Twenty-First Week

25th Week in Ordinary Time, Thursday

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In today’s Gospel it’s fascinating that Herod, one of the most powerful men in Palestine, does not have a clear idea of who Jesus is and seems unable to meet him. It’s safe to say, considering what happened between him and St. John the Baptist, that this inability is self-inflicted. He’s not willing to do what it takes to know and encounter Our Lord.

Sin is a lack of communion with God; it makes him unintelligible and it takes us somewhere where he can’t go. Certain lifestyles isolate us from God, and we have to take the steps necessary to restore communion with him, to approach him once again, to try and understand him once again. Somewhere deep in Herod he knew that if he really wanted to find out about Our Lord, and see him, something in him had to change, and he wasn’t willing to do it. It’s funny that people see a virtuous life sometimes as putting a leash on your lifestyle, but a sinful life does worse: it convinces you that by accepting a leash–some vice, some destructive pleasure, some little concession to your principles–you’ll be freer. Eventually you don’t try to go beyond the limits imposed on you by the leash because, deep down, you know it’s there and don’t believe it’s possible to cast off that leash again and recover true freedom.

Herod stayed on his leash; he didn’t try to test its limits in order to get closer to Our Lord. Let’s ask Our Lord to help us cast off those “leashes” that separate us from him. He’ll help us cast off the leash and be truly free again.

Readings: Haggai 1:1–8; Psalm 149:1b–6a, 9b; Luke 9:7–9. See also Passion of St. John the Baptist and 17th Week in Ordinary Time, Saturday.

21st Week in Ordinary Time, Friday

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In today’s Gospel Our Lord reminds us that vigilance is not enough to be ready for that definitive encounter with him some day. Preparation is also needed to be ready for what can be a long wait. While in today’s parable preparation is necessary due to a prolonged delay, we can also see the need to simply be prepared. In the case of the foolish virgins the lack of vigilance along with a lack of preparation prevented them from doing what was expected of them when the moment came. Perhaps if they’d been more vigilant they’d have seen in time that they needed to get more oil for their lamps when the bridegroom was delayed; their initial mistake of not being prepared for a long wait would have been corrected.

Many people today have a minimalist idea of their duties toward God and toward others. They see prayer, sacramental life, and works of charity and spreading the Gospel as someone else’s job. They ask others for prayers, which is good, since we all need to pray for each other, but the parable teaches today that we have to be prepared and do our part as well. We need to pray. We need to have a sacramental life. We need to do works of charity. We need to spread the Gospel, and no one else can take our place. How much is too much? Jesus teaches us today that the real question should not be how much should we do, but how much can we do.

Let’s ask Our Lord to help us be vigilant and prepared for our definitive encounter with him one day through living a holy and generous life.

Readings: 1 Thessalonians 4:1–8; Psalm 97:1, 2b, 5–6, 10–12; Matthew 25:1–13.

21st Week in Ordinary Time, Thursday

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In today’s Gospel Our Lord concludes his criticism of the Pharisees with a call to vigilance in the service of God. The example of the master returning to evaluate his servant’s stewardship can not only be applied to when Our Lord returns in glory at the end of time, but also to when we are judged by him at the end of our earthly life. We are stewards of everything we have received, and we have received everything, even life itself: not only material possessions, but relationships, the time given us, and the talents we have received. We are stewards of these gifts and Our Lord has great expectations for us.

Like the faithful servant we will be rewarded for responsible stewardship. However, there are consequences if we are not responsible stewards of the possessions, relationships, time, and talents that we have received. These passing things can enslave us and make us forget our obligations, and part of the pain that results from making them the end instead of the means is being separated from them forever due to our irresponsibility, like and addict deprived of his drugs. Jesus today encourages the disciples to be faithful stewards of the gifts he’s bestowing on them, not like the Pharisees who have squandered those gifts for their own conceited benefit and will have them taken away.

Let’s take stock of life today and see what gifts Our Lord has bestowed upon us and how he would feel if today he came and asked us to make an account for how we’ve used them.

Readings: 1 Thessalonians 3:7–13; Psalm 90:3–5a, 12–14, 17; Matthew 24:42–51.

21st Week in Ordinary Time, Wednesday

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In today’s Gospel Our Lord points out the irony that the Pharisees on the outside try to appear squeaky clean, but on the inside are hypocritical and evil. The Jews whitewashed tombs because if a Jew came near one or trod on one, he would be ritually defiled, even if he was unaware of it. In using this image Our Lord is warning his listeners that the whitewash the Pharisees have placed on themselves should put them on their guard as well if they don’t want to inadvertently defile themselves.

Hypocrisy even today is one of the greatest sins a person can commit, even for people who have no concept of sin–no one likes a hypocrite. People can try to present themselves as something more or something better than they are, and they seek legitimacy in any way possible. How many people through the Internet either try or imagine themselves to be what they’re not? Jesus reminds us today that God knows our hearts. If God knows us as we truly are, there’s no point in deluding ourselves into thinking that we can live a double life, to be one thing on the inside and another on the outside.

Let’s ask Our Lord today to help be who we are. When we stop trying to be what we’re not he can help us to explore the wealth of who we truly are.

Readings: 1 Thessalonians 2:9–13; Psalm 139:7–12b; Matthew 23:27–32.

21st Week in Ordinary Time, Tuesday

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In today’s Gospel Our Lord puts us on guard against the danger of legalism, where laws are made for the sake of making laws, bureaucracy is the order of the day, and the purpose of the law doesn’t go much beyond bean counting in order to maintain an air of respectability. Our Lord doesn’t condemn laws; rather, he condemns losing sight of the purpose of those laws.

As he teaches us today, law’s purpose is judgment: to ensure that parties in conflict each receive what justice says is their due. Its purpose is mercy: to be fair to the party in the wrong, but to try and help him or her to become a good citizen again, not just fill prisons or government coffers. Finally, its purpose is fidelity: fostering solid bonds of solidarity between members of society at all levels: marriages, families, corporations, etc.–when someone breaks the law they should realize that they’ve failed in something expected of them to ensure the common good. Taxes on spices may be useful, but they’re not at the heart of the law.

We also need to examine laws to see whether they ensure just judgments, leave room for mercy, and foster fidelity. Let’s pray for our legislators that they have these principles in mind when drafting laws, and let’s also ask Our Lord to help us not sacrifice the important things for a hollow legal compliance in empty things.

Readings: 1 Thessalonians 2:1–8; Psalm 139:1–6; Matthew 23:23–26.