Saturday

29th Week in Ordinary Time, Saturday, Year II

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In today’s First Reading Paul describes the Church as the Body of Christ. In his time Greco-Roman culture explained how all the members of society fit together using the image of a body, and Paul might have received some inspiration from this philosophy, but he goes beyond it to emphasize that the Church is the Body of Christ because the Church has Christ as her Head, giving her life and direction. What later reflection would describe as the Body of Christ is not a moral body, people just united by some external purpose, or a physical body, where the parts lose their individuality in the whole. Rather, it is a Mystical Body that depends on her Head, Christ, in order to have direction and life, made possible by the Holy Spirit, who unites her spiritually.

We don’t stop being individuals by being members of the Body of Christ, but we do receive life from it and must perform our function for its life and growth as well. Paul describes various figures in the early Church comprising the Body and helping to edify it: Apostles, prophets, teachers, and so on. Each has a role, like a part of a body, but not all have the same role. The important thing is that the parts work together for the good of the Body, and remain united to their Head, otherwise they’ll not get very far.

Paul describes the signs of the Body working well: unity, charity, and maturity. Let’s ask Our Lord to help us edify his Mystical Body in whatever role to which he has called us.

Readings: Ephesians 4:7–16; Psalm 122:1–5; Luke 13:1–9. See also 29th Week in Ordinary Time, Saturday.

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28th Week in Ordinary Time, Saturday, Year II

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In today’s First Reading Paul praises the faith and charity of the Ephesians and encourages them to grow in theological hope. Faith and charity help us to see things as Our Lord sees them and as he wills them. They help us see things from his perspective, and that perspective helps us to know him better. However, this is not just a rational process; Our Lord reveals himself to us, and if he hadn’t chosen to do so we’d never have really known him well. It is not just information; it’s also grace.

The more we know Our Lord, the more we trust in him and in what our Heavenly Father has done in him and through him, giving us cause for theological hope. That “first installment” we spoke about yesterday is solid and a harbinger of good things to come for those who trust in God. Our Lord’s Resurrection and Ascension, attested to by many witnesses in the faith, is the reason for our hope. All things are submitted to him, as Paul teaches, so we only have cause for hope, not fear.

Faith, hope, and charity are meant to grow throughout our earthly lives and work together to achieve that end. Let’s put our faith, trust, and love in Our Lord and he will reveal to us the glorious things yet to come.

Readings: Ephesians 1:15–23; Psalm 8:2–3b, 4–7; Luke 12:8–12. See also 14th Week in Ordinary Time, Friday, Year II, 28th Week in Ordinary Time, Saturday, and 14th Week in Ordinary Time, Saturday.

27th Week in Ordinary Time, Saturday, Year II

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Today’s Gospel touches on the theme Paul has been developing in the First Readings of this past week: it’s not lineage that puts us in God’s good graces, but faith. That woman in the crowd considers Mary blessed because she is the mother of Christ, but Our Lord knows that the true source of Mary’s blessings is that she has done God’s will, and has done so from the Annuciation to the Assumption and beyond.

The Lord knew that after the Fall humanity would not be able to recover all at once, which is why he gradually prepared them to receive the Gospel in the flesh, his Son. The people of Israel and the Law were means to that end. Humanity had to be helped to achieve a certain spiritual maturity before it could go beyond the Law, which was like someone helping it stay steady as it worked out how to restore the spiritual balance in life.

The “disciplinarian” Paul mentions in today’s First Reading was a mentor in charge of a child’s formation and education in the ancient world. He was like that hand on the back of the bike when you were learning to ride, and some day, perhaps even unperceived, he’d take his hand off the bike and you’d ride alone for the first time and then forever after. When the child grew up the disciplinarian was no longer needed, because he’d been taught how to ride the bike. The laws of balance and gravity would still bring a fall if they weren’t heeded, but now the adult could ride on his own.

A rich life of faith is the same. We are helped to achieve spiritual maturity and then Our Lord lets us roll. That requires faith that if he takes his hand off the bike it is because we are ready. It doesn’t mean we ignore his will, just that we don’t need as much direct help in following it. This is not just a question of physical age: the Galatians were risking immaturity because they were clinging to the Law and losing sight of the Lawgiver. Christian life is a liberation. Ask Our Lord to help you find your balance.

Readings: Galatians 3:22–29; Psalm 105:2–7; Luke 11:27–28. See also 27th Week in Ordinary Time, Saturday.

26th Week in Ordinary Time, Saturday, Year II

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Throughout the first readings of this week we’ve considered excerpts from the Book of Job  as he struggles with the reason for his suffering and questions God about why it happened. As we saw yesterday, God finally answers Job’s prayers, and Job’s response is a renewed awareness of the wonder of God, a foreshadowing of the wonder the Holy Spirit instills on Our Lord in today’s Gospel at the thought of how wonderful the Lord’s revelation is. Jesus’ disciples were amazed at their power over evil, invested in them by Our Lord, but he knew the true source of wonder was a place reserved in Heaven and to have lived to see and experience the Messiah.

In Job’s case his renewed wonder and love for the Lord became a source of blessings for him. He thought he’d lost everything, but with the Lord he had everything and proved the very virtue the Lord had seen in him at the beginning of his tale. The Lord blesses him for his fidelity in the face of adversity, just as he will bless us. Job’s blessings at the conclusion of his story are a foreshadowing of the blessings we’ll receive in Heaven if we persevere in faith, hope, and love. Even if the Lord has already done wonders for you in this life, you haven’t seen anything yet.

If you are experiencing trials in this moment, ask Our Lord to reveal himself to you. You’ll be amazed by the response.

Readings: Job 42:1–3, 5–6, 12–17; Psalm 119:66, 71, 75, 91, 125, 130; Luke 10:17–24. See also 14th Week in Ordinary Time, Sunday, Cycle C, 16th Week in Ordinary Time, Thursday, 15th Week in Ordinary Time, Wednesday, and 26th Week in Ordinary Time, Saturday.

25th Week in Ordinary Time, Saturday, Year II

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In today’s First Reading Qoheleth encourages the young to enjoy their youth, but to not be deluded into thinking it is eternal or that they are immortal. He makes a stark contrast between the young person, enjoying life and unconcerned about the future, and the person aware of his mortality and how brief and fragile life can be.

When we’re young we often can’t wait to grow up, and once we get there, we lament our lost youth and how we squandered it. Both the young and the old striving to be the other only manage a caricature of what they once were, or what they will grow up to be. The lesson Qoheleth wants to impart today for young and old is that our actions and decisions always have consequences. Our Lord in today’s Gospel knows his actions and decisions will lead to the Cross; he warns his disciples, but they are too immature to face the facts.

We may not have so dire a cross facing us, but young and old must now that there are moments of difficulty and decision in life that either help us to mature or show us how immature we really are. Let’s examine our life today and see how we can grow in maturity at the right pace, never coming up short.

Readings: Ecclesiastes 11:9–12:8; Psalm 90:3–6, 12–14, 17; Luke 9:43b–45. See also 25th Week in Ordinary Time, Saturday and 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B.