urgency any longer and got up and went to the Lord, to the shock of everyone standing by.

“While he was at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat with Jesus and his disciples.”  Matthew, shaking with excitement and a little dazed, led the Lord to his house, not knowing or caring what anyone else would think.  He had a substantial household whether he was married or not, though it is safe to say he was: slaves and servants and possibly relatives and unmarried family members.  The house was large enough to provide room for the Lord and such close followers as he had at the time, as well as his family and friends — “tax collectors and sinners” — scoundrels of various sorts, the sort of friends only a tax collector would have.  The talk would have gotten loud in the house, for these were not refined people, but those who lived on the edges of society.  Jesus would have felt right at home here, however, and acted and spoke freely with all who wanted a word with him or sought his attention.

The Pharisees came along to see the spectacle of the righteous man cavorting with the wicked.  They sought to sow dissension among the disciples by pointing out his behavior to them.  But the Lord heard them and had a sharp answer for them: “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do.”  For the Pharisees, there were the righteous of the world and the unrighteous.  For the Lord, there were the righteous and there were those who could become righteous — and there were the wicked who sought to prevent them.  “I desire mercy, not sacrifice. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”  The Lord quotes from Hosea 6, 6: “Hosea: “For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice: and the knowledge of God more than holocausts.”  Significantly, the next verse: “But they, like Adam, have transgressed the covenant, there have they dealt treacherously against me.”

St. Matthew devoted himself to the Lord Jesus the rest of his life and traveled far in preaching the Gospel, traditionally including to the land of Ethiopia.  His Gospel, written in Hebrew or Aramaic for the Galilean Christians of 35-50 A.D. suffering persecution by the Jewish leadership in Jerusalem, focuses on the need for perseverance in the Faith and on the great Judgment to come.  The great collection of the Lord’s moral teachings he hands on to us provides us the means to live our lives so as to be set on the Lord’s right hand in that Judgment.

We pray to St. Matthew for help in our perseverance and in living the righteous life made possible by Jesus Christ.

 Tuesday in the 25th Week of Ordinary Time, September 20, 2022

Proverbs 21, 1-6; 10-13

Like a stream is the king’s heart in the hand of the Lord; wherever it pleases him, he directs it.

All the ways of a man may be right in his own eyes, but it is the Lord who proves hearts.

To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.

Haughty eyes and a proud heart– the tillage of the wicked is sin.

The plans of the diligent are sure of profit, but all rash haste leads certainly to poverty.

Whoever makes a fortune by a lying tongue is chasing a bubble over deadly snares.

The soul of the wicked man desires evil; his neighbor finds no pity in his eyes.

When the arrogant man is punished, the simple are the wiser; when the wise man is instructed, he gains knowledge.

The just man appraises the house of the wicked: there is one who brings down the wicked to ruin.

He who shuts his ear to the cry of the poor will himself also call and not be heard.

The great cultures of the ancient world have bestowed on their descendants a rich trove of wisdom, mostly composed in collections of proverbs.  The proverb belongs to a literary genre of its own kind, characterized by concision and deep perception of the world and its workings.  Often, everyday situations are presented with a statement that seems obvious on its face but which reveals a deeper meaning upon reflection.  The proverbs left us by peoples such as the Egyptians and Sumerians sometimes reference their gods, but on the whole they are not religious.  The proverbs of the Jews, such as those contained in the biblical Book of Proverbs, are related to living in such a way as to please God, derived from the principle that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9, 10).  The  Book of Proverbs personifies wisdom and identifies her as the daughter of the Most High, and the most ancient of his creations: “The mountains, with their huge bulk, had not as yet been established: before the hills, I was brought forth” (Proverbs 8, 25).  Wisdom was present at the creation of the universe: “I was with him forming all things: and was delighted every day, playing before him at all times” (Proverbs 8, 35).  And while Wisdom is associated with Almighty God, she herself says, “My delights are to be with the children of men” (Proverbs 8, 31).  We share in the life of God by applying his gift of wisdom to our lives.  

“Like a stream is the king’s heart in the hand of the Lord; wherever it pleases him, he directs it.”  Proverbs often used rulers as their subjects.  This may reflect the fact that many proverbs were written for the benefit of rulers.  In this proverb, the sage speaks of the ease with which the Lord directs the king’s heart, but anyone hearing this proverb knows that the hearts of rulers are often set against each other or their subjects.  But that person is king who makes himself the servant of the Lord, just as Jesus came not to be served but to serve, though he is the King of kings.  The true servant of the Lord gives his heart entirely to the Lord so that the Lord may direct without hindrance.

“All the ways of a man may be right in his own eyes, but it is the Lord who proves hearts.”  We justify all that we do even when we know it is wrong: I was forced to do it; I had no choice; it was the lesser of two evils; and so on.  But God “proves” hearts: he will reveal all things at the final judgment so that we and all other can recognize the evil we committed in the name of good.

“To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.”
This is paraphrased by a scribe who was adding on to the Lord’s answer to his question about the greatest commandment: “And to love one’s neighbour as one’s self is a greater thing than all holocausts and sacrifices” (Mark 12, 23).  The sacrifice in the proverb is that of the Temple.  For us who believe in the Lord Jesus, the true imitation of his life is itself a sacrifice of our own.

“Haughty eyes and a proud heart– the tillage of the wicked is sin.”  That is, the crops that arise from haughtiness and pride are sin and lead others into sin.

“The plans of the diligent are sure of profit, but all rash haste leads certainly to poverty.”  This proverb lays the foundation for the Lord’s saying about builders who construct towers without knowing whether they have enough money or kings who go to battle without enough troops.  In the spiritual life, we must be willing to give ourselves up entirely to God or we will never possess him.  If we expect to possess God without sacrifice, we will fail.  We must ask ourselves: Am I going to be a Christian or not?

“Whoever makes a fortune by a lying tongue is chasing a bubble over deadly snares.”  Our lies will always catch up with us, for once we begin to lie we cannot stop.  And we will always live in dread of being exposed. Meanwhile, the fortune we thought we had acquired for ourselves melts away.  The bubble pops on the snares we have unwittingly laid for ourselves.

“The soul of the wicked man desires evil; his neighbor finds no pity in his eyes.”  We must be prudent in this world and not expect everyone who appears to convert to do so in fact, or to expect that a wicked man will somehow act kindly in some instance or other.  The devil never takes pity and never lets up.  His promises always lead to disaster.  He at no time has our interests at heart.  All the same, people fall for him all the time.  We must beware of them.

“When the arrogant man is punished, the simple are the wiser; when the wise man is instructed, he gains knowledge.”  The “simple” are the uneducated and often lack much self-control.  The sight of an arrogant man being punished tells them that they must avoid arrogance, for anyone, even the simple, may become arrogant.  The wise man knows how little he truly knows and so avoids arrogance.  His careful study of wisdom and of the human race profits him with knowledge.  

“The just man appraises the house of the wicked: there is one who brings down the wicked to ruin.”  The last part of this proverb is more literally and clearly translated, “overthrowing the wicked to their ruin”.  The righteous man looks over the position of the wicked man and “overthrows” it by countering it with justice.  We can understand this as the Lord God who came down to “see” the wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah and determine whether to destroy these cities, which he did.  We can also understand this as the Lord Jesus who came down to “appraise” the kingdom Satan had established on earth by enslaving human beings to sin, which he overthrew utterly by his Passion and Death.

“He who shuts his ear to the cry of the poor will himself also call and not be heard.”  This brings to mind the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, and we recall the terrible but completely avoidable fate of the Rich Man.

A diligent perusal of the Book of Proverbs yields many delights and helps us to live every day the will of God.

 Monday in the 25th Week of Ordinary Time, September 19, 2022

Luke 8, 16-18

Jesus said to the crowd: “No one who lights a lamp conceals it with a vessel or sets it under a bed; rather, he places it on a lamp stand so that those who enter may see the light. For there is nothing hidden that will not become visible, and nothing secret that will not be known and come to light. Take care, then, how you hear. To anyone who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he seems to have will be taken away.”

St. Luke continues to present the Lord’s teaching in the Sermon on the Plain.

“No one who lights a lamp conceals it with a vessel or sets it under a bed.”  The “vessel” here would be one typically used to hold liquids.  With no openings, it would completely cover the light of the lamp and eventually the flame of the lamp would go out from lack of oxygen.  Thus, to cover the lamp in this way would both hide its light and extinguish it.  One might as well not light it in the first place.  To put the lit lamp under a bed would risk setting the bed on fire, which accomplishes the opposite effect of hiding it under a large bowl: the house would catch on fire and everyone around. would see it.  The Lord Jesus is saying that the grace a person receives from him should not be kept private — one who is baptized in the Faith and loves Jesus should not attempt to keep secret this fact, and hold off on charitable practices lest his faith be discovered.  At the same time, a person should not perform works simply in order to be seen so as to gain approval nor should a believer try to force our religion on another.  “Rather, he places it on a lamp stand so that those who enter may see the light.”  That is, a person should act in public life as a believer, performing good works, defending the Faith when necessary, and otherwise living openly as a follower of Jesus Christ.  

“For there is nothing hidden that will not become visible, and nothing secret that will not be known and come to light.”  If this saying is to be connected with the above, we can understand the Lord as saying that even if a person attempts to hide his religion, eventually it will become known provided he perseveres in his private piety.  If it is to be understood apart from the above, the Lord is talking about our deepest thoughts or sins.  What does not come out in this lifetime will come out on the last day, at the Judgment.  

“To anyone who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he seems to have will be taken away.”  The Lord here speaks of faith and perseverance.  In times of turmoil and persecution, those who do not practice their faith — especially those who do not pray every day — will lose what little faith they have.  They do not believe enough to hold fast to Christ as the Anchor that will pull them from the depths of this world up into the bright light of heaven.  But those who do have faith and nourish it with good works and prayers will harden under the pressure of suffering and will grow even further, with the help of God’s grace.

 The 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time, September 18, 2022

Luke 16, 1–13

Jesus said to his disciples, “A rich man had a steward who was reported to him for squandering his property. He summoned him and said, ‘What is this I hear about you? Prepare a full account of your stewardship, because you can no longer be my steward.’ The steward said to himself, ‘What shall I do, now that my master is taking the position of steward away from me? I am not strong enough to dig and I am ashamed to beg. I know what I shall do so that, when I am removed from the stewardship, they may welcome me into their homes.’ He called in his master’s debtors one by one. To the first he said, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He replied, ‘One hundred measures of olive oil.’ He said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note. Sit down and quickly write one for fifty.’ Then to another the steward said, ‘And you, how much do you owe?’ He replied, ‘One hundred kors of wheat.’ The steward said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note; write one for eighty.’ And the master commended that dishonest steward for acting prudently. For the children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. I tell you, make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth, so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones; and the person who is dishonest in very small matters is also dishonest in great ones. If, therefore, you are not trustworthy with dishonest wealth, who will trust you with true wealth? If you are not trustworthy with what belongs to another, who will give you what is yours? No servant can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and mammon.” 

We can derive a few basic conclusions from the sometimes confusing Parable of the Unjust Steward: the steward was capable of a realistic assessment of situations; he was willing to act in his own interests; he became like his master; and that he acted without restraint, as though his life depended on his success.  We are confused by the Parable because the Lord seems to approve of what the Unjust Stewart did, defrauding his employer for his own personal gain.  In fact, the Lord does not address the immorality of the steward but only his zeal in saving himself.  The point of the Parable is that, “the children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light.”  That is, the wicked work harder to get what they want than the just do.  The righteous, too, are capable of a realistic assessment of situations; they, too, can act in their own interests; they, too, should become like their Master; and they, too, should act without restraint, as though their lives depended on their success.  If we want to save ourselves from the wrath that is to come (cf. 1 Thessalonians 1, 10).  Our situation is this: we are sinners who face grave consequences for our sins.  The consequences are severe, inescapable, and eternal.  Only the grace of God and our relentless cooperation with it can save us.  It is in our own self-interest, if for no other reason, that we must dedicate ourselves to action.  Our chief strategy in acting is to imitate the One who decides our fate.  That is, we gain his favor by acting in ways that appeal to him.  In our case, this means to give ourselves without restraint to achieving success.  The Unjust Steward worked without regard to the law in order to make himself safe.  We too must work without regard of the law — of the customs, expectations, and limitations imposed on us by those who do not want to be reminded of the consequences they will face one day.  What does this look like?  For each of us it will be different, according to our calling.  Some will spend their lives as missionaries, some as priests and religious, some of mothers and fathers, some as single people.  But all of us striving with all our hearts and ingenuity for holiness.  The Unjust Steward did not miss a trick when it came to making friends for himself.  He did not just discount the bills of the largest clients but of all of them.  We too should let no act of charity go undone.  This is the meaning of, “Make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth, so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.”  We should only take care not to be taken advantage of, which will only hinder us in the long run.

“The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones; and the person who is dishonest in very small matters is also dishonest in great ones.”  This observation seems separate from the Parable in the Reading but is related in that it speaks of dishonest persons.  It is valuable to us in that it reminds us that a person who lies is a liar.  A person who steals is a thief.  An honest person does not lie or steal.  A person’s actions, even if they seem small, reveal his or her character.  “If, therefore, you are not trustworthy with dishonest wealth, who will trust you with true wealth?”  This also seems not connected to the parable except for the mention of dishonest wealth.  The Lord Jesus is saying here that a dishonest person can hardly expect to get into heaven.  His actions are not somehow distinct from his person.  This is pertinent to today when people will commit horrible acts and then say, “That’s not who I am.”  

“No servant can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and mammon.”  This is one of those observations with which we can all agree in principle, but which we blithely disregard in our daily lives.  We are too busy to go to Mass on Sunday; we should not do the right thing because doing it will anger or disappoint people important to me; we do mot speak up for the Church or for what is moral because we are embarrassed to do so, and so on.  But this goes back to striving single-mindedly for our own salvation.  The Unjust Steward knew that his master would find out about the discounted debts and would call him in, but he did not care.  He had himself to save.

Saturday in the 24th Week of Ordinary Time, September 17, 2022

1 Corinthians 15, 35-37; 42-49

Brothers and sisters: Someone may say, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come back?”  You fool! What you sow is not brought to life unless it dies. And what you sow is not the body that is to be but a bare kernel of wheat, perhaps, or of some other kind. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown corruptible; it is raised incorruptible. It is sown dishonorable; it is raised glorious. It is sown weak; it is raised powerful. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual one. So, too, it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living being,” the last Adam a life-giving spirit. But the spiritual was not first; rather the natural and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, earthly; the second man, from heaven. As was the earthly one, so also are the earthly, and as is the heavenly one, so also are the heavenly. Just as we have borne the image of the earthly one, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly one.

Chapter 15 ought to be read in its entirety for St. Paul’s listing of the appearances of Jesus after the Resurrection, some of which are not related in the Gospels, and because of his discussion of the resurrection of the dead, body and soul, at the end of the world.  For the Greek Corinthians, the doctrine of the resurrection had come as a truly new idea, and years after being introduced to it, they still had questions.  

The First Reading for today’s Mass starts rather abruptly so that what Paul says does not make sense.  Through the earlier part of the chapter he was dealing with doubts some had regarding the resurrection, and that Christ himself had not risen from the dead.  At the top of this reading, he quotes one such doubter: the question Paul relates is not asked in good faith but is meant to tear holes in the teaching.  Paul, frustrated, replies, “You fool!”  The person asking the question was trying to get Paul to admit that the bodies that will rise at the end of the world will be decayed and loathsome.  But Paul answers quite elegantly with a simile involving the sowing of seed: “It is sown corruptible; it is raised incorruptible.”  That is, the dead body is buried and becomes corrupted, after the manner of nature.  But just as a seed sprouts and new, vibrant life pushes out of the ground, so the resurrected body will be new — in fact, “incorruptible”, for it will never again die.  He calls this resurrected body “glorious” and “spiritual”, for it will share some of the characteristics of the glorified Body of Jesus Christ after he rose from the dead.  Our resurrected bodies will also be able to pass through solid matter, and will be able to move from one place to another with ease, even over great distances.  Our bodies will no longer need food, drink, rest, or sleep.

“The first man was from the earth, earthly; the second man, from heaven.”  Paul now tries to show the logic of what he is proposing.  He speaks of Adam, the man created from the dust of the earth, and then of Jesus, “the second Adam”.  It is right to call the Lord by this name for in him mankind is transformed and made new, and because Jesus is the first-born of the dead (cf. Colossians 1, 18), whose Body is now wholly spiritualized.  He is the new man, whose spiritual descendants we are.  “As was the earthly one, so also are the earthly, and as is the heavenly one, so also are the heavenly.”  Paul describes here the immense difference between the believer and the unbeliever.  The person regenerated in baptism is very different from the one who is not, appearances notwithstanding.  The seed of eternal life has already sprouted in the believer, while the unbeliever has corruption for his heritage.  “Just as we have borne the image of the earthly one, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly one.”  Though we are born in original sin we are filled with grace through baptism, and the life in Christ that begins here reaches perfection in heaven.  

From the beginning, the Greeks struggled with the doctrine of the resurrection.  We recall how Paul addressed the crowd at the acropolis in Athens and did quite well up until he mentioned how Jesus rose from the dead: “When they had heard of the resurrection of the dead, some indeed mocked. But others said: We will hear you again concerning this matter” (Acts 17, 32).  How differently we would live if there were no resurrection or if we had never heard of it.  With this in mind, let us live fully aware of the teaching and of what will one day come to pass.