Year I

32nd Week in Ordinary Time, Saturday

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In today’s Gospel Our Lord presents the polar opposite of Our Heavenly Father, the most just judge, to remind us that we should continue to pray and to not be discouraged in the face of persisting injustice. He alludes to his return at the end of time, so he prepares us to continue our struggles and supplications for justice, knowing that some injustices will not be addressed until he returns in glory, but they will be addressed. We have to persevere in faith and hope.

The widow in today’s parable wants justice in her case. Widows and orphans are repeatedly mentioned in the Old Testament as those deserving special care, since they represent those who have no one to care for them, and the Lord gives dire warning to those who’d abuse them. The widow today can only get justice through a judge who cares nothing for those things; he only cares about himself. Yet the widow’s persistence starts to wear on his obstinacy; he doesn’t do justice for the right reasons, but he does do justice in the end, albeit for a little peace and quiet as well as a concern for his own hide. In the face of maximum injustice and little hope of attaining it the widow continues to ask for it and in the end is heard.

Our Lord reminds us today that we are in a much better situation, but we only realize that if we have faith and trust in him. Let’s continue to battle injustice in this world and not be discouraged when the cause seems hopeless. Sooner or later justice will come.

Readings: Wisdom 18:14–16; Psalm 105:2–3, 36–37, 42–43; Luke 18:1–8.

32nd Week in Ordinary Time, Thursday

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In today’s Gospel Our Lord responds to the question that all the Jews at the time hand on their mind: when would the Kingdom of God come? For some it had meant the coming of a religious nation, purified from its sins; for others, the political autonomy and dominion of Israel over all its enemies. When Our Lord began his public ministry, he preached that the Kingdom of God was at hand. Now he tells us that the Kingdom of God is already present. How?

Just like the Jews we hope that something definitive will come with the Kingdom of God: that the evil that has plagued the world since the Fall will be definitively overthrown, and peace and justice restored to all of creation. We hope for an end to suffering, hunger, and illness, but it’s also evident that these things have not yet occurred. Our Lord reminds us today that the Kingdom is already present: it is active, just not easily seen. God is acting: hearts are being won back to him, and those hearts are going out and spreading his love among others and trying to be a force for positive change in society. Sometimes we may feel outnumbered and overwhelmed, but in hope we know the victory is already won, and it’s just a matter of spreading the Good News.

Our Lord teaches us today not to waste time looking for it on the horizon or seeking some prophet who supposedly has it already figured out. It’s going to be a long haul by everyone’s standards and he prepares us for that. We just have to persevere in faith, hope, and love, confident that through living a virtuous life we are welcoming the Kingdom into our hearts and helping others to reap its benefits as well.

Readings: Wisdom 7:22b–8:1; Psalm 119:89–91, 130, 135, 175; Luke 17:20–25.

32nd Week in Ordinary Time, Wednesday

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In today’s Gospel a group of lepers ask for pity from Our Lord. Under Mosaic Law, lepers were outcasts and required not to draw near anyone not afflicted by their condition. They would also have to warn people who drew near, often shouting, “unclean, unclean.” The lepers in today’s Gospel are maintaining their distance out of respect for the Law (and to avoid the trouble they’d be in if they didn’t–people in general aren’t very warm to someone with an infectious disease). When Our Lord tells them to go show themselves to the priests, he is inviting them to make an act of faith: the Law also proscribed that when a leper was healed he should present himself to the priests, who’d certify the healing and allow him back into the community. They hadn’t been cleansed yet, but receive the miracle on the way to the priests.

The ten lepers have faith, but only one of them has the faith that goes the distance in terms of pleasing God: the Samaritan who returns to Jesus to thank him upon realizing that he’s been cured, a Samaritan, unlike the Jews, who didn’t even have all the spiritual resources at the time that a Jew would. Our Lord is merciful, so the other nine don’t get their healing taken away for not being grateful, but Our Lord’s reaction shows he was expecting something more. The nine lepers had a life of faith, but it was a little routine, and dulled to the sense of wonder when the Lord intervenes more forcefully in our lives. A vibrant faith, like that of the Samaritan formerly known as leper, responds with praise and thanksgiving when it realizes God has blessed it.

As believers we’ve received countless spiritual healings from God: through our baptism, through our sacramental life, and through our prayers. Grace sustains and restores us. Let’s get out of any spiritual rut we might find ourselves in today and praise and thank God for all his blessings, big and small.

Readings: Wisdom 6:1–11; Psalm 82:3–4, 6–7; Luke 17:11–19.

32nd Week in Ordinary Time, Tuesday

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Everyone likes recognition for the work they do; some people even crave it, but Our Lord in today’s Gospel encourages us to be content with the fact that we’ve been able to serve another and perform our duties. There are many people in the world who’ll never get Employee of the Month, but who have done their work well. If that moment of recognition comes, Our Lord tells us what our attitude should be: humility. If recognition is the motivation for our service, it’s no so much service as trying to climb the social or career ladder, and that can lead to a false sense of entitlement that makes us frustrated when we should just be focusing on doing our job.

Sometimes service without recognition is hard. In the First Reading Our Lord reminds us that the souls of the virtuous suffered trials, sometimes apparent disaster, but in the end they were in the hand of God and shined, full of grace and mercy. We shouldn’t worry so much about receiving recognition; in the end Our Lord will give us the recognition we deserve as the good and just God that he is.

Let’s focus today on being useful servants who do their duty and not so much on being Employee of the Month. If we do, maybe we’ll get both. It’s in the Lord’s hands.

Readings: Wisdom 2:23–3:9; Psalm 34:2–3, 16–19; Luke 17:7–10.

31st Week in Ordinary Time, Saturday

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In yesterday‘s Gospel Our Lord gave the example of the dishonest and shrewd steward as an example not to follow. Today he explains why. As a strategy for gaining the things that really matter it is laughable, and it rarely stops at small infractions. When he challenges them to see if dishonest wealth will get them into Heaven (“eternal dwellings”), he in part is ridiculing the thought that that strategy would even work–God can’t be swindled. If you can’t be trusted in small matters, you can’t be trusted in larger ones either: it’s no coincidence that people who swindle others out of something are called confidence men (or con men): they prey on trust to get something to which they’re not entitled.

The bad example from yesterday was helping your boss defraud people (and then defrauding your boss), but there are many things we’d be dishonest in taking, because they don’t belong to us. Using the company car or phone for personal matters. Surfing the Internet or calling friends when we should be working. Goofing off when we should be studying. Giving the love we’ve promised unconditionally to our spouse to another, either in person or through the Internet. Turning the time you should be dedicating to your spouse and children into “me” time. Trust is a fragile thing, and, once lost, it is not easily restored: suspicion will cast a pall over everything we do after our dishonesty comes to light.

Our Lord warns today of the worst price of dishonesty: not just all the people we alienate, but preventing us from reaching those “eternal dwellings” where our true treasure lies. Let’s ask him today to always deal in the currency that will get us there: honesty, fidelity, and loyalty.

Readings: Romans 16:3–9, 16, 22–27; Psalm 145:2–5, 10–11; Luke 16:9–15.