Twenty-Eighth Week

28th Week in Ordinary Time, Thursday, Year II

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In today’s First Reading Paul greets the believers at Ephesus by reminding them that the have been chosen by God the Father for something wonderful and special even before their creation or the creation of the world. In cinema, television, and literature there is usually something special associated with being the “chosen one”: some great destiny, often some great responsibility. The Lord is calling us to both. God the Father calls us to be adopted in his Son, become his children, and one day stand in his presence “holy and without blemish”: holiness means we will participate in his divine life, and without blemish means that no matter what we’ve done, Our Father will forgive us, heal us, and cleanse us if we let him.

The “chosen one” in popular culture usually has to go it alone, yet we don’t have to. Our Lord has come to ensure that we live up to the wonderful calling we’ve received from God the Father, just as he has in his Incarnation. Being chosen does involve some work on our part, and if we don’t accept that we might not live up to everything God the Father wants of us, and that will rob us of a lot of happiness from here to eternity. In Christ we’re guaranteed a happy ending to our life, no matter how rocky it might get.

You’ve been chosen. Ask Our Lord to guide you to the wonderful destiny that has awaited you since before the foundation of the world.

Readings: Ephesians 1:1–10; Psalm 98:1–6; Luke 11:47–54. See also 28th Week in Ordinary Time, Thursday.

28th Week in Ordinary Time, Wednesday, Year II

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In today’s First Reading Paul presents two lists that contrast the way in which we can live. One, where our baser passions are simply given free reign until they achieve their destructive logical conclusions, are the works of the flesh. It should sober us that many of the things Paul mentions in the list of works of the flesh are glamorized today, even admired. It’s no coincidence that at baptism we promise to reject the glamour of evil: indulging the flesh can be very attractive, but how many mornings after does it fill us with regret?

Not all passions are base or destructive, and a life guided by the Spirit helps us build on the better and nobler ones. If we consider the fruits of the Spirit we see an ideal that is worthy of admiration, something to which we can aspire in order to be a good friend or seek in order to find a good friend. The crucifixion we have to undergo is a process of deadening ourselves to the passions that would lead us to the works of the flesh. We’ll never completely deaden temptation in our earthly life, but we can reject it and the Spirit will help us.

Do a prayerful examination regarding both lists in today’s First Reading and ask the Spirit to help you start working toward the right one.

Readings: Galatians 5:18–25; Psalm 1:1–4, 6; Luke 11:42–46. See also 2nd Week of Lent, Tuesday; 28th Week in Ordinary Time, Wednesday; 21st Week in Ordinary Time, Tuesday and Wednesday;  20th Week in Ordinary Time, Saturday; and 9th Week in Ordinary Time, Saturday.

28th Week in Ordinary Time, Tuesday, Year II

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Even today newborn Jewish males are initiated into their faith not just through their lineage, but through a ceremony of circumcision. Because of this ancient Jewish practice those who wanted to practice Judaism, even as adults, were required in Paul’s time to be circumcised. Paul is warning the Galatians in today’s First Reading that if they decide to embrace Jewish practices they are turning their backs on who’ll really benefit them spiritually: Our Lord.

Even today people sometimes choose to mix and match religion. Commitment is a foundation for belief. With circumcision the Galatians are committing to something other than Christianity, and by doing so, as Paul warns them, they are shutting themselves out of Christ’s life if they choose to do so.

Mix and match religion just leads us in circles. Let’s commit ourselves to Christ and the path he invites us to follow.

Readings: Galatians 5:1–6;  Psalm 119:41, 43–45, 47–48; Luke 11:37–41. See also 28th Week in Ordinary Time, Tuesday.

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C

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In today’s readings we have two people who’ve received healing from God and recognize the need to thank him, and nine who should know better and don’t. Naaman is so grateful for being healed of his leprosy that he wants to take some of the Promised Land back home to Syria with him. Before we were baptized we too were spiritually unclean. It was not our fault, like all lepers, but we were spiritually sick and rotting nonetheless. Just as Naaman washed himself in the Jordan we washed ourselves at the Baptismal fount and were made spiritually clean, our sins washed away. Just as Naaman took a little of the Promised Land with him to always remember to whom he owed his healing, our Promised Land, the seed of eternal life, is sown in Baptism and remains with us as long as we don’t forget and act against the gift we received.

The Samaritan in today’s Gospel went back to Our Lord when he realized he was clean. The fact that he is a Samaritan makes it even more astounding: Jews wanted nothing to do with Samaritans, and vice versa. They had their own worship and he would have probably returned to his own people to be certified clean, just as the other nine, if they were Jews, would go to the Temple so that the priests, as required by Mosaic Law, certified their healing. Yet the nine, despite all they’d received, didn’t thank Our Lord. Ingratitude hurts, and these men has as much for which to be thankful as the Samaritan and Naaman did. Just as the Rich Young Man turned away from Our Lord and drifted from anonymity to oblivion in the Gospel account, so these nine are only remembered for what the Lord did for them, for their lack of gratitude, and for the grace of God that they let pass by: friendship with Christ.

Every one of us has been healed in Baptism. Are we grateful? Like Naaman our gratitude should not be a one-time thing. It should become an attitude that we translated into unceasing praise and worship. Let’s recall the wonders Our Lord has worked today and renew our gratitude and praise for all he has done for each one of us.

Readings: 2 Kings 5:14–17; Psalm 98:1–4; 2 Timothy 2:8–13; Luke 17:11–19. See also 32nd Week in Ordinary Time, Wednesday.

28th Week in Ordinary Time, Saturday

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In today’s Gospel Our Lord continues to encourage the disciples and warn them not to fall into the mistakes of the Pharisees and scribes who don’t believe in him, as in yesterday‘s Gospel. Today he speaks of the protagonism of the Holy Spirit in helping us all to be a “Church which goes forth,” as Pope Francis encourages us to be in Evangelii Gaudium. It’s true that we can’t do it on our own, but we’re not on our own. As Our Lord reminds us today, when we’re put on trial for our faith, whether in a court or in the public square, we shouldn’t be afraid of becoming tongue-tied: the Holy Spirit will help us get our message across.

In the first generations of Christianity non-believers were amazed that even Christian children, by repeating the catechism they’d received, showed an amazing solidity in their arguments that reflected a sound philosophy and way of living. The first chronicles of martyrs show them to express conviction and radiate peace in the face of impending torture and death. The Holy Spirit helps the Word take root in our hearts and become virtue and conviction, but only if we are open to what the Spirit invites us to do, even in little things. Jesus warns us today about the fate of those who ignore or insult the Holy Spirit in big things. A Christian under fire will invoke the Holy Spirit for help, but that shouldn’t be the only moment he or she does: the Holy Spirit is always working in our hearts, in little and hidden ways, and by listening to the Spirit and letting the Spirit shape our lives, we’ll become those witnesses to Christ that the world needs.

Let’s thank the Holy Spirit for always being with us and working in our souls, and ask the Spirit to keep helping us to be a “Church which goes forth.”

Readings: Romans 4:13, 16–18; Psalm 105:6–9, 42–43; Luke 12:8–12.