MARY MOTHER OF GOD

Num. 6:22-7; Gal. 4:4-7; Lk. 2:16-21

Welcome to today's celebration of the Feast of Mary. This Feast of "Mary, Mother of God" is very appropriate to start a new year. This celebration echoes that the Blessed Virgin Mary, who is the Mother of God, is also our Heavenly Mother.

We base our faith in this dogma on the words of Elizabeth who was the cousin of Mary. When the Blessed Virgin Mary visited Elizabeth after the angel had appeared to her and told her that she would be the mother of Jesus, Elizabeth said, "And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me?" [Lk. 1:43] Through Elizabeth who was full of the Holy Spirit, it was acclaimed that Mary had been chosen to be the Mother of God.

In the fourth century, a priest named Arius claimed that Jesus as the Son of God was created by God. This would mean that Jesus was an amazing creature, but not God, so it was a denial of his divinity. The idea took hold, and Arianism became popular in the Eastern and Western Roman empire. 

Opponents such as St. Athanasius, who was exiled multiple times for his belief, said that would be a return to polytheism, since Jesus in the Arianist view was not God, but was still worshipped alongside God the Father.

In 431 A.D. the Council of Ephesus affirmed that Mary was truly the Mother of God because "according to the flesh" she gave birth to Jesus, who was truly God from the first moment of His conception. Twenty years later, in 451 A.D. at the Council of Chalcedon, it was affirmed that the Motherhood of Mary was a truthful dogma and an official doctrine of the Holy Catholic Church. The Feast of the Mother of God affirms that Mary was the mother of Jesus who was both God and human. The Holy Scriptures teaches us through the Gospel of John that Jesus was both God and human. "The Word became flesh and lived among us." [Jn. 1:14]

Mary chose to be the mother of God, with her unconditional faith, submission and hope. When the Angel announced the news that she had been chosen to be the mother of God, her response was: “Behold, I am the hand maid of the Lord. Let it be done to me according to your word."

She was well aware of the consequences of being found with a baby before marriage. She had witnessed the punishment given for infidelity. Still when the word of God made demands on her she did not think about the worries that "tomorrow" might bring. This is a great lesson for us. We, often, live in the worries of the future. Our life is engulfed by the regrets of the past and the unknown worries of the future. After all today is the tomorrow we worried about yesterday.  As we are setting foot to the New Year, our mother stands beside us, encouraging us to be optimistic in life.

In today's Gospel Mary teaches us one of the most important virtues of all: wisdom. St Luke tells us how Mary responded to the wonderful things that God was doing in and around her: "Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart."

Just as Mary's womb was open to receiving God's living Word at the moment of Christ's Incarnation, so her heart was constantly open to receiving God’s ongoing words and messages as He continued to speak through the events of her life. This capacity and habit of reflecting in our heart on God's action in our lives is both a sign and a source of wisdom. And we can never become mature, courageous, and joyful followers of Christ unless we develop it.

Mary was Jesus’ mother in the flesh, and she is our mother in grace. And just as we learn from our natural mothers how to be good human beings, so we learn from Mary how to become mature Christians. She is the living school where we learn every virtue that leads to happiness and holiness. Inspired by Mary’s example let’s strive to begin this new year as a year of a more profound love for Christ; in that way, it will indeed be a happy new year.

The year 2020 has not been without its challenges and its trials and yet in so many ways we can find the hand of God at work within each of us and within His Church.  There can be no growth without some growing pains, without some struggle, without some change. Even in dark days, our God never deserts us. He is present with his people. And he has unseen purposes that he is fulfilling through all this.

And now we look forward to a new year – another gift of our loving God – and we pray that it will be a fruitful year, a life-giving year, a grace-filled year!  We pray that it will bring us closer to our God and to each other as we work together for His glory by deepening our discipleship.

May the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God and our Mother, wrap us safely in her mantle and bring us closer to her Son.

 

CHRISTMAS 2020.

 

We have four sets of readings for different Masses for Christmas, but I chose to preach on just one of them. This homily may sound a bit theological but it is important to know who Jesus is and how his nature is before we can understand Jesus and the Bible.

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. (Christmas day mass reading). How did the Word become flesh and what are the implications involved?

Unlike in the Hindu incarnations where the supreme God incarnated as fish or tortoise, in the Christian revelation God incarnated only once and that too in human form because only humans can sin. The Word became flesh because he came to save us from our sins and not for any other purpose. Since God is immortal and cannot suffer or die, he became human.

Jesus is technically human but not a human being, that would be like saying he is a human person. He is a divine being with two complete and unconfused natures. In him they are two natures in a perfect inseparable union called in theological term, hypostatic union.

The Old testament prophecies represented the coming Saviour as sometimes divine and sometimes human.

(Messiah as God himself) He was the Branch “of the Lord” (Is 4:2). He was the Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the “Prince of Peace” (Is. 9:6). The one who was to come forth out of Bethlehem and be the ruler in Israel, was one whose goings forth had been from the days of eternity (Mic 5:2). It was none other than Yahweh Himself who was to come suddenly to the temple (Mal 3:1). (The annunciation account says his kingdom shall never end… Is there any king whose kingdom never ends? Every king dies and so his kingdom also ends. But Jesus’ kingdom will never end? It means he will live forever).

Yet on the other hand, he was the woman’s offspring (Gen 3:15); a prophet like unto Moses (Dt. 18:18); a descendent of David (2 Sam 7:12-13); (the genealogy clearly shows his ancestry). He was Yahweh’s “servant” (Is 42:1); He was “the man of sorrows” (Is 53:3).

And in the New Testament we see these two different sets of prophecies harmonized. The One born at Bethlehem was the divine Word. The Incarnation does not mean that God was merely manifested Himself as a man (as in Vishnu’s incarnation). The word became flesh; he became what he was not before, though he never ceased to be all he was previously. “Though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance (Phil. 2:6-7). The babe of Bethlehem was Immanuel- God with us.

He was more than a manifestation of God; He was God manifest in the flesh. He was both Son of God and Son of Man; not two separate personalities, but one person possessing two natures, the divine and human.

If Jesus was two persons one totally different from the other Mary could not be called the Mother of God.

In His divinity, He is of the same nature of the Father. In His humanity, He’s of the same nature as us. It’s in this way that He is able to serve as a bridge between God and man.

The sacrifice of Jesus had infinite merits, because he was a divine person. He suffered in his human nature; (divine nature could not suffer or die) The merits of his suffering is of the divine person. He had human nature but he was not human person.

 

When we think about Jesus, we think of him primarily as God. From this perspective, we will not be able to understand anything that happened in the real life of Jesus. This prejudice distorts everything that the gospel narrates. Luke says that Jesus grew in stature, in knowledge, and in grace before God and men. (God cannot grow).

Jesus displayed his human life like any other human being. As a man, he had to learn and mature little by little, making use of all the resources he found in his path.  If we do not understand that Jesus was fully man, we do not accept the incarnation.

 Jesus has a true human soul. Christ’s human soul is created, but (like His Body) His soul is united to Him from the first moment of its existence, not pre-existing like his divine nature.

If Christ didn’t have a human soul, He wasn’t fully human.  If Christ didn’t assume a human soul, He didn’t redeem human souls. The whole point of the Incarnation is to unite humanity with divinity so that humanity can be saved. If Christ didn’t have a human soul, He couldn’t suffer or die.  It’s also due to His human soul that Christ weeps for the death of His friend Lazarus, etc.

 Jesus has two wills is clear from his prayer: Father take this cup away from me but not my will but your will be done. Again, he says: I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father who sent me." (John 5:30). So Jesus had his human will and also his divine will which he shared with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

God became man on Christmas Night 2000 years ago because he wanted to correct our mistaken ideas about what he's like. He wants us to have the right idea about him, so that we can live in a right relationship with him. If we have wrong idea about God we would not be able to relate with him in the right way. Jesus was the only one who told us God is our Father. The Jews hesitated to call God their Father.

Baby Jesus smiling helplessly at his mother Mary is the true God, a God who comes to meet us right where we're at. He wants to give forgiveness, hope and meaning to everyone around us who is suffering and searching, but he refuses to do it alone. He entrusts us with the task of bringing him into the world. Not because we're so great, but because he is so great that he lets us share his all-important, everlasting mission.

He is glad that we are here today to celebrate his birthday, and he is hoping that we will give him the only present he really wants: our renewed commitment to spread the Good News of salvation to everyone around us - a commitment that we fulfill in our everyday activities, through our way of life, words, and works. May the infant Jesus take birth in our hearts so that we can share him generously with others.

 

 

ADVENT III (Is 61:1-2a, 10-11; I Thes 5:16-24; Jn 1:6-8, 19-28)

The third Sunday of Advent has been "Gaudete (rejoice) Sunday" ever since the time of Pope St. Gregory the Great, in the sixth century. It's the reason for the rose-colored vestments and Advent candle. One thing that can inhibit our experience of Christian joy is wrong expectations. The joy that comes from Christ goes deeper than passing emotions. It is a joy that comes from knowing that Christ is always with us, guiding us, and loving us, even amidst life's trials.

When John the Baptist began his ministry, a deputation came to interview him. The deputation was composed of two kinds of people - priests and the Levites. Their interest was natural. The priests wanted to know that John was the son of a priest, therefore, why he was behaving in such an unusual manner. Second, there were emissaries of the Sanhedrin. John was a preacher to whom the people were flocking in hordes. The Sanhedrin may well have felt it their duty to check up on this man in case he was a false prophet.

They asked him three questions: Firstly, they asked him if he was the Messiah. Then they asked him if he was Elijah. Then they asked him if he was the expected and promised prophet. When they found that John’s answer was ”no”, they asked him the most difficult question: “Who are you?”

We seldom know what gifts we are endowed with. We will have to learn where we belong, what we have to learn to get the full benefit from our strengths, where our weaknesses lie, what our values are. So, it is fundamental to know oneself. Where do we come from? Where are we going? What is the objective of existence? Why do we live? What do we live for?

 The replies that John gave to the deputation that came to interview him shows that he was a man who knew himself. Therefore, he was profoundly humble. He pointed to Jesus and declared: “I am not fit to undo his sandal strap.”  Undoing the straps of someone’s sandal was the work of slaves towards their masters.  At the sight of Jesus John realized not just his littleness, but his nothingness.

John was different from us all who try at all times to appear more than what we are. So, the season of Advent invites us to reflect on the following three questions:

 ·         What do I think of myself…?

·         What do people think that I am…?

·         What does God think about me…..?

Only when we know who we are can we, like St.John, point others to Christ. Otherwise we will point others to ourselves and our achievements.  The Jewish leaders’ own preconceived notions impeded their acceptance of God's word spoken through John. They heard the prophecy, but it didn't help them at all. They tried to fit God inside the box of their own preferences and prejudices, and God was not their highest priority.

Having the right expectations in our relationship with God means always keeping the door of our hearts open to his grace, always being ready to do whatever he asks, even when it's difficult or uncomfortable. Here at the midpoint of Advent, we can examine our expectations for this coming celebration of Christmas. On a simple, human level, we are expecting to receive some Christmas presents. But all of those gifts are just symbols of God's great, everlasting gift of grace, of friendship with Jesus Christ. God wants to give us a new outpouring of that grace this Christmas. But unless we have the right expectations, we will not be ready to receive it. That means three things.

First, it means we have to avoid the trap of the Pharisees. We must not think that we know it all already; that we already understand how God works; or that we are beyond a true, transforming encounter with the living God.

Second, it means that we have to spend quality time in prayer during the next ten days. We have to "fix our thoughts on Jesus" (Hb 3:1). This will tune our souls to God's wavelength, so that we can hear his voice when Christmas comes.

Third, having the right expectations means spending time before Christmas reaching out to others in need. Whether the need is material, spiritual, or emotional, the best to way to "make straight the way of the Lord," as St. John the Baptist did in preparation for the first Christmas, is to give others an experience of God's goodness. By reaching out to others, we clear the runway of our hearts for the arrival of God's grace to us.

In a few moments, Jesus will renew his commitment to us through the sacrifice of this Mass. When he does, let's stir up our desire to know him better, and to receive whatever grace he wants to give us this Christmas.

 

 

DECEMBER 8 in 2020: Feast of the Immaculate Conception of BVM

(Gn 3:9-15, 20; Eph 1:3-6, 11-12; Lk 1:26-38)

Today, Holy Mother Church commemorates and celebrates the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception. This feast celebrates the Church’s dogmatic teaching that the Blessed Mother was given the gift from God of being conceived without original sin. That is to say, that from the moment of her conception, Mary was given the grace not only of freedom from original sin, but of being the only human being other than her Divine Son who lived a life without sin. The Church teaches that the Blessed Mother was given this very special Grace of liberation from the effects of sin in part because she would be the Mother of God, she would bear the second person of the Blessed Trinity in her womb for nine months. As any scholar of the Old Testament could tell us, God could not dwell in the presence of sin.

Even though the dogma of the Immaculate Conception was infallibly defined in 1854 by Blessed Pope Pius IX, the Immaculate Conception is something that has been believed as a matter of reality in our faith for many centuries. We see evidence of the reality of the doctrine that Mary was conceived without sin when the angel Gabriel greeted her to announce to her that Christ was going to be born and that she was going to give birth to him.

In the year 1846, the Bishops of the United States unanimously chose Our Lady as the patroness of the United States under the title of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception. This was done some years before the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary was infallibly defined.

 

Fulton J Sheen said why Mary is made so faultless in her birth is because Jesus, her son wanted her to be so. Sheen says: Just suppose that you could have pre-existed your own mother, in much the same way that an artist pre-exists his painting. Furthermore, suppose that you had the infinite power to make your mother anything that you pleased, just as a great artist like Raphael has the power of realizing his artistic ideas. Suppose you had this double power, what kind of mother would you have made for yourself? Would you not have made her, so far as human beauty goes, the most beautiful woman in the world; and so far as beauty of the soul goes, one who would radiate every virtue, every manner of kindness and charity and loveliness; one who by the purity of her life and her mind and her heart would be an inspiration not only to you but even to your fellow men, so that all would look up to her as the very incarnation of what is best in motherhood? Do you think that our Blessed Lord, who not only pre-existed His own mother but Who had an infinite power to make her just what He chose, would in virtue of all the infinite delicacy of His spirit make her any less pure and loving and beautiful than you would have made your own mother?

 

What mattered most for Mary was God's action in her life, and the same thing matters most for us. The Immaculate Conception was God's way of giving Jesus a worthy mother on earth, and of giving us a worthy mother in heaven.

We should thank him for this great gift, and the best way to do that is to follow in our mother's footsteps, answering every call that God sends to our hearts and consciences in the same way that Mary answered her call, by saying: "May it be done to me according to your word."   God invites each one of us to continue Mary’s “Yes” by welcoming Jesus and making room for him in our lives.

 

God gave her this special privilege because he had assigned her a special mission - to be the mother of Christ and the mother of the Church.

We have not been given that same privilege, because we don't have that same mission. But we have been given a mission, each one of us is called to know, love, and follow Christ in a completely unique way. And so we have also received God's grace, and we continue to receive it. If Mary was "full of grace," we are "being filled with grace." The more aware we are of this grace, the better we can collaborate with it, and being aware of it means knowing what it looks like.

 

As we honor our spiritual Mother and receive the Holy Sacrament in this Mass, let's ask her to increase our faith, so that we can be, like her, more and more filled with God's grace.

 

 

 

ADVENT II [B]: (Is 40:1-5, 9-11; 2 Pt 3:8-14; Mk 1:1-8)

 

All three readings focus on the absolute necessity of our readying ourselves by repentance and reparation for Christ’s coming.  John the Baptist always plays a big role in Advent. He was the last and greatest of a long line of Old Testament prophets. God sent those prophets to prepare Israel for the arrival of the Messiah, the anointed Savior and Redeemer of the world. Isaiah's prophecy in today's First Reading was made more than 700 years before John the Baptist's prophecy, but their substance is very much the same: God has not forgotten his people, and in spite of their sufferings, sins, and failings, he will come and save them, shepherding them to happiness beyond what they can imagine.

As the first New Testament prophet, John the Baptist has three valuable lessons to teach us about how to be a prophet. First, John invited the people of his time to repent from their sins, so that they would be ready to welcome Jesus, the Savior. We too are called to invite others to leave behind the sinful patterns of life that our society encourages, so that God's grace can come into their lives. If we really care about other people, we will do our best to warn them against sin.

 

Second, He called for repentance, for people to turn away from their sins, but he also turned people's  attention towards something - the greatness, the beauty, and the transforming power of Christ: "One mightier than I is coming after me... He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." We too are called to turn people's attention to Christ, so that they can discover his love, goodness, and transforming power.

 

Third, Perhaps the most remarkable thing about St John the Baptist was that so many people actually listened to him. Why was that? Because how he lived was consistent with what he said. John’s ministry was effective primarily because his life was his message:  he lived what he preached. He was a man from the desert. In its solitude, he had heard the voice of God, and, hence, he had the courage of his convictions. His camel’s hair garment and leather belt resembled those of Elijah and other great prophets of Israel. His food, too, was very simple:  wild locusts and honey. The Israelites had not had a prophet for four hundred years, and the people were waiting expectantly for one. John’s message was effective also because he was completely humble.   His role was to serve Jesus and to serve the people. “He must increase, I must decrease,” he says elsewhere (Jn 3:30). He frankly admitted that he was the Messiah’s humble and obedient messenger, preparing a straight way for the Messiah in the hearts and lives of the Jews.

 

Everyone who knew John and heard him speak could see immediately that he was not living a self-centered life, and that opened their hearts. We too, as New Testament prophets, are called to live in such a way that the best argument supporting our words about Christ will be that we are living like Christ. This is the real power behind all the saints. As New Testament prophets, we must use words to invite repentance and to tell about God's goodness and Christ's truth, but our best argument will always be Christ-like lives.

According to the prophet Isaiah, there are two things we can do to get ready to receive those blessings: to fill in every valley and to make low every mountain.

The valleys stand for our sins of omission, the things we should be doing but aren't. For example, if we aren't spending quality time with our family, we need to fill in that valley. If we aren't spending at least a few minutes each day in prayer with God, we need to fill in that valley.

John’s message demands from us too, to level the mountains of ego and the selfish and sinful habits that we have built up; the sins of commission. If we like to gossip and spread criticism, we need to tear that mountain down. If we are leading a double life, indulging in hidden sins or lies that are poisoning our souls, we need to lay low that mountain.

If we are arrogantly treating our colleagues, teammates, or family members like lower class people, we need to get rid of that mountain. The mountains and valleys inhibit God's grace from traveling into our hearts; they are roadblocks that keep out God’s mercy, peace, and wisdom. Advent is the season to smooth out and clear up the roads to our hearts.

 

It was their stubborn pride and self-centeredness, which blinded the eyes of the Jews and kept them from recognizing Jesus as their long-awaited Messiah. The same stubborn pride, the same exaggerated sense of our own dignity, blinds the intellects of many of us today who not only fail to accept Christ and his good tidings, but also prevent others from accepting him.

Every Christian is called to be another John the Baptist, and that's why the Church always holds his example up for our consideration during Advent. Today Jesus will come onto the altar here in this church as truly as he came into the manger at Bethlehem. When he does, let's thank him for not forgetting about us, and let's promise him that this Advent we will do our best to fulfill our Advent mission, by striving to follow the example of St John the Baptist.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHRIST THE KING: Ez 34:11-12, 15-17; I Cor 15:20-26, 28; Mt 25:31-46

Polycarp, the second century bishop of Smyrna, was arrested and brought before the Roman authorities. He was told if he cursed Christ, he would be released. He replied, “Eighty-six years have I served Him, and He has done me no wrong; how then can I blaspheme my King, Jesus Christ Who saved me?” The Roman officer replied, “Unless you change your mind, I will have you burnt.” But Polycarp said, “You threaten a fire that burns for an hour, and after a while is quenched; for you are ignorant of the judgment to come and of everlasting punishment reserved for the ungodly. Do what you wish.”

 

Jesus makes an unambiguous claim to universal authority. He doesn't say he is one wise man among many, one philosopher among many, or one prophet among many. He tells us that all the nations of the world will come before him to be judged; all the angels of heaven make up his royal court; he holds in his hands the eternal destiny of every man and woman of all time.

 According to Islamic teaching, one of Allah’s names include the title “the Just Judge”. The Quran itself testifies that there is no other judge besides Allah, and also proclaims that judgment belongs entirely and solely to Allah. However, Muhammad told his followers that Jesus would return from heaven to reign on the earth as a just ruler and fair judge. It is written: “One of the signs of the last Hour will be the appearance of `Isa son of Maryam before the Day of Resurrection.” 

Though Muslims do not accept Jesus as the son of God he is accepted as the final judge, which is really absurd. It is interesting to note that, neither Muhammad, nor any other prophet will come as the final judge but Jesus who will come to judge. Jesus did not die on the cross according to Islam but God took him up into heaven. Why would God do this to Jesus and send him a second time to act as the judge, a prerogative attributed only to Allah? Wonder why wouldn’t any Muslim of common sense question this to himself.

 

In most of the Messianic prophecies given in the Old Testament books of Samuel, Micah, Isaiah and Jeremiah, Christ the Messiah is represented as a King.  Seven hundred years before the birth of Jesus, the Prophet Micah announced His coming as King. “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrata, who are little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days” (Micah 5:1).  Daniel presents “One coming like a son of man … to him was given dominion and Glory and Kingship, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him.  His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away and his Kingship is one that shall never be destroyed” (Daniel 7:3-14).

The Kingdom of God is the central teaching of Jesus throughout the Gospels. The word Kingdom appears more than any other word throughout the four Gospels. Jesus begins His public ministry by preaching the Kingdom. “The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the Gospel” (Mk 1:14).

The New Testament tells us that Jesus is the long-awaited King of the Jews.  In the account of the Annunciation, (Lk1:32-33), we read: “The Lord God will make him a King, as his ancestor David was, and he will be the King of the descendants of Jacob forever and his Kingdom will never end.”  The Magi from the Far East came to Jerusalem and asked the question: (Mt 2:2) “Where is the baby born to be the King of the Jews?  (When Pilate asked the question: (Jn 18:33) “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus, in the course of their conversation, made his assertion, “You say that I am a King.  For this was I born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the Truth. Everyone who belongs to the Truth listens to My Voice” (John 18:37). 

One of the reasons we celebrate this great Solemnity of Christ the King at the end of the liturgical year is to remind us that Jesus Christ is the end of our lives. He is our salvation and he is the Lord of Lords; he alone is the Holy One and the Most High, as we just proclaimed in the Gloria. 

Jesus Christ still lives as King in thousands of human hearts all over the world.  The cross is his throne and the Sermon on the Mount is his rule of law.  His citizens need obey only one law: “Love others as I have loved you” (John 15:12).  His love is selfless, sacrificial, kind, compassionate, forgiving, and unconditional.  That is why the Preface in today’s Mass describes Jesus’ Kingdom as “a Kingdom of truth and life, a Kingdom of holiness and grace, a Kingdom of justice, love, and peace.”  He is a King with a saving and liberating mission: to free mankind from all types of bondage, so that we may live peacefully and happily on earth and inherit Eternal Life in Heaven. 

 

Today especially, before we receive our Lord in Holy Communion, let us put more meaning than usual into the words that sum up every Christian's fundamental mission and deepest desire:

Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven.

 

 

OT 33 [A] Prv 31:10-13, 19-20, 30-31; I Thes 5:1-6; Mt 25:14-30

Back in the 1940’s Clarence Jordon founded a farm in Americus, Georgia, and called it Koinonia [Christian Fellowship, Communion with God and with Fellow-Christians] Farm. Koinonia was a community of poor whites and blacks who cooperated in earning a living. The integrated status of this community bothered many local citizens. They tried everything possible to wreck Koinonia. They boycotted its farm products, and slashed the workers’ tires when they came to town. Finally, in 1954, the Ku Klux Klan decided to get rid of Koinonia Farms. One night they came and burned every building except Dr. Jordon’s home. They chased off all of the families except for the Jordons and one black family. The next day a local newspaper reporter came to the farm to see what remained. The rubble was still smoldering. But Clarence Jordon was busy planting and hoeing. With a haughty spirit, the reporter said to Dr. Jordon, “Well, you got two of those Ph.D. s and you’ve put fourteen years into this farm, and there’s nothing left to show for it. Just how successful do you think you’ve been?” Clarence stopped hoeing, turned toward the reporter with his penetrating eyes, and said quietly but firmly, “Sir, I don’t think you understand us Christians. What we are about is not success; what we are about is faithfulness.” In order to be faithful, we must be willing to take risks for that One who dared to march into the very jaws of Hell for us.

 

The main theme of the three readings is an invitation to live in such a way that we make the best use of the talents God has given us, so that at the hour of our death Our Lord will say: “Well done, my good and faithful servant! Come and share the joy of your master” Matthew 25:21). 

 

This parable has a number of messages for us. First of all it tells us that God gives man differing gifts. One man received five talents, another two, and another one. It is not a man’s talent which matters; what matters is how he uses it.  God never demands from a man ability which he has not got.

The parable expresses that men are not equal in talent; but men can be equal in effort. It is quite remarkable that the man simply entrusted the talents to the servants. He did not tell them what to do with them. Neither did he tell them that he would demand them back on his return. The servants drew conclusions for themselves. Two of them decided to take risk and put them to use. While the third decided to play safe, burying it.

As the man expected his servants to be fruitful we are also expected to be fruitful. We are also expected to appreciate all of the gifts that we have received, not only appreciate them but also use them to their greatest potential.

There are three steps we must follow in order to invest our gifts well - from a supernatural perspective.

First, we must identify what our gift is.

We should always thank God for all countless blessings, but we should also reflect on the one or two strong characteristics, traits, or talents that God has given us personally.

What type of thing do you enjoy most?

What type of activity has always made you excited?

What personality characteristic have people always complimented you on?

What have you always dreamed of doing but were afraid to get started on?

The second step is to get right with God and stay that way. The third servant left his life-mission unfulfilled because he didn't have a good relationship with his master. He judged him to be a tough master who demanded back what he had not given.

 

Our lame excuses invite punishment: The third servant decided to avoid risk-taking and showed too much caution with his talent.. His excuse was that, after all, he had not been given explicit orders about how to do his investing. Besides, any type of business was risky, and the Master might hold him accountable for any loss. He probably knew the long-standing rabbinic teaching that anyone who buries money that has been put into his care is no longer liable for its safety. Through this description of a lazy servant, Jesus teaches us that that there is no “safe” position in life. Christian living is strenuous business involving occasional risk-taking. God expects us to use our every talent for personal growth, and for bearing witness to the Goodness of God to all whom we encounter. As Pope St. John XXIII said, “We were not put on earth to guard a museum, but to produce new spiritual wealth from the talents God has placed under our stewardship.

 

We need to “trade” with our talent of Christian Faith: All of us in the Church today have received at least one talent. We have received the gift of Faith. Our responsibility as men and women of Faith is not just to preserve and “keep” the Faith. We need to work with it. We need to offer it to the men and women of our times. Unless we do this, we stand in danger of losing the Faith just as the third servant lost his talent. The way to preserve the Faith, or any other talent that God has given us, is to put it to work and help it bear fruit.

 

When we receive Jesus in Holy Communion, let's promise that starting this week, we will go out and courageously invest our God-given gifts.

 

OT XXXII [A]: Wis 6:12-16; I Thes 4:13-18; Mt 25:1-13

In April 1988 the evening news reported the sad story of a photographer who was also a skydiver.  He had jumped from a plane along with several other skydivers and filmed the group as they individually dove out of the plane and opened their parachutes.  As the video was being shown of each member of the crew jumping out and then pulling their rip cord so that their parachute opened to the wind, the final skydiver opened his chute and then the picture went out of control.  The announcer reported that the cameraman had fallen to his death, having jumped out of the plane without a parachute.  It was not until he reached for the ripcord that he realized he was in free fall, taking pictures without a parachute.  Tragically he was unprepared for the jump.  It did not matter how many times he had done it before or what skill he had.  By forgetting the parachute, he made a foolish and deadly mistake.  Nothing could save him, because his Faith was in a parachute which he had never taken the trouble to buckle on.  It is a story not unlike the parable which Jesus tells about the foolish bridesmaids forgetting to bring something very important and necessary.

 

Through this parable Jesus emphasizes the fact that each and every one of us should be prepared, stay awake, because we do not know the day or the hour when we will be summoned to answer before the Lord God.

In Jewish custom when a couple married, they did not go away; they stayed at home; for a week they kept open house; they were treated, and even addressed, as prince and princess; it was the gladdest week in all their lives. To the festivities of that week their chosen friends were admitted. The foolish virgins missed this chance, because they were unprepared.

At first glance we think the wise virgins are mean, maybe selfish.  But that’s not the case.  Their role in the wedding feast, according to customs of the time, was to welcome the newlywed couple to the bridegroom’s home after the wedding.  That was their responsibility.  To give away their oil would be to shirk their responsibility: there was simply not enough oil for ten lamps.  For us to be unfaithful to Christ and his Church – no matter under what pretext – would be equally irresponsible

 

This parable warns us that there are certain things which cannot be obtained at the last minute. It is far too late for a student to be preparing for the examination on the last day. It is too far late for a man to acquire a skill, or a character, when some task offers itself to him. When we are prepared, spiritually, mentally, and physically, we have nothing to fear.

The second message that the parable teaches is that there are certain things which cannot be borrowed.  The foolish virgins found it impossible to borrow oil, when they discovered they needed it. A man cannot borrow a character; he must acquire it. A man cannot borrow his relationship with his neighbours; he must develop it. A man cannot borrow his relationship with God, he must cherish it. Hence, it is the duty of parents and elders to help the growing younger generation to acquire the noble values came down to them from their forefathers.

 

Christ himself sums up the meaning of his parable: “Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”  It’s so easy to forget this.  We go on living as if we think this earthly life will go on forever.  Nothing is further from the truth. Death accompanies us each step of the way and could come upon us at any time.  

It is so ironical that the wedding which was such a well prepared and long awaited event, had these five virgins who were so unprepared and so unequipped for the grand moment. The story of these five virgins who were unprepared could well be our own stories too.

 

In the Gospel of Luke w12:35 WE READ: Keep your lamps lit. To keep our lamps lit.. it’s the reminder and challenge of the gospel to all of us.

At our baptism, we all have received the Light of Christ. This light, is not just to be preserved, but is to be nurtured and fostered daily. But we live in a world when there are many a winds seeking to put off this light in us. We live in a world where there is a strong engulfing of the darkness trying to drown the light in us.

Let’s examine our own lives… Am I allowing the wind.. of losing the focus from God. To put off the light in us?

… of being focused on our own selfish interests to put off the light in us?

.. of false principles and ideologies to put off the light in us?

As the saying goes, “We can’t prevent birds from flying over our heads, but we can certainly prevent them from laying a nest on our heads. We cannot prevent these winds to rage and hit our lives… but we can certainly prevent them from blowing off the Light of Christ in us.

The Lord has given us everything we need to keep the vigil all through our lives, so we should stock well our lamps and press on with fidelity. That way we can be like the wise virgins, and march on to victory.

As we continue with this Mass, let’s renew our commitment to Christ and promise him to do whatever it takes to wake ourselves up and refill our lamps. After all, “we know neither the day nor the hour.” 

 

ALL SAINTS: Rev 7:2-4, 9-14; 1 Jn 3:1-3; Mt 5:1-12a

 

A story is told of a traveling portrait painter who stopped in a small village hoping to get some business. The town drunk — ragged, dirty and unshaved — came along. He wanted his portrait done and the artist complied. He worked painstakingly for a long time, painting not what he saw but what he envisioned beneath that disheveled exterior. Finally, he presented the painting to his customer. “That’s not me,” he shouted. The artist gently laid his hand on the man’s shoulder and replied, “But that’s the man you could be.” Today’s feast reminds us that we all can become saints.

 

All baptized Christians who have died and are now with God in glory are considered saints. All Saints Day is a day on which we thank God for giving ordinary men and women a share in His holiness and Heavenly glory as a reward for their Faith. In fact, we celebrate the feast of each canonized saint on a particular day of the year. But there are countless other saints and martyrs, men, women and children united with God in Heavenly glory, whose feasts we do not celebrate. Among these would be our own parents and grandparents, brothers and sisters who were heroic women and men of Faith. All Saints Day is intended to honor their memory. Hence, today’s feast can be called the feast of the Unknown Saint, in line with the tradition of the “Unknown Soldier.”

 

Today, the Church reminds us that God’s call for holiness is universal and that all of us are called to live in His love and to make His love real in the lives of those around us. Holiness is related to the word wholesomeness. We show holiness when we live lives of integrity and truth, that is, wholesome and integrated lives in which we are close to others while being close to God.

 

This feast offers a challenge to each one of us: anybody can, with the grace of God, become a saint, regardless of his or her age, lifestyle or living conditions. St. Augustine accepted this challenge when he asked the question: “If he and she can become saints, why can’t I?”

St. Catherine of Siena was right: “Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.”  

 

In today’s Gospel (Mt 5: 1-12), the Church reminds us that all the saints whose feasts we celebrate today walked the hard and narrow path of the Beatitudes to arrive at their Heavenly bliss. As Pope benedict remarks, “ the blessed par excellence is only Jesus. He is, in fact, the true poor in spirit, the one afflicted, the meek one, the one hungering and thirsting for justice, the merciful, the pure of heart, the peacemaker. He is the one persecuted for the sake of justice.” The Beatitudes are God’s commandments expressed in positive terms.

 

Thomas Merton was one of the most influential American Catholic authors of the twentieth century. Shortly after he was converted to Catholicism in the late 1930s, Thomas Merton was walking down the streets of New York with a friend, Robert Lax. Lax was Jewish, and he asked Thomas what he wanted to be, now that he was Catholic. “I don’t know.” Merton replied, adding simply that he wanted to be a good Catholic. Lax stopped him in his tracks. “What you should say,” he told him, “is that you want to be a saint!” Merton was dumbfounded. “How do you expect me to be a saint?” Merton asked him. Lax said: “All that is necessary to be a saint is to want to be one. Don’t you believe that God will make you what He created you to be, if you consent to let him do it? All you have is to desire it.” Thomas Merton knew his friend was right.

The feast gives us an occasion to thank God for having invited so many of our ancestors to join the company of the saints. May our reflection on the heroic lives of the saints and the imitation of their lifestyle enable us to hear from our Lord the words of grand welcome to eternal bliss: “Well done, good and faithful servant! Enter into the joys of your master” (Mt 25:21).

 

OT 30 [A]: Ex 22:20-26; I Thes 1:5c-10; Mt 22:34-40

 

A man attending a crowded Church service refused to take his hat off when asked to do so by the ushers. The preacher was perturbed too, and after the service told the man that the Church was quite happy to have him as guest, and invited him to join the Church, but he explained the traditional decorum regarding men’s hats and said, “I hope you will conform to that practice in the future.” “Thank you,” said the man. “And thank you for taking time to talk to me. It was good of you to ask me to join the congregation. In fact, I joined it three years ago and have been coming regularly ever since, but today is the first day anyone ever paid attention to me. After being an unknown for three years, today, by simply keeping on my hat, I had the pleasure of talking to the ushers. And now I have a conversation with you, who have always appeared too busy to talk to me before!” –- What do we do to make strangers welcome? Are we too busy that we have no time to keep the greatest commandment? When we come together to worship we can express our love for God by worshipping him and also loving our neighbor which is the flip side of the coin of loving God.

The central theme of today’s readings is the greatest Commandment in the Bible, namely, to respond to God’s Infinite Love for us by loving Him, and to express that love in action by loving Him in our neighbor.

In the Judaism of Jesus’ day, there was a double tendency to expand the Mosaic Law into hundreds of rules and regulations and to condense the 613 precepts of the Torah into a single sentence or few sentences. (The Pharisees identified 613 commandments in the Torah (the first five books of the Bible). Two hundred forty-eight were positive (“thou shalt”) and three hundred sixty-five were negative (“thou shalt not”). Jesus’ answer teaches us that the most important commandment is to love God in loving others and to love others in loving God. In other words, we are to love God and express it by loving our neighbor because God lives in him or her. Jesus’ answer was very orthodox, and very traditional. “The summary of the law is not original with Jesus. Its two parts represent a combination of Dt 6:5 and Lev 19:18.

The first verse that Jesus quoted was part of the Shema, the basic and essential creed of Judaism. This is the sentence with which every Jewish service still opens, and the first text which every Jewish child commits to memory.

Jesus combined the originally separate commandments and presented them as the essence of true religion. The uniqueness of Jesus’ response consisted in the fact that he understood the two laws as having equal value or importance. Loving God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength as our response to His Love for us means that we should place God’s will ahead of ours, seek the Lord’s will in all things, and make it paramount in our lives. There are several means by which we can express our love for God and our gratitude to Him for His blessings, acknowledging our total dependence on Him. We must keep God’s commandments, and offer daily prayers of thanksgiving, praise and petition. We also need to read and meditate on His word in the Bible and accept His invitation to join Him in the Mass and other liturgical functions when we can.

 

God’s will is that we should love everyone, seeing Him in our neighbor. Since every human being is the child of God and the dwelling place of the Spirit of God, we are actually giving expression to our love of God by loving our neighbor as Jesus loves him or her. This means we need to help, support, encourage, forgive, and pray for everyone without discrimination based on color, race, gender, age, wealth, personal attractiveness, or social status. Forgiveness, too, is vital. We love others by refusing to hold a grudge for a wrong done to us. Even a rebuke can be an act of love, if it is done with the right heart.

Christian love is much more about what we decide to do than about what we happen to feel. Usually, we associate the word love with some pleasant feelings, intense and delightful emotions. But the word Jesus used means something much deeper. It is the word "agape" [AH-gah-pay], and it refers to the love that means desiring union with something that is good in itself. If we love ice cream, it means we love eating ice cream because it tastes good, we love becoming one with ice cream, entering into communion with ice cream. The communion is essential part of real love.

If we love a person, it means we love spending time with them, getting to know them, sharing the experiences of life with them.

 

Christian love for our neighbor requires seeing them the way God sees them, but we can only do that if our mind and heart are full of God's perspective, which happens through prayer. This is why the Catechism can say that "we live as we pray" (CCC #2752).

Today Jesus will pour his grace into our hearts once again in this Mass. As he does, let's beg him to teach all of us not only to understand these two great commandments, but to live them to the max.

 

OT XXVI [A] (Ez 18:25-28; Phil 2:1-11; Mt 21:28-32)

In the eleventh century, King Henry III of Bavaria grew tired of court life and the pressures of being a monarch. He made application to Prior Richard at a local monastery, asking to be accepted as a contemplative and spend the rest of his life in the monastery. “Your Majesty,” said Prior Richard, “do you understand that the pledge here is one of obedience? That will be hard because you have been a king?” “I understand,” said Henry. “The rest of my life I will be obedient to you, as Christ leads you.” “Then I will tell you what to do,” said Prior Richard. “Go back to your throne and serve faithfully in the place where God has put you.” When King Henry died, a statement was written, “The King learned to rule by being obedient.” Christ was obedient to the will of his Father unto death, even death on the cross. As his disciples, we, too, are called to be obedient to the will of God.

This passage from the gospel sets before us a picture of two very imperfect sets of people, of whom one set were none the less better than the other. Neither son in the story was the kind of son to bring full joy to his father. Both were unsatisfactory; but the one who in the end obeyed was incalculably better than the other.

 

The Gospel tells us that there are two very common classes of people in this world. First, there are the people whose profession is much better than their practice. They will promise anything. They make great protestations of piety and fidelity. They fight for the rights of the church. They collect together the down- trodden to fight for their rights. But, their practices lag behind. At least some of us fall into this category. Our charity; our compassion; our holy rites are only demonstrations without the element of sincerity. We sometimes profess their faith but never practice.

Second, there are those whose practice is far better than their profession. They are fond of doing kind and generous things, almost in secret. But the real good man is the man in whom profession and practice meet and match.

This parable teaches that promises can never take the place of performance, and fine words are not substitute for fine deeds. The world has many preachers, but it is still looking for performers; the world is keen to have a Florence Nightingale; a Gandhiji or a Mother Theresa.

 

It is common in today's world to find Catholics who openly disagree with core Catholic teaching. We all know people who say that they are Catholic, but who don't come to Mass on Sunday - they only come on Christmas and Easter, if they come at all.

We all have heard or read about politicians who say that they are ardent and practicing Catholics, but who publicly support laws that go directly against some of the most basic tenets of morality as taught by the Catholic Church.

We call ourselves practicing Catholics, and yet we spend more time working on our favorite hobbies than on our prayer life, and we spend more time becoming an expert in our profession than in our faith, and we tolerate in our own lives hidden habits of selfishness and sin while we criticize other people for their more visible faults.

If we think about it a little bit, we see very clearly that this contradiction between what we believe and how we live is not a good thing. It is like the second son in today's parable. He impressed his dad with fancy words and a good show of healthy obedience, but underneath the surface he was still living for his own self-centered gratification, not for the greater good of his mission in the Father's kingdom.

When we fall into that contradiction, it is no wonder that we don't grow in our experience of Christ's love and grace, and it is no wonder that we don't grow in wisdom, interior peace, and the deep Christian joy that we thirst for. Faith, if it's real, makes a real impact on our lives. When it doesn't, our spiritual growth is stunted.

The surest way to banish hypocrisy from our lives is to adopt as our personal motto the phrase that Jesus taught us in the Our Father: "Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done." God's will is dependable and truthful, and when we make it our highest priority, we too become dependable and truthful. And unlike followers of some other religions, as Christians we have an objective standard for God's will that protects us from doing evil and calling it "the will of God."

God's commandments, the responsibilities of our state in life, and the inspirations of the Holy Spirit: this is the threefold path to a truthful, fulfilling life, free from the poison of hypocrisy.

Today let’s ask ourselves: Which son am I ? Do my actions indicate my obedience to God’s will? Am I ready to change my attitudes and behavior?

The challenge is to be like a third son: Jesus, who was always faithful. St. Paul reminds us “Have in you the same attitude that is also in Christ Jesus, who.. humbled himself, becoming obedient unto the point of death.

Today, let's make Christ's motto our motto: Thy Kingdom come, Lord, and thy will be done, in my life, just as it is in heaven.

 

 

OT XXV [A] Is 55:6-9; Phil 1:20c-24, 27a; Mt 20:1-16a

Today’s readings are all about the human sense of justice contrasted with the extravagant grace of a merciful and compassionate God. God rewards us, not in the measure of what we do, but according to our need and His good will.

 

God does not call everybody at the same time. Some are called early in life as the early labourers were called, having received their baptism as infants. Some were called as teenagers. Some were called during their married life and others, much later in life. And some are like the labourers who were called around five o'clock; their conversion took place at the last hour, like the thief on the cross.

The parable describes the kind of things that frequently happened at certain times in Palestine. The grape harvest ripened towards the end of September, and then closes on its heels the rains came. If the harvest was not gathered in before the rains broke, then it was ruined; and so to get the harvest in was a frantic race against time. Any worker was welcome, even if he could give only one hour to the work.

This story illustrates the difference between God’s perspective and ours.  Perhaps it disturbs our sense of fairness and justice. We think of equal rights for all, or an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay. Our sense of justice seems to favor the laborers who worked all day and expected a wage greater than that given to the latecomers.  Perhaps most people would sympathize with the workers who had worked longer and seemingly deserved more.  We can understand their complaint since, for most of us, salaries are linked to the number of hours of work. A skilled worker gets more than an unskilled worker. If workers have the same skills, the same hours of work and similar responsibilities, we expect them to get the same wages.

But God does not see matters in the same way that we do.  God thinks of justice in terms of people’s dignity and their right to a decent life. In other words, God’s perspective is that of the owner, who gave some of the laborers more than they earned.  God’s justice holds that the people who have come late have the same right to a living wage and decent life as those who have worked all day and, hence, all must be treated identically. We are laborers who have worked less than a full day.  If God treated us justly, none of us would be rewarded.  We have all been unfaithful to God in many ways; what we have earned from God is punishment.  However, because God is generous rather than just, we all receive a full day’s pay, even though we have not earned it. Jesus understood the value of all people, regardless of what the community thought of them.  He gave all people equal value.

God is like the sun, giving off heat and light to all people, the humble and grateful, and also the wicked and self-serving. It is not the amount of service given, but the love in which it is given which matters.’ Those who carry out the will of God with love and humility will be acceptable before the Lord. So, Jesus says, “The first will be the last and the last will be the first.”

 

Salvation comes to us by God’s grace and our cooperation with it, that is, by a blend of Faith and works. We are saved by receiving and using God’s gifts of Faith, Hope, and Charity. At the same time, we are all in need of God’s grace and forgiveness. Our justification comes from the grace of God.

 

We need to follow God’s example and show grace to our neighbor.  When someone else is more successful than we are, let us assume that person needs it.  When someone who does wrong fails to get caught, let us remember the many times we have done wrong and gotten off free. We must not wish pain on people for the sake of fairness, nor rejoice in their miseries when God allows them to suffer.   We become envious of others because of our lack of generosity of heart.  Envy should have no place in our lives.  We cannot control, and dare not pass judgment on, the way God blesses others, only rejoice that He does so, just as He blesses us.

Our call to God’s vineyard is a free gift from Him for which we can never be sufficiently thankful. All our talents and blessings are freely given by God. Hence, we should express our gratitude to God by avoiding sins, by rendering loving service to others, by sharing our blessings with the needy, and by constant prayer, listening and talking to God at all times. The Holy mass is about giving thanks to God for his ineffable mercy and grace of salvation. Let’s thank him for giving us his blessings even when we do not deserve them. And let’s ask for a generous heart to appreciate and rejoice when others are blessed more than us.

 

OT XXIII [A]: Ez 33:7-9; Rom 13:8-10; Mt 18:15-20

 

The Portland Oregonian newspaper carried this story from the Vietnam War. Several soldiers were together in a trench when a live grenade was thrown in among them. Within an instant, one soldier threw his body on the grenade and muffled the explosion which took his life but saved all of the others with him. In a sense, believers are proffered a similar challenge in today’s readings. Both the first reading (Ezekiel) and the Gospel (Matthew) are concerned with the responsibility each one of us has regarding the spiritual welfare and salvation of others.

 

Today’s readings remind us that correction when done fraternally, it a great act of charity that we should appreciate and practice for the good of others.

In today’s First Reading the Lord reminds Ezekiel, and us, that it is our moral responsibility to warn a brother or sister that they are doing something evil. It’s our duty to inform people of the consequences of their evil actions.

When the Lord first asked Cain about the murder of Abel, he phrased it in a way that tried to help Cain realize he was responsible for his brother: “Where is Abel your brother?”  Cain responded, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” (Genesis 4:9). We are all our brother’s keepers.

We live in a world that teaches us to mind our own business, but that doesn’t include someone who is drowning, at the mercy of criminals, or committing a crime themselves.

The Lord today is telling Ezekiel today, and us, to inform consciences out of charity, not to force them onto the right path. If we love someone, we cannot leave them in ignorance about the evil they’re doing.

In today’s Second Reading St. Paul reminds us that every just law is built on love, and if we focus on loving and teaching others to love everything else will fall into place. Society has many laws and measures today that are built on justice, but not always enforced with love.

In today’s Gospel Our Lord reminds us that before entering into litigation with someone who has wronged us we should try simple fraternal correction.

Our society today tends to try and resolve disputes through rules and regulations, lawyers and courts, fines and penalties. We often try from the beginning to get justice from someone through someone else, when we know that nobody reacts well to being pressured into doing something. We should always try to start by settling a dispute fraternally: one on one, in frank but charitable dialogue.

We should not only seek our good, but the good of the person who has afflicted us, and we won’t completely understand their motives if we don’t speak to them. There are many small disagreements that can be resolved this way and to everyone’s satisfaction.

If an attempt at fraternal correction fails it is not a lack of charity to bring witnesses in and, if necessary the (Church) authorities, to help both parties see the truth and adhere to it.

Justice is sought, but the good of both parties as well. If the guilty party does not listen to all the facts and an authoritative judgment, then the guilty party has been shown to not be in communion with those he or she has afflicted, and that has to be acknowledged, sometimes publicly. When the Church formally declares someone to be excommunicated or under interdict it is taking this step for the good of the unrepentant party.

 

A man approached St. Francis of Assisi and asked him, “Brother Francis, I am in a quandary. In the Bible, it says we should rebuke sinners, but I see people sinning all the time. I don’t feel like I should go around rebuking everybody.” St. Francis then said, “What you must do is to live in such a way that your life rebukes the sinner– How you act will call others to repentance.”

 

Fraternal correction is simply pointing out that someone is on a collision course. They can stay on course if they wish, but it’s inadvisable. Some people may be eager to go out and start correcting, but there is a fine line between judging and correcting.

Our Lord taught us, take care of the beam in your eye before you help your brother with the splinter in his (Mat 7:3-5). If we’re going to inform other peoples’ consciences, we need to make sure to form our own.

Reading Part III of the Catechism of the Catholic Church is a good way to deal with the beam in your eye so that you can better help your brother with removing the splinter from his.

The best remedy to being judgmental is to remember that we are all sinners in need of grace and guidance.

We’ve spoken today about fraternal correction, but we need to learn to accept correction as well. If someone takes an interest enough in us to point out something that we might need to work on, we should be grateful. If the person is not exactly fraternal about it, and it is a valid point, we should be grateful. As an added bonus, it will help us to be more fraternal in correcting others.

Let’s realize that the desire for other’s salvation should be at the heart of our effort to correct an erring brother. That is why it is a duty laid on us. As we continue with this celebration of the Eucharist let’s us ask for the grace to love others as we love ourselves and to forgive others as we seek forgiveness.

 

 

OT XXII [A] Jer 20:7-9; Rom 12:1-2; Mt 16:21-27

In today’s Gospel Jesus shows his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. The Apostles could not accept it. To them the idea of a cross with the work of the Messiah was incredible. Hence Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him, saying, 'God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.' But he turned and said to Peter, 'Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me, for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.’

Then Jesus announces the three conditions of Christian discipleship: “deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me.” Like Peter, the Church is often tempted to judge the success or failure of her ministry by the world’s standards. But Jesus teaches that worldly success is not always the Christian way.

Suffering is an integral part of our earthly life, but it is also our road to glory. There is no crown without a cross. Jeremiah, in the first reading, is a certainly a prototype of the suffering Christ.

St. Paul points out in the Second Reading that our self-giving of both our bodies and our minds needs to be complete. “Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice,” he says, and, “Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.”

It is not possible to live a comfortable life and then die and go to heaven. Only a life of sacrifice leads to heaven. A life of cozy religiosity is really a life of self-serving pride.

The Catechism teaches, “The way of perfection,” that is, the path leading to holiness, “passes by way of the Cross” “There is no holiness without renunciation and spiritual battle”. (CCC 2015).

St. Paul wrote: “Suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope (Rom 5:3-4).” Suffering is not the last thing in life. It leads us to something greater, as long as we are ready to accept its challenges. “A bend in the road is not the end of the road… unless you fail to make the turn.”

In his apostolic letter entitled Salvifici Dolores, Pope St. John Paul II says: Suffering can be a punishment arising from the justice of God. It can also be a test, as it was with Job. And God can also permit suffering in order that it can serve as a seed for a greater good that will come because of it, holiness, or greatness. Our sufferings can also be joined with the sufferings of Christ for our salvation, or for that of others, not because Christ’s suffering are not enough, but because Christ has left his sufferings open to love so that the bitter sufferings of man mingled, with this love, may turn into a sweet spring which shall overflow into eternity. Therefore human suffering can merit great value.

This helps explain why euthanasia is so wrong. Euthanasia is also sometimes called mercy-killing, or dying with dignity.

The Catechism makes very clear that it is always an evil act: "Whatever its motives and means, direct euthanasia consists in putting an end to the lives of handicapped, sick, or dying persons. It is morally unacceptable" (#2277).

The Catechism also makes clear that "Discontinuing medical procedures that are burdensome, dangerous, extraordinary, or disproportionate to the expected outcome can be legitimate; it is the refusal of ‘over-zealous' treatment.

"Here one does not will to cause death; one's inability to impede it is merely accepted" (#2278).

In some situations, drawing the line between normal and over-zealous treatment is difficult. At those times, we need to get good advice, pray, and trust that God will guide us. But the main point is clear: suffering, even terrible suffering, does not take away the value or dignity of a human life.

Suffering is part of life in a fallen world. God allows it and uses it to teach us wisdom, compassion, patience, humility, and many other things, and to let us participate in his cross. It's different for animals. They are not created in the image and likeness of God. They are not able to know, love, and praise God in this life and enjoy him forever in the next. That's why it’s perfectly acceptable to put an animal to death when its physical condition has made its life useless or unbearable. A human life is never useless, and Christ has made sure that, united to him by faith, no amount of pain will ever become unbearable.

Jesus asserts emphatically, “whoever wishes to keep his life safe, will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake, will find it. The man who plays for safety loses life. If we meet life in the constant search for safety, security, ease and comfort we are losing all that makes life worthwhile.

There is a powerful scene in the movie Schindler’s List. In the beginning of the story, a Czech businessman named Oskar Schindler builds a factory in occupied Poland using Jewish labor because, in those tragic days at the start of World War II, Jewish labor was cheap. As the war progresses, however, he learns what is happening to the Jews under Adolph Hitler, Schindler’s motivations switch from profit to sympathy. He uses his factory as a refuge for Jews to protect them from the Nazis. As a result of his efforts, more than 1,100 Jews were saved from death in the gas chambers. You would think that Oskar Schindler would have felt quite pleased with himself, but at the end of the war Schindler stands in the midst of some of the Jews he has saved, breaks down in tears, takes off his gold ring and says, “My God, I could have bought back two more people [with this ring]. These shoes? One more person. My coat? Two more people. These cufflinks? Three more people.” There he stands, not gloating but weeping with regret that he has not done more. I wonder if one day you and I, as followers of Christ, will ask ourselves, “Could I have done more? Have I truly borne the cross of Christ?” That is the first question on today’s test: is our Faith sacrificial? Is it costing us something?

Shall we remind ourselves everyday with this verse from today’s scripture: “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.