Prayers
this week:The
Lord says: my plans for you are peace and not disaster; when you call
to me, I will listen to you, and I will bring you back to the place
from which I exiled you.
(Jn
29: 11.12.14)
Father of all that is good, keep us faithful in serving you, for to
serve you is our lasting joy. We
ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son in the unity of the
Holy Spirit,
one God for ever and ever.
Saint for Today: Click
here
to find information about the Saint(s) of the
calendar day on which you are reading this reflection. Use
your Internet browser's "back" arrow twice to return to this reflection.
Jesus said to
his disciples, "Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who
called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To one he gave
five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each
according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who
had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work
and gained five bags more. So also, the one with two bags of gold
gained two more. But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a
hole in the ground and hid his master's money. "After a long time the
master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The
man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five.
'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I
have gained five more.' "His master replied, 'Well done, good and
faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put
you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'
"The man with two bags of gold also came. 'Master,' he said, 'you
entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.' "His
master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been
faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.
Come and share your master's happiness!' "Then the man who had received
one bag of gold came. 'Master,' he said, 'I knew that you are a hard
man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have
not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in
the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.' "His master replied,
'You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not
sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should
have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned
I would have received it back with interest. " 'Take the bag of gold
from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. For those who have
will be given more, and they will have an abundance. As for those who
do not have, even what they have will be taken from them. And throw
that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be
weeping and gnashing of teeth.' (Matthew
25:14-30)
Communion of Saints
The gospel passage the Church has assigned for this Sunday is full of
implications for the life of man. It speaks of how God has entrusted talents
and opportunities for good to each according to a certain measure, and of the
judgment that will be given on how each has used what has been received.
That each person has been granted the capacity to do good is obvious. There are
opportunities ahead of each individual, whatever be his circumstances. But let
us consider our Lord’s parable as a reminder of a very important truth, the
doctrine of the communion of saints. When we think of the master entrusting to
the servants his property, each according to a certain measure, let us
especially think of how Christ entrusts to each of the baptized a share in his
saving grace. The first great gift of grace we have been given is the gift of
faith, faith in Christ, accompanied by hope and charity. Faith is the
foundation of the entire Christian life and it is the gift that we all, all
those who are in Christ, share. We share in a common faith, and this
constitutes a tremendous communion among us all. There are obviously degrees of
this gift, some having been granted a greater portion of faith than others, but
whatever be the measure given to us, the question is, how are we using it? Are
we using it to the full? A person may be granted a great gift, but he may
greatly neglect it. We have also been granted the Sacraments, the Sacrament not
only of Baptism but of Confirmation, of Matrimony for those who are married, and
other Sacraments besides. This too is part of the bag of gold entrusted by the
master to his servants in today’s parable. In ancient times the talent had
great value. The Sacraments make up the talents given to each. Are we making
good use of them, approaching them with a lively faith and seeing in them
precious moments of encounter with Christ, and living out in daily life the
graces we receive in them? This common share we have received in the Sacraments
constitutes a source of communion among us, for the Church on earth is the
communion of those who receive the Sacraments — beginning with Baptism and
culminating in the Eucharist, which is the person of Christ himself.
At
the root of this communion is the love which “does not seek its own
interests” (1 Corinthians 13:5) but leads the faithful to “hold everything
in common” (Acts 4:32), even to put one’s own material goods at the service
of the most poor. The Church is in this way the great communion of what St
Paul calls “the saints.” They share in the gifts of grace bestowed by Christ
which he won for us by his death and resurrection. Each member of the
Church receives these gifts each according to a certain measure, but with
the responsibility to use them for good to the greatest effect he is capable
of. In the parable (Matthew 25:14‑30),
the man to whom the master entrusted five bags of gold came back with five
more to give to his master. We too ought so live that others will gain and
grow in the graces Christ has won for our salvation. In the case of
spiritual goods with which Christ has endowed us, the more we give them away
— which is to say, the more we use them in the service of others and for
their spiritual good, the more they will actually grow. The more our faith
is used in the service of others — the more we give it to others, as it were
— the more it will grow within us. So the gifts of grace which Christ won
for us and which he gives us in and through his Church are not only the
foundation of the great communion that exists among all the Church’s
members, but they are to be used in the service of the Church’s communion.
The Church is the communion of saints. This communion of saints is deepened
and extended when the gifts of grace we have received are used in the
service of the Church’s communion and for the honour and glory of God.
Moreover, the communion which constitutes the Church embraces not only those
still on earth, but those in heaven and those being purified in Purgatory
for their final entry into heaven. All of these together form in Christ one
family, the Church, to the praise and glory of the Trinity. Our parable
today teaches us to think often of the abundant blessings we have all
received from Christ our Redeemer, including the blessing of a common
homeland in heaven, provided we do use as best we can the gifts God has
given to us.
During the Nicene Creed which we recite every Sunday at Mass we state that
we believe in the communion saints. We are part of a great communion of all
those who are in Christ by grace. We share so much in common, especially
these gifts of grace, coming to us constantly in and through the ministry of
the Church. Our responsibility is to use these gifts in the service of this
great communion and so that as many as possible will come to be part of this
communion. Let us value profoundly the doctrine and the reality of the
communion of saints, all those who are in Christ.
(E.J.Tyler)
Further reading: The Catechism of
the Catholic Church no.946-959 (The communion of saints)
For all your learning, for all your fame, your eloquence and power, if
you are not humble, you are worth nothing. Cut out, root out that
self-complacency which dominates you so completely. — God will help you
— and then you will be able to begin working for Christ, in the lowest
place in his army of apostles.
Monday of the thirty third
week in Ordinary Time II
Saint for Today: Click
here
to find information about the Saint(s) of the
calendar day on which you are reading this reflection. Use
your Internet browser's "back" arrow twice to return to this reflection.
Click on centre arrow
below to play the video:
Scripture today: Revelation
1:1-4; 2:1-5; Psalm 1:1- 4 and 6; Luke 18:35-43
As
Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside
begging. When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening.
They told him, "Jesus of Nazareth is passing by." He called out,
"Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" Those who led the way rebuked
him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, "Son of
David, have mercy on me!" Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be
brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, "What do you want
me to do for you?" "Lord, I want to see," he replied. Jesus said to
him, "Receive your sight; your faith has healed you." Immediately he
received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the
people saw it, they also praised God.
(Luke 18:35-43)
Helplessness
Our Gospel scene today presents us with the scene of a one who may be said to
symbolize the profound weakness of man. He was blind. What could he or anyone
else do about his blindness? He could not work for a living, for he was blind.
He was a burden on others, for he was blind. He could not gain what he needed,
for he was blind.
He may even have been bereft of any family or relatives interested in looking
after him. After all, there he was all alone by the roadside begging. That man
could be said to represent countless numbers of persons who suffer one form or
other of the evils prevalent in the world. It may be that they are blind, it
may be that they are lame or dumb or deaf, it may be that they are deprived of
family or property or food or employment. The helplessness of the blind man
reminds us of the evil and suffering in the world. But his helplessness
symbolized also the helplessness of others to render adequate service. Take the
most powerful man in the world at the time — let us say, Caesar — and ask, what
for all his power could he have done to deliver the blind man from his
blindness, even had he been disposed to do something for him? Nothing. He
could not have rescued the blind man from his affliction, no matter how many
resources he brought to bear on the task. Very many of the powerful of the
world are not disposed to exercise their power for the benefit of the poor and
needy, but those who are so disposed will very quickly discover how limited is
their power in the overcoming of evil. In these various respects the blind man
represents the poverty and powerlessness of mankind. Furthermore, the religions
of man are themselves a manifestation of these features of the human experience
and condition. In his misery man cries out to the powers above asking that they
come to his aid. Inasmuch as this shapes so much of religion and inasmuch as
religion shapes so much of civilization, it is, we could say, the blind man
sitting by the roadside who by default shapes so much of civilization and
history.
Yes,
the history of man is encapsulated in the image of the blind man sitting by
the roadside, and his religion and civilization is encapsulated in his cry
for help. From generation to generation there is a perennial cry for help
arising from the masses of mankind and this cry shapes the contours of
civilization and religion. But our Gospel scene to day introduces a
decisively new phenomenon. It is that within the scene of the blind man by
the roadside begging, Jesus Christ is passing by. Moreover a crowd is
following in train. It is a picture of the history of man. Man is sunk in
his helplessness and there is little help coming to him from the crowd. It
passes by. Then the word is uttered, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.”
That is the word that is uttered from generation to generation by those
following Jesus of Nazareth and the response of the blind man is, or should
be, the response of man in every generation. He called out, “Jesus, Son of
David, have mercy on me!” (Luke 18:35‑43) Caesar and those in power might be
powerless to help even if they were disposed to help, but this time the cry
for relief is answered. Jesus of Nazareth has both the power, effortless
and unlimited power, and the will to use it for the relief of those in
need. His power is shown in mercy. “Those who led the way rebuked him and
told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy
on me!” Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he
came near, Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” “Lord, I
want to see,” he replied. Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your
faith has healed you”“ (Luke 18:35‑43). But of course the plight of the
blind man is a symbol of the much deeper plight that plagues the entire
human race, the plight of sin. Sin is man’s fundamental problem and it is
the need for liberation from sin which is obscurely at the root of his
religions. Jesus of Nazareth is, from generation to generation passing by
and it is he who saves man from his sin. He is the only one by whom man may
be saved. No one comes to the Father except through him.
The Dalai Lama visited Mao Tse Tung in Beijing in the 1950s hoping to
negotiate the status of Tibet. At the end of his visit to Beijing Mao said
to the Dalai Lama that religion is poison. Mao was sunk in a far deeper
blindness than the blind man of our Gospel today. The prayer of the blind
man is one of the best prayers in all of the Scriptures: Jesus, have pity on
me! Let us be like the blind man and follow Jesus along the road, but while
we follow let us pray that same prayer. There is so much in us that needs
to be healed, especially sin and all its remnants. We need to be brought to
holiness. Jesus is the only one who can do it.
Tuesday of the thirty
third week in Ordinary Time II
Saint for Today: Click
here
to find information about the Saint(s) of the
calendar day on which you are reading this reflection. Use
your Internet browser's "back" arrow twice to return to this reflection.
Click on centre arrow
below to play the video:
Scripture
today:
Revelation 3:1-6, 14-22; Psalm 15:2-5; Luke 19:1-10
Jesus
entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of
Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He
wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see
over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see
him, since Jesus was coming that way. When Jesus reached the spot, he
looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must
stay at your house today." So he came down at once and welcomed him
gladly. All the people saw this and began to mutter, "He has gone to be
the guest of a sinner." But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord,
"Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor,
and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four
times the amount." Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this
house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man
came to seek and to save what was lost."(Luke 19:1-10)
Zacchaeus In his
book Changing Orders: Scenes of Clerical and Academic Life (Brandl &
Schlesinger, 2008) Paul Crittenden writes, among other things, of his years
studying philosophy at Oxford during the 1960s and of the philosophers teaching
there at that time.
For the first term his thesis supervisor was the well‑known philosopher Guilbert
Ryle, author of The Concept of Mind. Crittenden tells us that at one
session Ryle told him that the theological dimension of his thesis was “outside
his domain for, although his grandfather was the first Anglican bishop of
Liverpool, he had been brought up without religious belief and had no interest
in the topic” (p.281). For that theological aspect of the thesis, he kindly
referred him to Austin Farrer. In effect Ryle was saying that he was not
interested in the person of Jesus Christ. For all his talent as a philosopher,
in absolute terms this admission by Ryle was sad, for he was deprived of what
the most ordinary of persons have gained who have discovered and come to love
Christ. I say this to introduce our Gospel passage today, for it speaks of what
a tax collector gained. We are told that “Jesus entered Jericho and was passing
through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector
and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he
could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore‑fig tree
to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.” Zacchaeus was, in the estimation
of the people, less than ordinary despite his wealth and standing with the Roman
authorities. He collaborated with them and was unjust and oppressive in his
profession as a chief tax collector. But he was interested in Jesus and this is
not the case with our non‑theist philosopher. So Zacchaeus ran ahead, and as we
heard in the Gospel passage, our Lord himself took the initiative of stopping,
looking up, engaging in a welcoming conversation with him, and invited himself
into Zacchaeus’ home. Zacchaeus was converted and embarked on a new life. It
all began with Zacchaeus being interested in Jesus. Without that interest
nothing would have happened.
There is something more serious involved in this. It has to do with
fundamental dispositions, for when Zacchaeus joyfully told our Lord that he
was going to give generously to the poor and return fourfold any ill‑gotten
gains he had, our Lord said that “Today salvation has come to this house,
because this man, too, is a son of Abraham” (Luke
19:1‑10). That is to say, Zacchaeus had the moral dispositions
that made of him a true son of Abraham. It was because of his moral
attitudes and dispositions that he had responded to the arrival of Jesus in
Jericho, had run ahead to see him and had risen so wonderfully to Christ’s
entry into his life. He was interested because he was a true son of Abraham
despite his sinful life to that point. He was ready to repent and accept
the gift of Christ’s friendship with all that this required. The fact that
Zacchaeus’ name is given in Luke’s Gospel may indicate that Zacchaeus became
a disciple of Christ and a well‑known member of the early Church. Simon of
Cyrene, who assisted Christ carry his cross, is reported in the Gospel by
name, together with the name of his two sons (Rufus and Alexander) which
might also indicate that he too was well known in the early Church. Our
point here, though, is that the interest in Christ which led him to take
steps to see him sprung from his being, as our Lord put it, a true son of
Abraham. It all depended on his basic dispositions, despite his sinful life
to that point. He wanted, deep down, to change and to live in God. The
chance came with the meeting with Jesus, and he responded. We are reminded
of the parable our Lord tells elsewhere of the seed being sown in the
field. Some seed fell on the footpath, others among thorns, others on rocky
ground, while others again fell on good soil. Christ’s smile and invitation
to Zacchaeus to come down from the tree led to a harvest in his life. He
had been a sinner, but was fundamentally good soil. The seed fell and it
produced a harvest. In the case of the one who has no interest, this is not
so.
Only God can know the fundamental moral attitude that marks our heart and
soul. We ought pray that he make of us good soil that will receive well the
seed he might sow there. Let us, though, be like Zacchaeus and run ahead to
see him. Let us take all measures we can to be with Jesus and to appreciate
his person and mission. Let us not be such that what has to be said of us
is, that person is not interested. We are called to be profoundly
interested. God wants us to love him with all our heart, and he, God, in
all his fullness, is found in Jesus.
Wednesday of the thirty
third week in Ordinary Time II
Saint for Today: Click
here
to find information about the Saint(s) of the
calendar day on which you are reading this reflection. Use
your Internet browser's "back" arrow twice to return to this reflection.
Click on centre arrow
below to play the video:
Scripture
today:
Revelation 4:1-11; Psalm 150:1b-6; Luke 19:11-28
While
they were listening to this, he went on to tell them a parable, because
he was near Jerusalem and the people thought that the kingdom of God
was going to appear at once. He said: "A man of noble birth went to a
distant country to have himself appointed king and then to
return. So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas. 'Put
this money to work,' he said, 'until I come back.' "But his subjects
hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, 'We don't want this
man to be our king.' "He was made king, however, and returned home.
Then he sent for the servants to whom he had given the money, in order
to find out what they had gained with it. "The first one came and said,
'Sir, your mina has earned ten more.' " 'Well done, my good servant!'
his master replied. 'Because you have been trustworthy in a very small
matter, take charge of ten cities.' "The second came and said, 'Sir,
your mina has earned five more.' "His master answered, 'You take charge
of five cities.' "Then another servant came and said, 'Sir, here is
your mina; I have kept it laid away in a piece of cloth. I was afraid
of you, because you are a hard man. You take out what you did not put
in and reap what you did not sow.' "His master replied, 'I will judge
you by your own words, you wicked servant! You knew, did you, that I am
a hard man, taking out what I did not put in, and reaping what I did
not sow? Why then didn't you put my money on deposit, so that when I
came back, I could have collected it with interest?' "Then he said to
those standing by, 'Take his mina away from him and give it to the one
who has ten minas.' " 'Sir,' they said, 'he already has ten!' "He
replied, 'I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but
as for those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.
But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over
them—bring them here and kill them in front of me.' " After Jesus had
said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.(Luke 19:11-28)
Working The
parable our Lord narrates in our Gospel passage today is occasioned by the
expectation of the people “that the kingdom of God was going to appear at
once.” Our Lord turns their thoughts in a different direction. It is notable
how often the thought of God’s judgment features in our Lord’s teaching.
In the parable, the climax is reached when the king returns to ask his
“servants” for an account of their administration if his money. Then, having
rewarded and punished accordingly, he goes on to judge and punish those of the
“citizens” who had rejected him. That judgment on each group is the principal
point of the parable, and it is the backdrop of our Lord’s own ministry and of
the lives of each one of us. Whether we be servant or citizen-subject, each of
us will be judged. We also notice that all in the parable are divided into two
groups. There are those (the servants) who have a special responsibility to
administer on behalf of the king, and there are those (the citizens) who are
subject to this administration. Perhaps we could also put it this way. The
servants of the king represent all those who exercise a responsibility coming
from him, while the citizens represent all those subject to his rule. Inasmuch
as all bear certain responsibilities from the king and inasmuch as all are also
subject to him, we might even say that the parable considers the judgment of God
on all as related to two aspects of life. God will judge us on how well we have
tried to fulfil the responsibilities he has given us, and he will also judge us
on the degree of our love for him in the fulfilling of our duties. The two, of
course, are profoundly interrelated. These fundamental factors, if borne in
mind, bring a profound unity to every aspect of life. Let us remember that
there is a meaning in everything. Those who fail to see much meaning will
progressively experience an emptiness in life that will be especially sad. I
have often known and seen people whose lives are empty and unsatisfied because
they do not see the purpose in all things. That purpose, expressed in simple
terms in our parable today, is to love and serve God in everything here on
earth, and to experience the reward of seeing and enjoying him forever in
heaven.
In
our parable the king wants results, or at least the earnest attempt to gain
results. “A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself
appointed king and then to return. So he called ten of his servants and
gave them ten minas. ‘Put this money to work,’ he said, ‘until I come
back’“ (Luke 19:11‑28). There are major
religions in the world that are not noted for active service. Rather than
active service, their distinguishing mark is active contemplation. While
the religion of Christ emphasizes the active contemplation of God, it also
emphasizes the active service of God. The ten servants were told to put to
work the money they had been given. We remember another parable in which
our Lord told of the master of the vineyard going out at various times of
the day and finding people sitting idle in the market place. Each time he
saw idle people he invited them to go and work in his vineyard. We must
work at our responsibilities and work at them for God. That is to say, we
must learn to work and to pray. Now of course, if we are ever to do this,
we must set time apart just to pray. We shall never learn to make of our
work a prayer if we put very little time exclusively into prayer as such.
So let us be very careful about our daily times of prayer. I know one
elderly person in her late eighties who not only goes to Mass every day in
her local church, but who carefully prays at various times each day. At the
end of the day, elderly as she is, she kneels down beside her bed and prays
fervently before getting into bed. She knows, as we all ought know, that
the present day may be our last. The present night may be our last. The
times of formal prayer deepen our relationship with Christ. We are then
able to bring that deepened relationship with Christ into the fulfilment of
all our duties of state, making all our work a real prayer offered to God.
Our work itself, thus transformed, itself will then deepen our relationship
with Christ further. In that way we sanctify our work and through it we
sanctify others and ourselves.
Let us especially take note of the servant in the parable who did nothing to
advance his master’s interests. He lost everything. Let us also ponder
carefully the king’s final words: ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more
will be given, but as for those who have nothing, even what they have will
be taken away. But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king
over them—bring them here and kill them in front of me.’
'Father, how can you listen to such filth?' you asked me, after a
contrite confession.
I said nothing, and thought that if your humility makes you feel like
that, — filth: a heap of filth! — we may yet turn all your weakness
into something really great.
Thursday of the
thirty third week in Ordinary Time II
Saint for Today: Click
here
to find information about the Saint(s) of the
calendar day on which you are reading this reflection. Use
your Internet browser's "back" arrow twice to return to this reflection.
Click on centre arrow
below to play the video:
Scripture today:
Revelation 5:1-10; Psalm 149:1b-6a and 9b; Luke 19:41-44
As Jesus approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, "If
you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it
is hidden from your eyes. The days will come on you when your enemies will build
an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They
will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will
not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God's
coming to you." (Luke 19:41-44)
God and
history
One of the most formative of subjects to be studied is history. The study of
human history with its rise and fall of kingdoms and empires, with its ebb and
flow of economic life, with its varied religious landscapes, surely is the
subject of almost unending reflection.
Like any of the humanities it is also the object of the most varied
assessments. Take any of the great stages of history, say, the French or
Russian Revolutions, or the outbreak of the First or Second World Wars, or the
rise of the Protestant Reformation, or the Enlightenment — whatever it be, there
is no end to the judgments historians and students have formed on the matter.
One could even fall into the scarcely conscious assumption that a truly
objective judgment is impossible because of the great difficulty of attaining a
consensus on anything. This very difficulty would surely recommend an openness
to perspectives on history from, say, revealed religion. What do I mean? Let
me give an illustration. When I was a youth at school I had a special love for
history, both Ancient and Modern. In Ancient History we studied Greek and Roman
history. It never occurred to us that the history of the Hebrew nation with its
life and literature ought be included in it, let alone that the (inspired)
literature of the Bible could perhaps be considered as a divinely revealed
commentary on elements of the ancient world. The prophets commented with great
insistence on the meaning of certain invasions and disasters. The chosen people
were invaded because of their religious infidelity, though the invader did not
look on it this way. The meaning of Egypt, Assyria, Persia is to some extent
revealed. I remember being very intrigued when I came across for the first time
the comments of the author of 1 Maccabees on Alexander the Great. Alexander was
proud, the inspired author states (1:4). Similarly, some passages of the
Gospels can be regarded as revealed commentaries on certain events in what we
regard as secular history. Historians study those events and discern causes,
but at times God himself has had something to say about them. We are able to
view history in the light of God and apply its lessons to ourselves.
In
our Gospel passage today (Luke 19:41‑44)
our Lord looks on the city of Jerusalem and weeps over it. Consider Christ,
the strong man of his time and people, who had withstood the powerful
opposition of the leaders, the scribes, the Sadducees, and the Pharisees,
the man who would go willingly to his death in witness to the truth of
himself and his teaching. He was now weeping over the city. There is
another occasion when our Lord is portrayed as weeping. It occurs in the
Gospel of St John at the tomb of Lazarus his friend. He had just arrived
and Lazarus had been in the grave for four days. He wept and the people
watching nearby saw his tears as manifesting his love for Lazarus his
friend. Undoubtedly our Lord wept for all mankind as well, struck down by
the power of sin and death. In our Gospel today our Lord weeps over the
holy city, the city that was the object of Yahweh’s love. He is weeping
over what will happen to it. So our Lord’s words constitute a divine
comment on a significant event in history: the fall and destruction of
Jerusalem. He says, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what
would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will
come on you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and
encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the
ground, you and the children within your walls.” Christ foresaw the fall of
Jerusalem, just as certain prophets before him had foreseen the fall of
Jerusalem at an earlier time. We think of Jeremiah in particular. This
time our Lord gives a precise reason for this coming event: they had not
recognized in him the great moment of God’s coming to them. Now, this is a
great lesson for each of us. We must ensure that we are not blind to the
comings of God in our life. Time and again our Lord warned his disciples to
be vigilant because they did not know the day or the hour of God’s coming.
Jerusalem did not recognize it. We should place ourselves on a footing of
constant alertness, a spiritual alertness to the presence of Christ in our
life with his gifts of grace. He is passing by. Let us be always ready for
his invitation.
In every day of our lives Christ passes by. He is present in our life,
offering the opportunity of salvation and sanctification. The constant
danger is that of spiritual blindness. Ultimately the factor around which
hinges the life of the universe and mankind is the presence of the living
risen Jesus. He is the heart of the universe, the cornerstone on which the
entire vast edifice of created reality is built. On him all things visible
and invisible hinge. The one response to this that matters is faith, faith
in him and obedience to his commands arising from that faith. Let us then
take our stand with him and follow him along the way of daily life.
Friday of the thirty third
week in Ordinary Time II
Saint for Today: Click
here
to find information about the Saint(s) of the
calendar day on which you are reading this reflection. Use
your Internet browser's "back" arrow twice to return to this reflection.
When Jesus
entered the temple courts, he began to drive out those who were
selling. "It is written," he said to them, " 'My house will be a house
of prayer'; but you have made it 'a den of robbers.'" Every day he was
teaching at the temple. But the chief priests, the teachers of the law
and the leaders among the people were trying to kill him. Yet they
could not find any way to do it, because all the people hung on his
words.
(Luke 19:45-48)
Reverence My
recollection is that, at the time when I was a child, a special reverence was
typically observed in the church. As I recall, when in the church people did
not talk freely and they dressed well as if they were attending a special
occasion. At the present time, what is quite striking is the ease with which
people do talk in church before and after
a religious service and, at times, even during it. Dress is far more casual
than it used to be. Dress can, in fact, even be untidy. While there is a much
greater participation in Mass than there used to be, nevertheless, all things
considered, I am not sure that there is a greater level of reverent prayer than
what obtained previously. I tend to think we have slipped — and certainly the
proportion of people who go to church now has slipped from what it used to be.
All up, I think that society has declined in its sense of God and his presence,
and we who are members of Christ’s faithful and who are children of our culture
are in danger of being affected by this. We too can suffer a loss of the sense
of God’s presence in our life, and in particular his presence in the church.
For the Catholic in particular this is serious, because the Catholic should
know, and should make special efforts to bear in mind, that Christ is present in
the Church in a uniquely real way. He is present in his full human and divine
reality in the Blessed Sacrament, reserved in the Tabernacle night and day. For
this reason the local Catholic church, in an altogether special sense, is the
house of God. Christ abides in that church in the Blessed Sacrament, kept in
the Tabernacle. For this reason we ought cultivate as a point of personal and
religious policy, a special reverence whenever we are in the church. We ought
also visit the church for prayer often, perhaps daily. Christ is there in his
full risen reality, but hidden under the appearance of bread. A person who
maintains a reverent practice whenever he is in the church is obviously doing a
great service to God and others, for the presence of God there can be
forgotten.
It
is in this context that our Gospel passage today has a special relevance for
our day. Our Lord was appalled by the lack of reverence in the Temple, his
Father’s House. His whole soul was filled with love for his heavenly
Father. The Father! With what love and feeling our Lord would have uttered
those words. The second of the Ten Commandments warns against taking the
name of the Lord God in vain. With what reverence our Lord, eternal Son of
the Father, would have uttered his name! We read in the Gospels of how our
Lord would spend the whole night in prayer to God. We can scarcely imagine
what would have gone on during such nights. Think of the intimacy and
interchange between Christ and his heavenly Father during those hours on the
mountain. Our thoughts go back to Christ’s childhood. His mother Mary and
his foster‑father Joseph found him in the Temple after three days of
searching. What did Christ say in explanation? Did you not know that I
must have been in my Father’s house — or another rendering might be, did you
not know that I must be about my Father’s affairs? Whatever was the precise
reply, it expresses an ineffable love for his heavenly Father. On the day
of his resurrection from the dead, he says to Mary Magdalene that he is
ascending to his Father and theirs, his God and theirs. His love and
reverence for his heavenly Father knew no bounds. Christ is mankind’s
example of love for and reverence for God. In our Gospel passage today he
enters the Temple and sees the market activity thriving within. As we read,
he began to drive out those who were selling. “It is written,” he said to
them, “‘My house will be a house of prayer’; but you have made it ‘a den of
robbers’” (Luke 19:45‑48). Thereupon he
taught every day in the Temple. We surely also have there an allusion to
his constant presence in the temple that is every church where his
sacramental presence is preserved. Let us pose this question: what can I do
to help spread faith in Christ? I can do many things, but one thing is to
be truly reverent whenever I am in the church. My reverence will remind
others of the reality and presence of Christ.
Every time we turn to God in prayer our attitude ought be one of profound
reverence. While there is the danger of not praying, a special danger lies
in not being reverent when we do pray. Our physical reverence, the way we
stand when at prayer, the way we kneel when at prayer, the way we comport
ourselves physically, not only will manifest the degree of our prayer, but
will itself affect and influence it. It will certainly influence the prayer
of others around us.
Humility is another good way to arrive at interior peace. He has said
so: 'Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart: and you will
find rest for your souls.'
Saturday of the thirty
third week in Ordinary Time
Saint for Today: Click
here
to find information about the Saint(s) of the
calendar day on which you are reading this reflection. Use
your Internet browser's "back" arrow twice to return to this reflection.
Click on centre arrow
below to play the video:
Scripture
today: Revelation
11:4-12; Psalm 144:1, 2, 9-10; Luke 20:27-40
Some
of the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus with
a question. Teacher, they said, Moses wrote for us that if a man's
brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the
widow and have children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers.
The first one married a woman and died childless. The second and then
the third married her, and in the same way the seven died, leaving no
children. Finally, the woman died too. Now then, at the resurrection
whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her? Jesus
replied, The people of this age marry and are given in marriage. But
those who are considered worthy of taking part in that age and in the
resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage,
and they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are
God's children, since they are children of the resurrection. But in the
account of the bush, even Moses showed that the dead rise, for he calls
the Lord 'the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of
Jacob'. He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him
all are alive. Some of the teachers of the law responded, Well said,
teacher! And no-one dared to ask him any more questions.(Luke 20:27-40)
Afterlife
One of the most striking features of modern Western thought — that is, the
thought of the last couple of centuries in Western culture — has been the rise
of Naturalism. The Supernatural has become the object of scepticism and
suspicion. What is real is what can be felt, touched, tasted, seen, smelt and
heard — which is to say, what can be empirically tested and verified.
Anything beyond what we might call the Natural is deemed doubtful and unworthy
of trust. This belief is understandable for while it is evident that the
material world is real, the unseen world, though real, is obviously not as
evident precisely because it is unseen. This assumption that the Supernatural
is basically a figment of the imagination is seen in various disciplines. We
see it in secular anthropology and archaeology. While religion is acknowledged
as fundamental to societies in human history, it is scarcely taken to represent
a perception of truth. Religion is understood to have other functions. Be that
as it may, one upshot of Naturalism is the further assumption that life beyond
the grave is hardly real. What is real is this life and all its opportunities,
while the Afterlife is barely worth planning for. This failure to realize the
Afterlife is one reason why Christ’s teaching is immensely relevant to our day.
More than any other prophet, Christ taught about the Afterlife. In our Gospel
today we are presented with a group of the day, the Sadducees, who, we are told,
taught that there is no resurrection. The basis of their objection? If their
question to our Lord was representative of their thought, their argument would
seem to be based on an appeal to “common sense,” or, we might say, to ordinary
reason. Of course, the Sadducees held only to the Pentateuch, and the absence
of this teaching in those books supported their appeal to ordinary reason, which
in turn vindicated their acceptance only of the Pentateuch. The Resurrection,
they thought, was manifestly absurd. How could a woman comport herself with
several husbands she had in this life? In their appeal to reason, how like,
they were, to the mentality of the modern age! In reality their objection was
crass.
Our
Lord’s response was simple and given with sovereign ease. One of the many
things we notice about our Lord in the Gospels was the absolute ease with
which he answered all questions and objections. No-one, no-one among the
scribes, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the leaders and others could in any
way get the better of him in debate. Attacked right and left, he dealt with
all with princely assurance. We are told in one part of the Gospels that
word went around that he had completely silenced the Sadducees. No-one
could master our Lord in verbal dispute. In the end all that his enemies
could do was secretly arrest him, secretly try him and condemn him, and
quickly put him to death. Of course, our Lord freely submitted to this for
it was the divine salvific will that in this manner he bear witness to the
truth. But now, in our Gospel passage, our Lord once again deals with the
objections put before him (Luke 20:27‑40).
Heaven is not a place where people live a specifically marital life, he
said. This, incidentally, he would have made plain to Mahomet had Mahomet
approached Jesus. “Those who are considered worthy of taking part in that
age and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in
marriage, and they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They
are God’s children, since they are children of the resurrection.” But then
our Lord makes a surprising comment on a famous passage of the Scriptures,
the revelation of God to Moses at the Burning Bush. God not only revealed
to Moses his mission, but he also revealed, our Lord explains, that Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob, were still alive, though gone from sight. God said he was
the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob — and because he is not a God of dead
people, what he said meant that these three Patriarchs who had died were
still alive. So the doctrine of the Resurrection from the dead is
vindicated by God’s word. So striking was this comment that St Luke writes
that no-one dared try to trick him again.
Let us take to heart our Lord’s formal teaching that the dead will rise
again. The Afterlife is very, very real. Life is short, and at the end of
life we shall die. Following our death, God will judge us on all our
choices, be they in respect to thoughts, words or deeds. Following that
judgment there will be an eternity of heaven or an eternity of hell. Christ
in effect condemns the Naturalist philosophy and vindicates the
Supernatural. Let us embrace his teaching and live it out daily.
Monday
of the thirty fourth week in Ordinary Time II
Saint for Today: Click
here
to find information about the Saint(s) of the
calendar day on which you are reading this reflection. Use
your Internet browser's "back" arrow twice to return to this reflection.
As
he looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple
treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins.
I tell you the truth, he said, this poor widow has put in more than all
the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but
she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.(Luke
21:1-4)
Last
Things
I have heard people say that it is just as well that they cannot foresee the
future, because if they were able to they would not be able to face it. But the
most important things in the future we can indeed foresee. They are the very
last things we must face. The first of them is our death.
We cannot foresee when this will occur, nor how it will come about, but we are
absolutely certain that it will occur. So we can aim to be always prepared,
should it come suddenly. The second most important event for each of us is
God’s judgment following our death. We are absolutely certain that this will
come, how and when we do not know, but it will come. And so we can prepare for
it. Our Gospel passage today speaks of Christ’s final coming as ruler and judge
of the human race. So we know not only what will happen after our death, but we
know what will happen at the end of human history. Just as our whole life ought
be spent preparing for our death and the judgment of God that will follow it, so
the whole of mankind in its history ought be preparing for the final coming of
Christ to judge the living and the dead. The climax of the life of every man
and woman is the judgment of God following death, so too the climax of the life
of the entire human race is the judgment of Christ at the end of time when he
comes again. In our Gospel passage today our Lord describes his final coming.
He will come as the King of kings and Lord of Lords, seated on his throne of
glory. His kingship will be manifested to all creation then. He is the King of
kings now, though this is hidden from general sight. It is known by faith in
the word of Christ. The cosmos and human history have a Lord now, and that Lord
is Jesus. When he rose from the dead, he told his disciples that all authority
in heaven and on earth had been given to him. He possesses that authority now.
We his disciples are blessed to know him by faith, and to have the opportunity
to spend our lives loving and serving him so as to see and enjoy him forever in
heaven. He, the risen Jesus, is the head of the Church and his sovereign rule
of all is present now in its beginning in the Church.
Our
Lord’s description of his final coming as it is presented in today’s Gospel,
tells us that the world as we know it will finally pass away, though we do
not know when this will be. It will occur when Christ comes in his glory as
King and as Judge, and this will mark the final triumph of God over all
evil. Evil will be completely conquered and all that is good will prevail.
God’s kingdom will be fully realized. Every Sunday we recite in the Nicene
Creed that Christ will come again to judge the living and the dead, and of
his kingdom there will be no end. Our Lord speaks of this judgment in our
Gospel passage today (Matthew 25:31‑46). No one who ever lived will escape
the judgment of Christ. He will judge us on our thoughts, our words and our
deeds. The secrets of every heart will be brought to light as well as the
conduct of each towards God and towards his neighbour. Our Lord’s words
today especially speak of our conduct towards our neighbour. Whatever we do
to the least person our Lord, who is King of kings and Lord of lords, will
regard as having been done to him. So the more we love and serve our
neighbour, especially our neighbour in need, the more we shall have loved
and served Jesus our Lord and King. There will be no escaping the searching
gaze of Christ at the judgment, both the individual and the general
judgment. And then, our Lord explains, will come the sentence. Everyone,
according as he has lived, will either be filled with life or damned for
eternity. Then God will be all in all. So then, every day of our life
counts. We ought be building now, block by block, our eternity in heaven,
and we do it by a daily and loving service of Christ in our neighbour. But
we shall not be able to serve Christ in our neighbour if we are not striving
to know and love Christ himself more. This means daily prayer, spiritual
reading, the devout reception of the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist
and Penance, and then bringing our growing relationship with the living
person of Jesus into our daily service of others. Let us make the very best
of every day, because life is short and eternity very, very long. It never
ends.
There are some things we can be certain of. Our life will end, and the
history of mankind will end. At the end of our life we shall be judged. At
the end of human history all will be judged. Christ will come to us
individually and to all mankind as the Lord and Judge of all. Then there
will be either heaven or hell. These are the certainties that ought fill
our lives and shape the direction we take. That direction is following
Jesus in the doing of God’s will.
Your firm
defence of the spirit and norms of the
apostolate in which you work should never falter through false
humility. That firmness is not pride: it is the cardinal virtue of
fortitude.
Tuesday
of
the thirty fourth week in Ordinary Time II
Saint for Today: Click
here
to find information about the Saint(s) of the
calendar day on which you are reading this reflection. Use
your Internet browser's "back" arrow twice to return to this reflection.
Click on centre arrow
below to play the video:
Scripture
today:
Revelation
14:14-19; Psalm
96:10-13; Luke 21:5-11
Some
of Jesus’ disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned
with beautiful stones and with gifts
dedicated to God. But Jesus said,
As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be
left on another; every one of them will be thrown down. Teacher, they
asked, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that
they are about to take place? He replied: Watch out that you are not
deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am he,' and 'The
time is near.' Do not follow them. When you hear of wars and
revolutions, do not be frightened. These things must happen first, but
the end will not come right away. Then he said to them: Nation will
rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great
earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful
events and great signs from heaven. (Luke
21:5-11)
Security
Fashions in philosophy come and go, as do their preoccupations. Within British
philosophy David Hume, with his scepticism and empiricism, came eventually into
his own. Idealism had its day and Utilitarianism is still dominant. The
philosophy of Language has had a good run.
What many would question — apart from the way many of these questions are dealt
with and the answers given to them — is the relative importance of many of the
preoccupations of philosophy. I say the relative importance of them because
there is no doubt that all these matters have a certain importance. But there
are some philosophical questions that are of maximum importance. Let us take
the question of the very being of things. How important this is! What could be
more fundamental? What is it to be, and what are the fundamental features of
the being of the things of our experience? In much of philosophical thought
there is little wondering about the fact that while things need not be, they
nevertheless are. I remember watching a television drama series and a little
child asked his mother, why is there not nothing? The mother of the child just
looked at her little one with puzzlement. Such a question is important because
the ominous fact is that there is nothing in our direct experience that is
secure. None of us is secure in our being, for at any point our life can end,
and anything can happen to the things we possess. I could not help being
reminded of the utter transience and ephemeral character of temporal things at
one development some time back. It concerned the Cause for Canonization of John
Henry Newman, a person of the nineteenth century who lived a holy life, and had
great intellectual influence on behalf of religion. His cause for canonization
is well in progress. Some time before his beatification by Pope Benedict in
England (September 2010), his grave was formally opened as part of that same
process. Due to the dampness of the cemetery and the ordinary quality of his
coffin, his bodily remains were found to have completely disintegrated. His
body had completely gone. This fact was illustrative and symbolic of the
profoundly transient nature of our being. Of ourselves we are nothing. It is
wholesomely wise to be very disposed to consider and bear in mind the passing
nature of our being and our life.
In
our Gospel today we read that “Some of Jesus’ disciples were remarking about
how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to
God. But Jesus said, “As for what you see here, the time will come when not
one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down.”
Our Lord is speaking of the Temple which was the glory of the children of
Israel and one of the religious wonders of the world of its time. It was
fundamentally and in its being ephemeral and transient. People were not to
place their faith in it as such. Further, the very world shares in this
profound transience, for our Lord continues a little later, “Nation will
rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great
earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events
and great signs from heaven.” (Luke 21:5‑11)
So it has been from age to age. Our Lord presents himself as the one
certain and secure reference point of all reality. He is the one in whom we
can completely trust amid all else that is essentially transient. He then
is the one we must follow. As our Lord says, “Watch out that you are not
deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and ‘The time
is near.’ Do not follow them. When you hear of wars and revolutions, do not
be frightened.” Let us then take our Lord’s words in today’s Gospel passage
as a great reminder that he, Christ, is our happiness and our stay. As we
look back we may see how we have put our trust in things we thought to be of
substance and value, but which we have come to see lacked just this.
Perhaps we can see that we have made serious mistakes and have been led
astray in this or that direction. We ought not be depressed, for God is
understanding. Let us turn to him with the wisdom and repentance of
experience and place our trust in him. Christ is our rock and our
security. The next question is, where is Christ and how do I access him?
Christ is above all in his body the Church, and he is approached by
approaching the Church he founded.
John Henry Newman wrote at the end of one of his most famous works that life
is short and eternity long. Let us live in union with the one Reality that
is firm and secure so as to enjoy security for ever in heaven. That Reality
is Jesus Christ, the image of the unseen God, the eternal Son of the Father,
the one in whom the fulness of the godhead abides bodily. Let us live in
him here so as to live in him forever hereafter.
Because of pride. — You were
already becoming
convinced that you, by yourself, were equal to anything. He left you
for a moment, and you fell headlong. — Be humble and his extraordinary
aid will not fail you.
Wednesday
of the thirty fourth week in Ordinary Time II
Saint for Today: Click
here
to find information about the Saint(s) of the
calendar day on which you are reading this reflection. Use
your Internet browser's "back" arrow twice to return to this reflection.
Click on centre arrow
below to play the video:
Scripture today: Revelation
15:1-4; Psalm 98:1-3ab,
7-9; Luke 21:12-19
Jesus
said to his disciples, But before all this, they will lay hands on you
and persecute you. They will deliver you to
synagogues and prisons, and
you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of
my name. This will result in your being witnesses to them. But make up
your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. For I
will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be
able to resist or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents,
brothers, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to
death. All men will hate you because of me. But not a hair of your head
will perish. By standing firm you will gain life.(Luke
21:12-19)
Witness
There has always been one regrettable feature in the lives of a certain
proportion of Christians. They believe in Christ and live a religious life, but
they are relatively unconcerned about the lack of knowledge of Christ in the
lives of others. There are others who are concerned, and who wish it were
otherwise, but who do very little about it.
They do not bring the knowledge and love of Christ to others. There are a
variety of reasons for this, but where this is the case there is lacking an
essential element of the Christian religion. Pope Pius XII taught that an
active participation in the apostolic mission of Christ and his Church is of the
essence of the Christian religion. So not only is every member of Christ’s
faithful called to holiness, but he is called also to an active share in the
mission of Christ. How this is lived out will vary from person to person
according to each person’s vocation and circumstances, but part and parcel of
the daily quest for holiness in Christ is the daily effort to share in his
mission to bring others into communion with him. For the lay Christian this
will especially be done in the midst of his secular life and world, in the midst
of his secular profession. Now, Christ promises that this will be difficult.
To a greater or lesser degree, in one form or another, either subtly or overtly,
there will be the difficulties stemming from opposition and misunderstanding.
It will even reach the point, our Lord says elsewhere, that people opposing you
will think they are doing a good thing for God. There will even be opposition
coming from the good. And so our Lord continues, “before all this, they will
lay hands on you and persecute you. They will deliver you to synagogues and
prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account
of my name.” So every member of Christ’s faithful must face up to the thought of
difficulty in prosecuting the Christian mission.
But
Christ offers a wonderful hope and consolation. Consider his words.
Firstly, he tells us that difficulty and opposition constitute an
opportunity to bear witness to him. It is a special opportunity, then. If
within our work environment we encounter opposition to the truth revealed by
Christ, this very situation is an opportunity to bear witness. We can take
the point further. Sickness and other forms of misfortune are opportunities
of bearing witness to the truth and love of God. Moreover, our Lord
promises that he will help us. “Make up your mind not to worry beforehand
how you will defend yourselves. For I will give you words and wisdom that
none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. You will be
betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives and friends, and they will put
some of you to death. All men will hate you because of me. But not a hair
of your head will perish. By standing firm you will gain life”
(Luke 21:12‑19). One of the striking
things about many of the Christian martyrs is the serenity they experienced
at the core of their soul. Consider the Jesuit martyrs of North America
during the 1640’s, such as Isaac Jogues and Jean de Brebeuf. They endured
horrific sufferings at the hands of the red Indians. But they experienced a
distinctive peace, a divine help, one that reminds us of Christ’s words to
his disciples at the Last Supper: My own peace I give to you, a peace the
world cannot give, this is my gift to you (John 14:27). It was a gift of
the Holy Spirit enabling them to bear witness to Jesus with great
fortitude. The accounts of the martyrs of the early Church display a
similar characteristic. Serenity in the midst of suffering is commonly
granted to them. Again, consider the witness of St Maximilian Kolbe, martyr
in the concentration camp during the Second World War. He calmly offered
his life for another, and went to his death with calm fortitude. Christ
promised his help and the gift of the Holy Spirit to those who endeavour to
be faithful, saying that at the judgement he would vindicate those who were
not ashamed to bear witness to him in times of persecution.
Let us resolve to be faithful to Christ every day, especially in the little
difficulties of each day. Christ promises to help us when in difficulty.
Let us ask the help of the Holy Spirit and let us resolve to become devoted
to him so that when the crunch comes, we will instinctively turn to him who
is our divine Help. He will give us the words, and will give us the
strength. Come, O Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful, and
enkindle in them the fire of your love!
Thursday
of the thirty fourth week in Ordinary Time II
Saint for Today: Click
here
to find information about the Saint(s) of the
calendar day on which you are reading this reflection. Use
your Internet browser's "back" arrow twice to return to this reflection.
Jesus
said to his disciples, When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by
armies, you will know that its desolation is near. Then let those who
are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, and
let those in the country not enter the city. For this is the time of
punishment in fulfilment of all that has been written. How dreadful it
will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! There
will be great distress in the land and wrath against this people. They
will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the
nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times
of the Gentiles are fulfilled. There will be signs in the sun, moon and
stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the
roaring and tossing of the sea. Men will faint from terror,
apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies
will be shaken. At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a
cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to take
place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is
drawing near.(Luke
21:20-28)
Christ
the Key
In our Gospel passage today our Lord continues to speak of the end. He is
referring to the end of Jerusalem which was the pride of the Jewish people, and
he is referring to the end of time when the world in which mankind places its
hopes will fail.
The former is an omen of the latter and both point to the climax of history when
the Son of Man comes with power and great glory. Let us consider our Lord’s
words as given to us in this passage in the context of the teaching of the
prophets before him. Prophet after prophet had foretold difficulty and doom for
the people unless they repented. Jerusalem and the cities and the countryside
had been told that destruction awaited them unless they turned back to God and
accepted his word. They also castigated the nations for the same thing. The
prophecies had come true. Our Lord is in this same tradition but now the reason
is very specific. All is concentrated on his own person, and the rejection of,
or indifference to, his own person is the pivotal issue in the prospects ahead.
The fortunes of God’s chosen people and of mankind in general hinge on the
acceptance or rejection of Jesus Christ. The prophets had castigated the people
and the nations for refusing the word of God as it had been transmitted to
them. Well then, Christ himself is the word of God that is accepted or refused
and the response to his person will similarly bring consequences of reward or
punishment. Our Lord’s words remind us that at the heart of the world is the
person of Jesus Christ. Everything revolves around him. One of the interesting
features of the story of physics and mathematics during the last century has
been the search for the key to the universe, expressed as a scientific formula.
This preoccupation drove much of Albert Einstein’s efforts. The same point
could be made of much of philosophy. A single fundamental principle has often
been sought that accounts for reality. I suspect it cannot be found. But the
Gospels present Jesus as the key to the world. Ultimately everything hinges on
him and therefore on the acceptance or rejection of him, of his teaching and of
his claims.
There is a further revelation about the end. It is that when Christ comes
in glory he will come as the Liberator of those faithful to him. Those
faithful to him will be caught up in the upheavals of the end, but if they
are faithful to him they will be saved by him. Christ is the only Saviour.
Let us consider his words. “There will be signs in the sun, moon and
stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the
roaring and tossing of the sea. Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of
what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At
that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and
great glory. When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up
your heads, because your redemption is drawing near”
(Luke 21:20‑28). Apart from giving to his
disciples and to the Church his prediction of the end times, be it of
Jerusalem, Judea and of the very world, our Lord is instilling hope and
trust. Yes, the end will come. But trust in him and be faithful amid
tribulation and your liberation will come. So then, we must take our stand
with Jesus and live out that decision in the little things, the little
duties of every day. Our responsibilities are met within the ordinary
duties of every day. It is today in all its ordinariness that the drama of
the universe is played out. It is today in all its ordinariness that is
important. It is today that the all‑important event of the acceptance or
rejection of Jesus Christ will happen. It is the present moment that we
must grasp with both hands and use to the fullest. It is today, the present
moment, that our salvation will be played out. Does the present moment,
does this very day, seem so very ordinary, so lacking in drama, so lacking
in event, that it seems unable to have the significance associated with our
Lord portrays in his dire warnings of today’s Gospel? Not true! Even if
life seems so ordinary and lacking in significance, in fact the ordinary is
full of significance. It is precisely in the ordinary duties of every day
that we express and deepen our acceptance of Christ and so prepare for his
coming at the end, be it at the end of our life, or at the end of history.
Let us understand with the utmost clarity that Jesus Christ is the key to
all of reality. He is the object of mankind’s true and deepest yearnings.
If he is accepted, he with his claims and teachings, and if this acceptance
is manifested in a life lived according to his commands, all will be well
with man and the world. We know what will happen at the end. Let us
prepare for it by taking our stand with Jesus Christ and following
constantly in his footsteps.
If you wish to be humble —
you, who are so empty
and self-satisfied — just consider these words of Isaias: you are 'a
drop of water or dew that falls on the ground and is scarcely seen.'
Friday
of the thirty fourth week in Ordinary Time II
Saint for Today: Click
here
to find information about the Saint(s) of the
calendar day on which you are reading this reflection. Use
your Internet browser's "back" arrow twice to return to this reflection.
Click on centre arrow
below to play the video:
Scripture: Rev
20:1-4, 11-21:2; Ps 84:3, 4, 5-6a and
8a; Luke 21:29-33
Jesus
told them this parable: Look at the fig-tree and all the trees. When
they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is
near. Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that the
kingdom of God is near. I tell you the truth, this generation will
certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven
and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.(Luke
21:29-33)
Christ’s
words
One of the constant features of human thought is the ebb and flow of
intellectual fashions. A dominant philosophy can hold sway for centuries and
then fade into virtual oblivion. It can subsequently rise from the ashes. For
centuries in Christian thought the philosophy of
Plato held sway, and was the preferred philosophical framework of St Augustine
and the early Church Fathers. But in the Middle Ages Aristotle came into his
own and prompted a tremendous surge of Christian philosophy, led by the thought
of St Thomas Aquinas. There are those who consider the theologian Aquinas to be
a greater philosopher than Aristotle. Thomism came to wane, and were it not for
the emphatic concentration by the Catholic Church on Aquinas and his school, I
suspect that modern philosophical thought would scarcely be conscious of the
likes of Aquinas. Philosophical fashions come and go. I was reading an article
recently on “Newman and Oxford philosophy” (by Fergus Kerr, article in Newman
and the Word, 2000). The author refers to a writer who describes Newman as
a philosopher in the British empiricist tradition. He said that Newman argued
against Locke and Hume, and the reason why Newman’s philosophical work is not
read by philosophers in the analytic tradition is that they have moved beyond
empiricism. They no longer argue with Locke and Hume, so they have little
interest in Newman. The author of this article makes the very point I am making
when he writes that “Fashions come and go, in analytic philosophy as elsewhere,
often in ways that are hard to understand” (p.158). It is perfectly natural and
legitimate that there be fashions in any branch of the intellectual life of
man. However, one danger is that the assumption can gradually take hold that a
grasp of absolute truth and values is impossible and that so‑called truth is
relative to a person’s intellectual taste. A further assumption that can take
possession is that only what is modern or current is true. I mention all this
to introduce what our Lord says of the utter permanence of his own teaching.
A
person can be a great philosopher and be entirely mistaken. David Hume is
acknowledged by all as one of the greatest of British Philosophers,
although, it has to be said, he too has waxed and waned in philosophical
fashions. But great as he may have been in philosophical acuteness, he was
profoundly mistaken in matters related, directly or indirectly, to
religion. Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and various other great philosophers
both modern and ancient have come and gone, but there is one teacher whose
words will always stand. Our Lord tells us in today’s Gospel that his words
will never pass away. He says, “Even so, when you see these things
happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near. I tell you the truth,
this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have
happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass
away” (Luke 21:29‑33). In Christ’s
words and teaching we have a firm rock like no other. We ought, then, make
them the heart and soul of our life. This we do by making him, his very
person, the heart and soul of our life. In respect to this or that thinker,
we take his teaching and consider it for the truth it may contain. In
respect to Jesus Christ we endeavour to know his person more and more
deeply, and place our entire faith in him. This faith is manifested and
exercised in the full acceptance of his teaching, knowing that his words
will never pass away. In him lies the fulness of truth. As he himself said
to his disciples, I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. He is the Truth and
this is said of him absolutely and without the slightest degree of
qualification. The inspired Scriptures, which being the word of God contain
the truth, are the great pointer to Jesus Christ who is the Truth and Word
of God in person. God is Truth and therefore Jesus Christ is the Truth
because he is God, God the Son made man. His Truth is expressed in the
Scriptures which have as their high point the Gospels, and it is expressed
in the Church’s living Tradition which is none other than the person of
Jesus Christ living and speaking through history in his Church. He, Jesus
Christ, is the one whose words will never pass away.
Let us take our stand with Jesus, knowing that all is secure in him. Heaven
and earth may pass away, but his words will never pass away. He is our rock
and our stay. A house built on his person and his words will stand. It
will not fall, whatever rises against it. So then, let us resolve to belong
to him and never to be led away from him and his teaching.
Saturday
of the thirty fourth week in Ordinary Time II
Saint for Today: Click
here
to find information about the Saint(s) of the
calendar day on which you are reading this reflection. Use
your Internet browser's "back" arrow twice to return to this reflection.
Click on centre arrow
below to play the video:
Scripture today:
Revelation
22:1-7; Psalm
95:1-7ab; Luke 21:34-36
Jesus
said to his disciples, Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down
with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day
will close on you unexpectedly like a trap. For it will come upon all
those who live on the face of the whole earth. Be always on the watch,
and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen,
and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.
(Luke
21:34-36)
Our
transience
October 2008 was the month when a great economic collapse burst upon the world.
The incapacity to pay the home mortgages in the United States and the general
effect of a history of unregulated credit was like a bomb that, upon exploding,
had a powerful ripple effect on country after country causing deep worry to
immense numbers of people.
Ordinary shareholders suddenly saw their shares lose great value, thousands of
dollars vanished in the superannuation of ordinary policy holders, and banks in
different countries threatened to fall because of unmet loans. People saw that
their plans of retirement were suddenly put on hold because they now could not
afford to cease working. Everyone was caught napping, we might say. People
were understandably profoundly uncertain of what to put their trust in. Is it
safe even to trust ordinary cash? Where to place one’s savings? Pope Benedict
XVI delayed his third Encyclical to include the phenomenon in its discussion. I
suggest that that series of economic events could be regarded as a parable of
the vulnerability of human life and of creation itself. The fact is that
whatever aspect of life we care to consider, we are faced with a situation of
profound transience. Even if a person has the perspicacity to deposit his
economic savings and wealth in the most secure of locations, ultimately it
remains vulnerable. The money may be relatively safe, but only relatively so.
More to the point, life itself is not secure. Anyone can at a moment’s notice
be called to another world. We remember our Lord’s story of the person who had
wonderful harvests. Full of optimism he said to himself, What shall I do with
my abundant crops? Ah! I know how I shall make all this secure so that I can
have a wonderful future. I shall store everything in large and
first‑rate barns. But God said, Oh you fool! You have but one night left.
This very night your soul is to depart from this life. Of what use will all
this secure grain be to you then? The man thought he was secure by securing his
economic wealth. But he was not secure at all because life, moment by moment,
hangs in the balance and he failed to live accordingly.
In
our Gospel passage today, our Lord warns us all to be careful. We are to be
careful lest we forget that, no matter what we do, we are but a breath away
from the end of life and the judgment of God. It can happen at the blink of
an eyelid. Due to the dissipations and anxieties of life we can fail to be
ready for what might come. Let us consider our Lord’s words again, “Be
careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness
and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like
a trap. For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole
earth. Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all
that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of
Man” (Luke 21:34‑36). Our Lord’s coming
will take various forms, but the point is that we must be ready. Our hearts
can be so full on the one hand of the pleasures and dissipations of life and
on the other hand of worries and fears for the loss of what we hold dear
that we can be caught unprepared for the ultimate turn of events. There is
the old saying, you can’t take it with you. People spend a great deal of
time preparing for a secure and enjoyable retirement, and so they should.
But there is a step beyond retirement that is far more important, and that
is death and what follows on death. What are we doing about preparing for
that? The most that many people do to prepare for death and its aftermath
is prepare a very good Will. They prepare for their funeral and make sure
that their assets are carefully distributed. But what of their own personal
future after death beyond their funeral? In this question we are referring
to eternity and that eternity will be spent in either heaven or hell. This
awful prospect, this tremendous alternative can suddenly open before a
person at a moment’s notice. A person may not even have a moment’s notice
to get ready because he can die, as very many do, in an instant. So as our
Lord tells us in today’s Gospel, we must all take care lest this closes on
us like a trap. We must be on the watch.
Our Lord tells us that we must not only watch, we must not only take care,
but we must pray. Every day we ought realize that the day we are living and
enjoying lies on a knife‑edge. That all continues with such seeming
security is simply due to the mercy and goodness of God. The seeming
permanence of the world is a revelation of the power, the ongoing creative
power of God. The constant occurrence of death and disaster (such as
financial disaster) reminds us of the vulnerability and transience of
everything created. Let us then watch and pray lest we be caught unawares,
for the one thing we must be prepared for is the coming of Christ our Lord
and Judge.
(E.J.Tyler)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Temper your will, strengthen your will: with God's
grace, let it be like a sword of steel.
Only by being strong-willed can you know how not to be so in order to
obey.
Prayers
this week:The
Lamb who was slain is worthy to receive strength and divinity, wisdom
and power and honour: to him be glory and power for ever.
(Revelation
5:12; 1:6)
Almighty and merciful God, you break the power of evil and make all
things new in your Son Jesus Christ, the King of the universe. May all
in heaven and earth acclaim your glory and never cease to praise you.
We
ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son in the unity of the
Holy Spirit,
one God for ever and ever.
Saint for Today: Click
here
to find information about the Saint(s) of the
calendar day on which you are reading this reflection. Use
your Internet browser's "back" arrow twice to return to this reflection.
When
the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will
sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered
before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a
shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his
right and the goats on his left. Then the King will say to those on his
right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance,
the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was
hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me
something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed
clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was
in prison and you came to visit me.' Then the righteous will answer
him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and
give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite
you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or
in prison and go to visit you?' The King will reply, 'I tell you the
truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine,
you did for me.' Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from
me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil
and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was
thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did
not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was
sick and in prison and you did not look after me.' They also will
answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or
needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' He will
reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the
least of these, you did not do for me.' Then they will go away to
eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.(Matthew 25:31-46)
Last
Things
I have heard people say that it is just as well that they cannot foresee the
future, because if they were able to they would not be able to face it. But the
most important things in the future we can indeed foresee. They are the very
last things we must face.
The first of them is our death. We cannot foresee when this will occur, nor how
it will come about, but we are absolutely certain that it will occur. So we can
aim to be always prepared, should it come suddenly. The second most important
event for each of us is God’s judgment following our death. We are absolutely
certain that this will come, how and when we do not know, but it will come. And
so we can prepare for it. Our Gospel passage today speaks of Christ’s final
coming as ruler and judge of the human race. So we know not only what will
happen after our death, but we know what will happen at the end of human
history. Just as our whole life ought be spent preparing for our death and the
judgment of God that will follow it, so the whole of mankind in its history
ought be preparing for the final coming of Christ to judge the living and the
dead. The climax of the life of every man and woman is the judgment of God
following death, so too the climax of the life of the entire human race is the
judgment of Christ at the end of time when he comes again. In our Gospel
passage today our Lord describes his final coming. He will come as the King of
kings and Lord of Lords, seated on his throne of glory. His kingship will be
manifested to all creation then. He is the King of kings now, though this is
hidden from general sight. It is known by faith in the word of Christ. The
cosmos and human history have a Lord now, and that Lord is Jesus. When he rose
from the dead, he told his disciples that all authority in heaven and on earth
had been given to him. He possesses that authority now. We his disciples are
blessed to know him by faith, and to have the opportunity to spend our lives
loving and serving him so as to see and enjoy him forever in heaven. He, the
risen Jesus, is the head of the Church and his sovereign rule of all is present
now in its beginning in the Church.
Our
Lord’s description of his final coming as it is presented in today’s Gospel,
tells us that the world as we know it will finally pass away, though we do
not know when this will be. It will occur when Christ comes in his glory as
King and as Judge, and this will mark the final triumph of God over all
evil. Evil will be completely conquered and all that is good will prevail.
God’s kingdom will be fully realized. Every Sunday we recite in the Nicene
Creed that Christ will come again to judge the living and the dead, and of
his kingdom there will be no end. Our Lord speaks of this judgment in our
Gospel passage today (Matthew 25:31‑46).
No one who ever lived will escape the judgment of Christ. He will judge us
on our thoughts, our words and our deeds. The secrets of every heart will
be brought to light as well as the conduct of each towards God and towards
his neighbour. Our Lord’s words today especially speak of our conduct
towards our neighbour. Whatever we do to the least person our Lord, who is
King of kings and Lord of lords, will regard as having been done to him. So
the more we love and serve our neighbour, especially our neighbour in need,
the more we shall have loved and served Jesus our Lord and King. There will
be no escaping the searching gaze of Christ at the judgment, both the
individual and the general judgment. And then, our Lord explains, will come
the sentence. Everyone, according as he has lived, will either be filled
with life or damned for eternity. Then God will be all in all. So then,
every day of our life counts. We ought be building now, block by block, our
eternity in heaven, and we do it by a daily and loving service of Christ in
our neighbour. But we shall not be able to serve Christ in our neighbour if
we are not striving to know and love Christ himself more. This means daily
prayer, spiritual reading, the devout reception of the Sacraments,
especially the Eucharist and Penance, and then bringing our growing
relationship with the living person of Jesus into our daily service of
others. Let us make the very best of every day, because life is short and
eternity very, very long. It never ends.
There are some things we can be certain of. Our life will end, and the
history of mankind will end. At the end of our life we shall be judged. At
the end of human history all will be judged. Christ will come to us
individually and to all mankind as the Lord and Judge of all. Then there
will be either heaven or hell. These are the certainties that ought fill
our lives and shape the direction we take. That direction is following
Jesus in the doing of God’s will.
(E.J.Tyler)
Further reading: The Catechism of
the Catholic Church, no.668-679
(He will come in glory to judge the living and the dead)
Born at Bethsaida, Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist before he became a
follower of Christ, to whom he also brought his brother, Peter. According to
tradition, he preached the Gospel in Greece and in the year 60 was crucified in Patras on an X-shaped cross. He is a patron saint of Russia and Scotland.
As Jesus was walking by the Sea of
Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew,
casting a net into the sea; they were fishermen. He said to them, "Come after
me, and I will make you fishers of men." At once they left their nets and
followed him. He walked along from there and saw two other brothers, James, the
son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They were in a boat, with their father
Zebedee, mending their nets. He called them, and immediately they left their
boat and their father and followed him. (Matthew 4:18-22)
Andrew In
Matthew’s account, Andrew and his brother Simon were the first to be called by
our Lord to follow him. Following his baptism in the river Jordan, our Lord
retired to the desert to prepare for his ministry, and
there he was tempted by Satan. It seems that it was about this time that John
was arrested by Herod, and his arrest effectively ended his ministry. Our Lord
departed for Galilee and there began his public mission. He began to preach
that the kingdom of heaven was at hand, and it was at this point that he called
his first disciples. We do not read of John the Baptist calling on persons to
share in his mission. It seems that his disciples simply gathered around him to
learn from a prophetic master. This was the normal thing. Isaiah speaks (in
his Book) of his disciples, but we do not read of their being called by Isaiah
to share in his public mission. There were some precedents, though, to a
succession in mission. The Book of Deuteronomy (34:9) describes Moses as the
greatest prophet in Israel, and he had in Joshua a successor in his mission of
leading the people. The lofty Elijah had in Elisha a disciple and one who would
carry on his prophetic mission — indeed, with a double portion of his spirit.
This might even be seen as a portent of the succession from John the Baptist to
Jesus Christ, with Christ bearing a far greater portion of the Spirit, for the
Holy Spirit was none other than his own Spirit. From the outset of his public
mission, our Lord is found not only attracting disciples but calling certain
ones for a special share in his life and work. They would carry on his work as
his “apostles,” his “envoys” bearing with them a portion of his Spirit. They
would bring this same Holy Spirit to mankind through his Church, founded on
Simon “who is called Peter.” Andrew was a first disciple, a first Apostle,
called by Christ to be his companion and to be, with him, a fisher of men. He
was to be one of an elite, chosen band who would form the foundation of the
edifice that would last to the end, bearing in it the Kingdom.
As
we think of the call of Andrew, we think of what is the heart of the
Christian religion. The Christian religion consists in the knowledge, the
love, the service and the following of a specific person, Jesus Christ. It
consists of a personal relationship with the person of Jesus, living in his
company, sharing his life, considering him as one’s Master, and
joining him in doing what he is doing. While Matthew reports the call of
Andrew as occurring in Galilee by the sea-shore, John in his later Gospel
provides more details that may or may not have been known to Matthew. John
tells us that the call of Andrew was not the first time Andrew and Christ
had met. In fact they had met before our Lord began his public ministry.
They met after our Lord’s baptism, and at the instigation of John the
Baptist, whose disciple Andrew had been. John had pointed Jesus out to
Andrew and another of his disciples — whose identity the author of the
Gospel chooses not to divulge, perhaps out of humility. But Andrew was one
of the two (John 1: 35-39). The two spent the rest of the day with our
Lord, and how wonderful a late afternoon and evening it must have been!
Andrew was now a friend of Jesus Christ! He knew — and he told Simon his
brother — that Jesus was the Messiah. He it was who brought Simon to Jesus
(John 1: 40-42). This earlier history of the relationship between Andrew
and Jesus Christ, not provided by Matthew but by John the Evangelist,
reminds us that the first thing is one’s discovery of the person of Jesus
Christ, meeting him, and getting to know him. Andrew in his heart belonged
to Jesus Christ prior to his formal call by the Sea of Galilee to live as
his companion and devote his life to the mission of Jesus. He would, like
Elisha, receive a portion of the Spirit of Jesus — only a portion! — and
would bring that redeeming and sanctifying Gift to the world. He would be a
fisher of men, in the tradition of his unique Master, living in union with
him for the rest of his days and sharing in his death at the last.
In thinking of St Andrew and his wondrous call to live and work with Jesus
Christ, let us think of the grandeur of the Christian calling. Each of us
receives that call at our Baptism and then at our Confirmation. On each
occasion we receive a portion of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, a portion of
that grace and those gifts. We receive the vocation to be friends of Jesus
and his envoys in the milieu of our life and circumstances. Let us look to
Andrew to show us the way. He was the first to be called along with his
co-disciple of John the Baptist — usually considered to be “the beloved
disciple”, John the Evangelist. He was the first, and remained faithful to
the last.
The man who
had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work
and gained five bags more. So also, the one with two bags of gold
gained two more. But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a
hole in the ground and hid his master's money. "After a long time the
master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The
man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five.
'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I
have gained five more.' "His master replied, 'Well done, good and
faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put
you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'
"The man with two bags of gold also came. 'Master,' he said, 'you
entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.' "His
master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been
faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.
Come and share your master's happiness!' "Then the man who had received
one bag of gold came. 'Master,' he said, 'I knew that you are a hard
man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have
not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in
the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.' "His master replied,
'You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not
sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should
have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned
I would have received it back with interest. " 'Take the bag of gold
from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. For those who have
will be given more, and they will have an abundance. As for those who
do not have, even what they have will be taken from them. And throw
that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be
weeping and gnashing of teeth.' (Matthew
25:14-30)
That each person has been granted the capacity to do good is obvious. There are
opportunities ahead of each individual, whatever be his circumstances. But let
us consider our Lord’s parable as a reminder of a very important truth, the
doctrine of the communion of saints. When we think of the master entrusting to
the servants his property, each according to a certain measure, let us
especially think of how Christ entrusts to each of the baptized a share in his
saving grace. The first great gift of grace we have been given is the gift of
faith, faith in Christ, accompanied by hope and charity. Faith is the
foundation of the entire Christian life and it is the gift that we all, all
those who are in Christ, share. We share in a common faith, and this
constitutes a tremendous communion among us all. There are obviously degrees of
this gift, some having been granted a greater portion of faith than others, but
whatever be the measure given to us, the question is, how are we using it? Are
we using it to the full? A person may be granted a great gift, but he may
greatly neglect it. We have also been granted the Sacraments, the Sacrament not
only of Baptism but of Confirmation, of Matrimony for those who are married, and
other Sacraments besides. This too is part of the bag of gold entrusted by the
master to his servants in today’s parable. In ancient times the talent had
great value. The Sacraments make up the talents given to each. Are we making
good use of them, approaching them with a lively faith and seeing in them
precious moments of encounter with Christ, and living out in daily life the
graces we receive in them? This common share we have received in the Sacraments
constitutes a source of communion among us, for the Church on earth is the
communion of those who receive the Sacraments — beginning with Baptism and
culminating in the Eucharist, which is the person of Christ himself. 
As Jesus approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, "If
you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it
is hidden from your eyes. The days will come on you when your enemies will build
an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They
will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will
not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God's
coming to you." (Luke 19:41-44)