Monday

34th Week in Ordinary Time, Monday

by

In today’s readings we see two generous people who put God before their comfort: Daniel and the widow. In today’s First Reading Daniel knows eating the food and drink from the King’s table, food normally sacrificed to foreign gods first, would be blasphemy and idolatry, since in the mentality of the time eating such food is a sign of communion with the deity to whom it has been sacrificed. The food would probably also violate the dietary laws of the Israelites, since specific animals were forbidden under Mosaic Law. Daniel didn’t give in; he decided to put God first by being vegetarian, despite the risk it entailed, and the Lord blessed him.

In today’s Gospel a poor widow puts the house of God before her financial security. The Temple represented God among his people so by supporting the Temple she was supporting the Lord. We don’t know how things turned out for her, but it’s certain that the Lord blessed her for her selfless generosity.

Let’s examine our lives today and see whether somewhere in them we’re not putting God first.

Readings: Daniel 1:1–6, 8–20; Daniel 3:52–56; Luke 21:1–4. See also 9th Week in Ordinary Time, Saturday and 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B.

33rd Week in Ordinary Time, Monday

by

In today’s Gospel the people in the crowd following Jesus don’t appreciate how important their role is in helping others to encounter him. Just the mention of him name provokes such a strong reaction in the blind man today that they tried to silence him as crazy, maybe as someone not even worth the Rabbi’s time. If there had not been a commotion to begin with, and if no one had mentioned Our Lord’s name that man would have remained blind and begging.

We’re that crowd. There are lots of blind and needy people out there, not just the poor and sick, but people who are spiritually blind and needy. We have an opportunity to bring them to the One who’ll help them to see and provide for their true needs, but if we don’t make a commotion and let people know about Jesus, they may never find out. Perhaps we’ve met someone in our lives  for whom a passing comment on our part has led to a deeper faith life than we’d expected; we shouldn’t underestimate the power of his name.

The First Reading reminds us today that domesticating our faith is not far from silencing it. Let’s not be afraid to make a commotion in Jesus’ name so that all those blind and needy people out there have a chance to meet him and be transformed.

Readings: 1 Maccabees 1:10–15, 41–43, 54–57, 62–63; Psalm 119:53, 61, 134, 150, 155, 158; Luke 18:35–43. See also 8th Week in Ordinary Time, Thursday, Year I.

30th Week in Ordinary Time, Monday

by

Is doing good and glorifying God ever inappropriate? In today’s Gospel the leader of the synagogue seems to think so. He’s become so disconnected from the common sense the members of the synagogue show in the face of a miracle that it makes us wonder in what his idea of religion consists. He seems to have the attitude more of a swimming pool monitor than a religious leader, and he’s not along: Our Lord responds in the plural. They’re so off base that when Our Lord presents them with common sense they’re humiliated before the very people they’re supposed to be serving.

We run the same risk when our faith becomes a bunch of rules and regulations and we lose sight of what all those rules and regulations are for: doing good and glorifying God. Our common sense doesn’t get put on hold when living a life of faith: it is enriched by faith. It’s all built on loving God and loving others. If either of those two priorities are lost, we can rightfully question whether we are doing any good or glorifying God.

Let’s ask Our Lord today to give us that dose of Gospel common sense that wards off living our faith like swimming pool monitors.

Readings: Romans 8:12–17; Psalm 68:2, 4, 6–7b, 20–21; Luke 13:10–17.

29th Week in Ordinary Time, Monday

by

In today’s Gospel Our Lord is teaching and someone from the crowd suddenly asks him to be a mediator in a dispute between him and his brother. When inheritances divide families it is never a good thing. Our Lord, rightly, points out that he’s teaching, not holding court, and warns the man not to make possessions the purpose of his life. As he reminds us in the parable today, and we all know, you can’t take it with you. Amassing a fortune for yourself, and just yourself, is an exercise in futility. The rich man in today’s parable doesn’t think of family, or friends, or community: he just wants a big barn of grain to provide for himself. Whether he was thinking of a long retirement, early or otherwise, God had other plans and expectations.

Today’s First Reading reminds us that as believers in Christ we have become heirs to the only fortune that really matters. We receive a pledge of it in this life, and, after our death, we come into our full inheritance, an inheritance that lasts forever: the justification and righteousness Paul describes is a communion of life and love with God. We begin it in this life through faith and baptism. We amass its wealth through leading a holy life and seeking to help others to inherit it as well, and we enjoy its fruits together with those we love in eternity. It reminds us that we are sons and daughters of the greatest Father imaginable, with the greatest big brother to boot, a brother who is not shy about sharing his inheritance with us, even when we don’t deserve it.

Let’s focus today on the true inheritance for which we’ve already received a deposit: life in communion with God and with others. Let’s ask Our Lord to show us how we can share this inheritance with others as well.

Readings: Romans 4:20–25; Luke 1:69–75; Luke 12:13–21.

28th Week in Ordinary Time, Monday

by

In today’s Gospel Our Lord, perhaps with a note of disappointment, reminds his listeners how in the past they marveled at things that were only a foreshadowing of what he wished to bring them. The prophet Jonah was miraculously kept alive in the belly of a large fish for three days; Our Lord would rise from death itself on the third day and not just go on living as we do, but live forever. Jonah warned the Ninevites that in three days they would be destroyed if they didn’t act; Our Lord offers a new life that with blossom into an eternal one if only those receiving his message repent and believe in the Gospel. Jonah went grudgingly to his mission, because he really didn’t want his listeners to be spared; Our Lord, in perfect unity of will with his Father, came to the world to save it, not condemn it, and he did so willingly.

The only question remaining is our response. The Ninevites repented and received a “stay of execution”; Our Lord offers us, as Paul reminds us in today’s First Reading, to believe and to carry his message of salvation not only to one people, but to all the nations, as his apostles. His invitation implies today not just conversion, but mission, and rewards beyond our imagination.

Let’s show ourselves today to not be a generation that continually seeks signs, but one that has faith.

Readings: Romans 1:1–7; Psalm 98:1b–e, 2–4; Luke 11:29–32. See also 16th Week in Ordinary Time, Monday and 27th Week in Ordinary Time, Wednesday.