Ordinary Time

31st Week in Ordinary Time, Tuesday

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In today’s Gospel Our Lord responds to someone dining with him who speaks about the beatitude of Kingdom of God with the parable of a king inviting people to a great feast. They’d already been invited to the feast, and now servants were sent to tell them it was ready. Obviously these invitees had a closer relationship with the king than just being his loyal subjects: they were invited to come, and didn’t feel obliged to come. The invitees ask to be excused, but really just gave excuses not to come: they’d known when the great dinner would be held and had made other plans. They either didn’t want to go or were simply indifferent about going: that showed what they thought of their king, both as their ruler and as their friend. Something or someone else came first.

Abandoned by his friends, the king invited other members of his kingdom, but not on the basis of friendship, just on the basis of a benevolence a king owes his people. In the end he also invites his subjects who are complete strangers to him, perhaps people not even a part of his kingdom at all. They benefit from the great dinner, but they cannot take the place of those the king wanted to partake of it, his invitees, those he wanted to acknowledge as his friends.

The Kingdom of God is not just something in the future: Christ the King invites us right now to come to the great feast with every celebration of the Eucharist, to show us how much we mean to him and to lavish spiritual joy and refreshment on us. Does a vacation rental come first? Taking the new car for a Sunday drive? Spending the weekend with your spouse? Let’s show Our Lord what he means to us by coming to his banquet frequently, knowing that someday we’ll enjoy a great and eternal feast with him and with our family and friends. Let’s also be those servants who go out and invite others to come to the feast which is already prepared for them and waiting.

Readings: Romans 12:5–16b; Psalm 131:1b–e, 2–3; Luke 14:15–24.

30th Week in Ordinary Time, Friday

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In today’s Gospel Our Lord knows what’s on everyone’s mind, and he doesn’t duck the issue: is this Rabbi going to start breaking the rules again? The Pharisees are watching him and judging him. A dropsical man is sitting there, not even asking Jesus to heal him, maybe because it is the Sabbath. Dropsy is a painful swelling, an edema, and not something you’d want to put off healing. When Our Lord takes the Pharisees to task for possibly having a problem with healing someone suffering in that condition when they’d have no problem rescuing their son or cattle from falling into a well, he is driving home that God did not intend the Sabbath as a moment to rest from helping someone suffering or in need, and common sense proves that.

The Pharisees had no response. At least this time they didn’t decide to try and trip him up as on past occasions when he contradicted their teaching, because it was hard to refute his logic. In today’s society there are many things considered as givens because no one has the courage, upon examination, to question them. They remain with the status quo because it is more comfortable, but sometimes we need to go out beyond our comfort zone and embrace greater and uncomfortable truths that are the path to greater fulfillment. That doesn’t mean inventing new truths, but discovering the enduring ones behind everything we think and do.

If you feel scrutinized today because of your beliefs, don’t be afraid to turn that into an opportunity to share the Truth that will set those people free.

Readings: Romans 9:1–5; Psalm 147:12–15, 19–20; Luke 14:1–6.

30th Week in Ordinary Time, Thursday

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In today’s Gospel Our Lord discounts the empty threat of the Pharisees who say that Herod is out to get him. It may be true, but it is not part of his Father’s plan that he should die at the hands of Herod. Our Lord knows the designs of His Father are far greater than the designs of scheming men. He knows in his earthly mission that he will be bringing to fulfillment the mission of every prophet that testified to his coming: to bear God’s message to his people, and to suffer death for it due to their lack of faith. In his case, it’ll be different: when he mentions that “on the third day I accomplish my purpose” he is probably referring to the Resurrection, after which he’ll resume his place at the Father’s right side, and, as St. Paul reminds us in today’s First Reading, intercedes for us. Death will no longer work to silence the Word of God.

At the same time Our Lord is saddened considering all the prophets who’d gone before him and Jerusalem’s resistance to believing in him, both as God and as Messiah. At the heart of Jerusalem, David’s city and a testimony to the Messiah and all the prophecies concerning him, the Temple represented God’s presence among his people. Now God was present in the flesh, in Christ. When those who didn’t believe in Jesus turned their back on God’s designs through his Son it wasn’t long before that Temple was destroyed (70 A.D.) and never rebuilt: believers are what count, not buildings.

Our Lord is interceding for us right now at the right hand of the Father. Ask him for what you need, but ask him especially for faith and insight into whatever part of his plan he wants you to help him with. Believers not only second his plan, they help with it.

Readings: Romans 8:31b–39; Psalm 109:21–22, 26–27, 30–31; Luke 13:31–35.

30th Week in Ordinary Time, Monday

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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.

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

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In today’s First Reading Jeremiah describes the gathering of the scattered Israelites in exile as a sort of new Exodus, a new pilgrimage, where even the weak, sick, and helpless will not be left behind. It is a return to the Promised Land for everyone, despite their failings and limitations, with the Lord guiding and leading them, leaving the tears of exile and separation behing in order to return to joy.

In today’s Gospel we see Our Lord starting to gather together everyone and lead them. Crowds are starting to follow him, and in Biblical symbolism moving away from Jericho is often considered as moving away from sin, especially when heading from there to Jerusalem. In the midst of all the excitement we find poor and blind Bartimaeus, who is stuck. He ekes out an existence begging and knows with his blindness that going anywhere is difficult if not impossible. He hears the commotion and doesn’t know it is Jesus of Nazareth passing by, but when he does, he starts to beg Our Lord for mercy. The people in the crowd try to silence him, probably thinking he’s giving the same old line he uses for begging from others, but, as the Second Reading reminds us, our High Priest is able to deal patiently with the ignorant and erring: Jeremiah said no one would be left behind, and Our Lord is fulfilling that prophecy and curing the crowds from a spiritual blindness toward another’s needs. Jesus restores Bartimaeus’ sight and Bartimaeus joins the pilgrimage too: the Lord is leading him to a more joyous life.

When we are stuck in life, especially spiritually, struggling with our faults and failings and unsure how to get out of the rut we’re in, we too can ask the Lord for help. He will help us see a way forward, but not just a few directions to get us down the road: he will help us see so that we can follow him to where we truly need to go. Let’s follow him and also imitate him, not leaving anyone behind.

Readings: Jeremiah 31:7–9; Psalm 126:1–6; Hebrews 5:1–6; Mark 10:46–52.