Year I

28th Week in Ordinary Time, Thursday

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In today’s First Reading Paul reminds us that the Law (the Mosaic Law observed by the Jews) and the prophets gave witness to what everyone after the Fall of Adam and Eve needed in order to be righteous in the eyes of God: God’s grace, won by the blood of Christ. To receive that grace we must believe in Christ and receive Baptism, and we become and remain “righteous” through living a life of grace. He was making this point because there were those who believed that the works of Mosaic Law were enough, but, as we know, that would have restricted salvation to the Jews as God’s chosen people. Faith in Christ and Baptism are what are needed, whether observant Jew or uninitiated Gentile, in order to being a life of grace.

In today’s Gospel Our Lord is criticizing the Pharisees and scribes because they are putting a muzzle on the witness that the Law and the prophets were meant to give as to how we can truly be righteous in the eyes of God. The Pharisees are criticized for building monuments to the very prophets that their predecessors killed: what they’re trying to present as an honorable acknowledgement of the prophets Jesus reveals as testifying to the fact that not only did they not listen to the prophets’ message, but silenced it by killing them. The scribes fared no better: they were the experts in the Law, and the Law was meant to give witness to God and to Christ, but they did not pay attention to that witness, nor did they share it with the Jews who sought the knowledge to be considered righteous in the eyes of God. As a result of Jesus’ criticism the Pharisees and scribes became an obstacle to Christ because they didn’t have faith in him, just as they became an obstacle to the prophets before him.

We can run the same of risk of not sharing the message or silencing it. It happens when Our Lord becomes simply a historical figure commemorated by a crucifix or cross on a wall and not the Lord of our life and our history who walks with us even today through prayer and the sacraments. We can muzzle the message of faith if we don’t let it transform our lives and share it with others, not only through our words, but through our example of Christian living. Let’s take off any muzzle that we make have placed on the Word in our lives today so that we can open the path to becoming and helping others to become righteous in the eyes of God.

Readings: Romans 3:21–30; Psalm 130:1b–6b; Luke 11:47–54.

28th Week in Ordinary Time, Wednesday

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In yesterday’s readings we saw that the Pharisee who judged Our Lord for not performing the ritual washing of hands opened himself up to receiving judgment. In today’s First Reading Paul elaborates on the teaching of Our Lord to not judge other unless we too want to be judged, but he focuses more on warning hypocrites that they won’t fool God. Our Lord today describes contact with the Pharisees who do not practice what they preach as being like unwittingly walking over a tomb: a source of contamination and ritual impurity for the Jews of that period. The case of someone who judges others while not worried about their own actions is even more dangerous; it transmits the message that hypocrisy and a double life are okay. As Paul reminds us, the judgments of God cannot be swept under the rug and forgotten.

The scribes in today’s Gospel are also also offended by Our Lord’s accusations; they too consider themselves immune to scrutiny. Our Lord today teaches us two ways to make sure that those in charge of the pastoral care of others can stay on the right track: that love for God be the motivation for all they do, and that they keep in mind that they will be held accountable just as much, if not more, by God for their good works as well as their evil ones. When a teaching is difficult to follow, they are there to help people to be faithful to it. When they establish some secondary rule or observance, it is for the good of all, not just for their own benefit. That’s the difference between power brokering and pastoral concern.

Let’s pray today for our pastors and for all those with religious authority so that they serve us always out of love for God and concern for others.

Readings: Romans 2:1–11; Psalm 62:2–3, 6–7, 9; Luke 11:42–46.

28th Week in Ordinary Time, Tuesday

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In today’s Gospel Our Lord reminds us that good things start from within and work their way out. There is a difference between maintaining appearances and living the truth. In today’s First Reading Paul touches upon the fact that when things go wrong it is because something inside has gone wrong: everyone has an interior opportunity, either through seeking truth and good or welcoming in faith God’s revelation, of knowing the truth and doing good. When they do evil instead they ignore those encouraging voices and eventually try to convince themselves that the evil they are doing is good. No matter how much we mess up our consciences we always try to do what we think to be good: the question is whether it is truly good or not. Our actions reflect the good or evil that is inside of us. When we do good, it edifies others, but they have to interiorize it and make it their good as well–then our actions will also reflect that good. When we do evil we cast a shadow over this struggle in the hearts of everyone to see what’s truly good and act upon it: bad examples cloud our judgment of good and evil.

Jesus teaches us to not judge unless we want to be judged (see Matthew 7:1 and Luke 6:37). In today’s Gospel we see him applying that teaching. The Pharisee who invited him to dine thinks a ritual washing of hands is required to be good. Our Lord shows him that he’s turned a secondary religious custom into a way of judging and condemning others. The Pharisees never really understood the purpose of ritual washing: for them it was a sort of whitewash that allowed them to justify whatever else they did and consider themselves superior to others. They never stopped to think that maybe just because somebody doesn’t agree with their religious practices and opinion it doesn’t mean that person is evil.

Every person is on a quest for truth and goodness in their heart: we need to help them find it, just as Jesus was trying to help the Pharisee today. Sometimes that means saying clearly, as Jesus did, that something they’re doing is wrong–we’re called to help each other, not work out everything on our own. Let’s make an effort today to share the goodness and truth that others have shared with us, and not get hung up on secondary things that can cloud the true charity we’re expected to live.

Readings: Romans 1:16–25; Psalm 19:2–5; Luke 11:37–41.

28th Week in Ordinary Time, Monday

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In today’s Gospel Our Lord, perhaps with a note of disappointment, reminds his listeners how in the past they marveled at things that were only a foreshadowing of what he wished to bring them. The prophet Jonah was miraculously kept alive in the belly of a large fish for three days; Our Lord would rise from death itself on the third day and not just go on living as we do, but live forever. Jonah warned the Ninevites that in three days they would be destroyed if they didn’t act; Our Lord offers a new life that with blossom into an eternal one if only those receiving his message repent and believe in the Gospel. Jonah went grudgingly to his mission, because he really didn’t want his listeners to be spared; Our Lord, in perfect unity of will with his Father, came to the world to save it, not condemn it, and he did so willingly.

The only question remaining is our response. The Ninevites repented and received a “stay of execution”; Our Lord offers us, as Paul reminds us in today’s First Reading, to believe and to carry his message of salvation not only to one people, but to all the nations, as his apostles. His invitation implies today not just conversion, but mission, and rewards beyond our imagination.

Let’s show ourselves today to not be a generation that continually seeks signs, but one that has faith.

Readings: Romans 1:1–7; Psalm 98:1b–e, 2–4; Luke 11:29–32. See also 16th Week in Ordinary Time, Monday and 27th Week in Ordinary Time, Wednesday.

27th Week in Ordinary Time, Saturday

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In today’s Gospel the anonymous woman in the crowd is trying to put a finger on why Our Lord is so holy by praising the blessedness of her mother. If only she knew; Mary’s holiness, in addition to her own fidelity throughout her life, was thanks to the grace we know as the Immaculate Conception: it was in view of her son’s merits that she received the grace to be preserved free from all stain of original sin. It is thanks to her son that she is blessed, and, as she says in the Magnificat, she considers herself blessed from the moment she accepted God’s invitation to be her mother. God gets all the credit for her blessedness, which she put to good use in raising Jesus.

Our Lord, therefore, teaches them what the true source of his blessedness and his mother’s blessedness is: hearing the word of God and observing it. The Son came freely among us to save us because it was the will of the heavenly Father; he perfectly accomplished his Father’s will to our benefit. Mary at the Annunciation gave her fiat: that it be done to her according to God’s word. And for this fidelity and attentiveness to the word of God, all generations will call her blessed.

Jesus and Mary both present the path to us today for our blessedness, for a beatific happiness that comes from God alone: to hear and to keep the word of God in our lives. Let’s ask Our Lord to help us to listen to and to heed his Word; let’s ask Mary to help us in this as well through her example and her intercession.

Readings: Joel 4:12–21; Psalm 97:1–2, 5–6, 11–12; Luke 11:27–28.