Month: September 2016

25th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C

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At first glance the Gospel today can leave us perplexed. It seems that the rich man about to fire his untrustworthy steward is congratulating him for the very thing for which he is being fired. In another parable of Jesus we see a master forgiving the debt of his steward (Matthew 18:21-35), but there’s no forgiveness going on here: the prudence that the rich man is acknowledging in his soon-to-be-former steward is the astuteness with which he saves his own skin at the expense of his soon-to-be-former boss.

In Jesus’ time usury, an immoral marking up of the value of goods, was done by doctoring invoices. The bills in those days  never said, “50 measures of oil, plus a 50 measure ‘service fee’”; they just said, “you owe 100 measures of oil.” By doctoring the billing in this way, the rich man, with the help of his steward, was making a tidy profit while hiding his usury. When the steward sees he’s on his way out, he closes the books at their real value, not at the marked-up value benefiting his master: he’s turned the tables on his master in a way that wins him friends for his impending unemployment, and in a way in which his former master can’t touch him.

However, Jesus reminds us today that you can’t buy friends. Friendship based on what someone gains me is not true friendship. Maybe the steward will bounce around from “friend” to “friend,” but who is going to trust him knowing what he did to win their friendship? Dishonest wealth fails. Friendship is based on trust. As Jesus reminds us in the Gospel today, trust is something that has to shine in all our actions, big and small.  Trust means being at the service of the other with no strings attached. Trust means I can rely on someone when the chips are down. Real friends show themselves in times of adversity.

Whenever we look upon a crucifix, we are reminded of a friend we’ve always been able to rely on, even when many times we haven’t returned the favor. The apostles, after so much quality time with Christ, abandoned him, but he didn’t turn the tables on them: he shouldered the burden and paid our bill with his life so that we would have eternal life, no strings attached. He could have just closed the books and left us all out in the cold.

When our friendship with Christ costs us, we might turn the mind’s eye back to that cross and say some strings were attached. Living a Christian life is not easy in this world, being considered a believer for many is being considered deluded and naive, but when we take flak for being Christian, it helps us see who our real friends are, and reminds us of something amazing: God himself wants to be our friend. He wants to break down those barriers of distrust between us. He doesn’t want to be some far off deity on a high mountain or among the stars, detached from the events of his children. He became man to show us his eternal friendship toward us and to restore it after we rejected it through sin.

So as we look upon that crucifix, remember that in good or in bad, sickness or health, Christ will give you us the strength to trust and support each other. Let’s live that trust with all our strength, in little things and in big ones. Let’s always rely on Christ, and always help each other to live a true friendship with Him.

Readings: Amos 8:4–7; Psalm 113:1–2, 4–8; 1 Timothy 2:1–8; Luke 16:1–13. See also 31st Week in Ordinary Time, Friday and Saturday.

24th Week in Ordinary Time, Saturday, Year II

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In today’s First Reading Paul tries to explain to the Christians at Corinth what the Resurrection will be like for them. Most of his imagery describes something in perfect condition and full bloom. What will a glorified life be like? Will we all be like Golden Age superheroes? Maybe not just in the way we think of them usually: superpowers and perfect bodies. When we are risen the world will be saved definitively. No new threats, either within us, due to our sin or our poor health, nor in the world, suffering and wondering what evil may be around the next corner.

The last part of the parable in today’s Gospel also gives us an idea: “they are the ones who, when they have heard the word, embrace it with a generous and good heart, and bear fruit through perseverance.” Sometimes we think of the “super” part of the equation, but we forget about the “hero” part. In a glorified life we will be heroes because we’ll have conquered evil inside us and in the world. We’ll enjoy no longer being short-tempered or weak willed. In short, the virtues we’ve striven to heroically live will become second nature.

With hope in the glorified life that awaits us, let’s strive to be heroes in virtue and help Our Lord save the world.

Readings: 1 Corinthians 15:35–37, 42–49; Psalm 56:10c–14; Luke 8:4–15. See also 24th Week in Ordinary Time, Saturday, 16th Week in Ordinary Time, Thursday and Friday.

24th Week in Ordinary Time, Friday, Year II

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Why does Paul insist so much on faith in the Resurrection in today’s First Reading? Why do we insist so much on faith in the Resurrection at all? The Resurrections is not just a teaching; it is a crucial event at the core of salvation history. As Paul himself recalls in his letter to the Romans (see Romans 5:12-21), death came into the world when sin came into the world; it is a consequence of sin. Death is the ultimate sentence for the crime of our sins; even when we plead ignorance for what we’ve done, we know that someday that sentence will be carried out.

With the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Christ we know that death does not have the last word. Christ’s Resurrection conquered sin and death. We pray in the liturgy that life does not end with death; it only changes. We believe that because of the Resurrection. Even when it seems the tide of evil swells in this world, in Christ we know that evil will not prevail. The Resurrection is proof of that, an event testified to by countless Christians down the centuries, even at the cost of their life.

Faith in the Resurrection helps us to renew our earthly life and prepare for eternity. Let’s ask Our Lord to show us today where our outlook on life could use an injection of that faith.

Readings: 1 Corinthians 15:12–20; Psalm 17:1b–d, 6–7, 8b, 15; Luke 8:1–3. See also 24th Week in Ordinary Time, Friday.

 

Our Lady of Sorrows (2)

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Today’s feast is a reminder of what sorrow means and how a Christian should face suffering and sorrow. We can have sorrow for something or someone, or with someone. The sorrow Mary experiences at the foot of the Cross is sorrow for sin. It is not her sin, but how sin has ravaged the life of her innocent son and how sin ravages us all, even when we are not responsible for it. Mary received special graces in her to life to protect her from the effects of Original Sin (see Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception), but those graces were won by her son on the Cross, who suffered and died due to sin. Mary’s sorrow comes from the love and gratitude she has for her son.

The sorrow Mary also experiences is the sorrow that stems from compassion. Compassion literally means “with suffering”: Mary’s sorrow comes from making her son’s suffering her own. The sorrow we share when a loved one is suffering makes a deep connection. It is a spiritual solidarity that helps the afflicted see that they are not alone. Our Lord himself in today’s Gospel entrusts the Blessed Mother to his Beloved Disciple so that she too would not have to suffer alone. Our Lady of Sorrows continues this mission of compassion: when we are suffering, she is there to console us and to suffer with us, and we thank her for that today.

Our Lord promised there’d be trials in the world. Let’s thank Our Blessed Mother today for suffering them with us and show compassion toward others who are afflicted.

Readings: Hebrews 5:7–9; Psalm 31:2, 3b–6, 15–16, 20; John 19:25–27. See also Good Friday, Commemoration of the Lord’s Passion (2), Our Lady of Sorrows, and Good Friday, Commemoration of the Lord’s Passion.

Exaltation of the Holy Cross (2)

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Today’s Feast invites us to look upon the Cross, whether upon a wall, laying upon an altar or desk, or hanging on a chain around someone’s neck, and remember what gives it meaning. For the ancient Romans it was a sign of cruelty and domination, a warning of the punishment for rebelling against the empire. For Christians it is a reminder of the rebellion of sin, just as the bronze serpent was for the Israelites of today’s First Reading, but of a rebellion not quashed through violence and humiliation, but silenced through love. A love of God for man despite his sin that would do anything to facilitate his reconciliation.

Following Christ, as he taught us, is done by taking up our Cross. Whenever we lose our bearings or question the meaning of our suffering we have only to gaze upon the Cross of Christ and we’ll regain our bearings and be able to give meaning to our suffering again, understanding not only what it means for us, but what it can mean for those for whom we offer it.

Let’s fix our gaze upon the Cross today, not only Our Lord’s, but ours, and renew our desire to take it up and follow Christ.

Readings: Numbers 21:4b–9; Philippians 2:6–11; John 3:13–17. See also Exaltation of the Holy Cross and Second Week of Easter,Tuesday.