Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time


October 14, 2012
Wisdom 7:7-11; Psalm 90; Hebrews 4:12-13; Mark 10:17-30

            The author of the Book of Wisdom gets the moral life right. He understands the necessity of right living when he asks for prudence and receives it. He values the presence of the spirit of wisdom who is far superior in value to any earthly treasure. He realizes that she richly blesses him and she rewards his fidelity with her goodness. She is always creating good things for those who rely upon her counsel. She is the one who is to be sought above all things because she will bring her beloved one to the very heart of God.

                  The author of Hebrews states, “the word of God is living and effective” and permeates all things. It is able to move between impenetrable things, even the soul and the spirit, because it comes to bring life wherever it goes. It discerns intellectual reflections and the thoughts and reasons of the heart. No one, nothing, is remote from the word’s penetrating possibilities. All living things are known to God, who holds creation lovingly in his gaze. God’s wisdom and word act together to move us ever closer to a loving God whose care for us is beyond measure.

                  A responsible moral life is the main theme of the Gospel. A man approaches Jesus with a sincere question about how one can achieve eternal life through morally good actions. Notice that Jesus acts as both the wisdom of God and the word of God. This man knows the commandments and has dedicated his life to doing good works. He has been a dutiful, righteous man in the eyes of society’s laws. Much of his effort has been on what he has done instead of being concerned about others. Because of his personal achievements, he wants his just reward by human standards. Jesus does for him what he cannot adequately do for others. He gazes upon this man in love. 

Jesus cherishes the good efforts of this man and yet he knows that this man’s actions were self-serving. He gives him a chance to expand his universe by paying attention to the needs of those who struggle, but the man is unable to let his heart be opened in way that will open himself up to possibilities. For the man, salvation rests upon his efforts; for Jesus, salvation comes from love alone – love that spontaneously seeks to serve others. The man then does something horrific: he walks out on the relationship with Jesus. It is over. He does not even give it a chance. His possessions own him so much that it precludes him from loving authentically. We have to realize it is good for us to stay in relationship with Jesus, even in those dark times, because his love offers us unexpected opportunities. 

The disciples become concerned. They realize that the teaching of Jesus about wealth seems unfair and is difficult to carry out. The standards seem too high and the punishment too harsh. Many people with wealth and resources are helpful to society because they share their wealth generously and freely. Poverty and neediness has always been a societal problem and no system of government has adequately addressed ways to eradicate or lessen it. Since this sentence seems too tight, they wonder about their possibility of being saved for they have left everything to follow him. The question remains: what must I do to inherit eternal life? Because we are Christians we take the promise of eternal life for granted and we commit the sin of presumption.

We have to take a cue from the actions of Jesus (that is, the wisdom of God) and much as we pay attention to his teachings (as the word of God.) When he looked upon the rich man who walked away from him, he gazed upon him in love. His heart was moved by his good and noble intentions. He held out the best for this man and asked him to be with him in his ministry. Likewise, we have to look upon one another with love. We have to see each other as people who are trying their best and are filled with great feelings and rich insights. We gaze upon each other with positive regard. Only when we do that will we be able to serve others’ needs because our hearts are moved to see that good that is inherent in each and every person. Then, we will not only know the commandments intellectually, we will incorporate them into our loving, outwardly-expressed heart. The word of God that we hear spoken will become the wisdom that orients all our actions because it is guided by a heart that warmly cares for others.

Themes for this Week’s Masses

First Reading: In Galatians, Paul writes about Abraham’s two sons –one by a slave woman born naturally, the other by a freeborn woman born of a promise. Each son represented two covenants – slavery and freedom – and we descendants are born for freedom. Christ sets us free. Do not submit again to the yoke of slavery. Only faith working through love will keep you free through the guidance of the Spirit. You will not be subject to the law or of the flesh. The fruits of the Spirit are: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. No law can touch these. ~ In Ephesians, Paul outlines God’s masterful plan of salvation that promises the world great grace. Paul hears of the faith of the Ephesians and is moved to greater prayer by their faith. Christ has been bestowed as the sovereign king of all creation, therefore, it is fitting that we praise and reverence him in all things.

Gospel: Jesus is annoyed by his fickle generation because they seek a sign. They fail to understand that something greater than Solomon is in their midst. When Jesus attended a leading Pharisees’ dinner party, he did not wash his hands as prescribed in the law. He retorts that they are filled with hypocritical actions by making visible external actions that appear laudable, while their insides are motivated by plunder and evil. He rails against them because they have token tithing and small offerings to show their love of God, but they impose heavy burdens upon people that are difficult to carry out. He turns to the crowd and tells them to beware of the hypocrisy of the religious authorities. Nothing that is hidden will be concealed any longer. The light reveals dark actions, but it also reveals God’s care for every single person of little consequence in the world. He tells them that everyone who acknowledges him in public will be remembered by God in heaven, but no one is to blaspheme the Holy Spirit as it is an unforgivable sin.

Saints of the Week

October 14: Callistus I, pope and martyr (d. 222) was a slave of a Christian who put him in charge of a bank that failed. He was jailed and upon his release became a deacon and counselor to Pope Zephyrinus. He became the first overseer of the official Christian cemetery that was eventually named after him. When he was elected Pope he introduced humanitarian reforms. He died during an uprising against Christians. 

October 15: Teresa of Jesus, doctor (1515-1582), entered the Carmelites in Avila and became disenchanted with the laxity of the order. She progressed in prayer and had mystical visions. She introduced stricter reforms through her guidance of John of the Cross and Peter Alcantara. They founded the Discalced Carmelites for men and women.

October 16: Hedwig, religious, at age 12 married Henry, a prince who would become king of Silesia. As a monarch, they built a Cistercian monastery for women. They soon built many other religious houses and hospitals. She chose to live in austere poverty to be in solidarity with the poor.

October 16: Margaret Mary Alocoque entered the Visitation Order at Paray-le-Monial in 1671. She received visions of Christ's love and told her Jesuit spiritual director, Claude la Colombiere, who asked her to write about her experiences. They developed the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Her community resisted her promotion of the devotion at first, but later came to see the power of the prayers.

October 17: Ignatius of Antioch, bishop and martyr (d. 107) was born around 33 A.D. and became a leading figure in the new church at Antioch. He served as bishop for 38 years before he was persecuted and killed under Emperor Trajan for being a Christian leader. He wrote seven letters about church life in the early second century and is the first-mentioned martyr of Roman heroes in the first Eucharistic Prayer.

October 18: Luke, evangelist (first century) was the author of his version of the Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles. He is described as a doctor and a friend of Paul. He was a well-educated Gentile who was familiar with the Jewish scriptures and he wrote to other Gentiles who were coming into a faith.

October 19: North American Jesuit martyrs: Isaac Jogues, John de Brebeuf, priests, and companions (17th century) were killed between 1642 and 1649 in Canada and the United States. Though they knew of harsh conditions among the warring Huron and Mohawk tribes in the New World, these priests and laymen persisted in evangelizing until they were captured, brutally tortured, and barbarically killed.

October 20: Paul of the Cross, priest (1694-1775), founded the Passionists in 1747. He had a boyhood call that propelled him into a life of austerity and prayer. After receiving several visions, he began to preach missions throughout Italy that mostly focused upon the Passion of the Lord. After his death, a congregation for nuns was begun.

This Week in Jesuit History

·      October 14, 1774: A French Jesuit in China wrote an epitaph to the Jesuit mission in China after the suppression of the Society. It concludes: "Go, traveler, continue on your way. Felicitate the dead; weep for the living; pray for all. Wonder, and be silent."
·      October 15, 1582: St Teresa of Avila died on this day -- the first day of the new Gregorian calendar. She always wished to have a Jesuit as a confessor.
·      October 16, 1873: About two weeks after Victor Emmanuel's visit to Berlin, where he had long conferences with Bismark, rumors reached the Society in Rome that all of their houses in Rome were threatened.
·      October 17, 1578: St Robert Bellarmine entered the Jesuit novitiate of San Andrea in Rome at the age of 16.
·      October 18, 1553: A theological course was opened in our college in Lisbon; 400 students were at once enrolled.
·      October 19, 1588: At Munster, in Westphalia, the Society opens a college, in spite of an outcry raised locally by some of the Protestants.
·      October 20, 1763: In a pastoral letter read in all his churches, the Archbishop of Paris expressed his bitter regret at the suppression of the Society in France. He described it as a veritable calamity for his country. 

7 comments:

  1. The following statement really resonates with me: "The word of God that we hear spoken will become the wisdom that orients all our actions because it is guided by a heart that warmly cares for others." Love God and love others. Thank you.


    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are welcome. It is nice that word and wisdom become one in Christ.

      Delete
  2. Had a sense of deja-écouté when I read this. At Holy Martyrs, today was a Celebration in the Absence of a Priest and the deacon read the exact same thing word for word. Did he "borrow" this from you? Or is this from some standard source?? In any case, it is insightful, but a bit hard on the "rich young man." We don't know for sure that he is self-centered and incapable of love. Some people feel that he ended up condemned, but that is not clear either. In answer to his first question about what he must do to gain eternal life, Jesus said it was enough for him to keep the commandments. Perhaps it was. He was invited to a more excellent way and refused the invitation, but did that reverse the original statement of Jesus? I hope not. I hope he was one of the "old wineskins" who was just not ready to be filled with the new wine, and that Jesus understood that forcing it on him would "burst" him and both he and the gift would be lost. He regretfully said that it was with difficulty that the rich could enter the Kingdom but that with God all things were possible, so I think He had some hope for the man after all, or more probably, He knew that after many difficulties, His relentless divine love would win out and accomplish what could have been done much more easily if the man had yielded at first. We hate to see people we love insist on "learning things the hard way" when we know that if they took our advice, they could save themselves a lot of grief. But respecting their freedom demands that we let them go. It doesn't mean we give up on them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Your deacon at church may have "borrowed" from me. I do send these out on Tuesday night so people can use them in preparation for RCIA classes. I did not intend it to be hard on the "rich man." (We have no idea about his age in this passage.) The sadness for him is that he left the relationship with Jesus. We have no idea what he did with the rest of his life. I am hoping he returned to Jesus. I hope I did not convey he was incapable of love as much as I was trying to convey that he was unable at this point in his life to receive the love Jesus is trying to give him. It is the love of Jesus that makes one more able to love the self and others more freely. To keep the commandments, he has to be a loving man. The distinction is in the type of love he can accept and receive. He certainly is not self-centered in all his life, perhaps only in this decision in which he cannot follow Jesus in the way he is invited. I appreciate your thoughts on the way you read this.

      You are so right to indicate that responding to this difficult call of Jesus is a process. It takes time and the head and heart has to get around the decision. The rich man still has many possibilities before him.

      We are given freedom to choose. Despite the loving concern of many others, we go through things the hard way so we can make our own choices. We learn how to let others be free as we continue our prayers for them.

      Thanks for your insights. I will go back and modify parts of this so I can refine what I was trying to say. Many thanks.

      Delete
    2. Ah, as I re-read what I wrote, I see that I never indicated that the man was self-centered. I did say that his actions were self-serving. There is quite a difference. I don't read any of what I wrote as condemnation of the man (because Christ wouldn't do that), but that he was lacking in the resources to keep himself open to the graces. He certainly had love, but perhaps not the type of love that will make him free.

      Delete
    3. "When there is a disagreement, make a distinction." I guess I did equate self-centered with self-serving, but you are right. That is not always the case. And I didn't mean to imply that you condemned him, but I have heard many other homilies that were less charitable. Today, I was at a different church for Mass and the homilist said he felt it was hopeful that the man went away "sad." Had he gone away angry or dismissive or full of self-justifying arguments, it might have been more ominous, but this homilist saw the sadness as the beginning of an awareness of how much his wealth was tying him down and preventing him from following his heart.
      I have often wondered what became of this man and of some of the others who are mentioned in the Gospels but we never get to hear the rest of the story. If he was indeed fairly young and very rich, he may still have been around when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and he might have had to leave all his riches behind just to save his physical life. That might have been a catalyst for showing him his true values. Or did he even then refuse to leave his "stuff" and perish defending it? When my town in New Mexico caught fire a number of years ago, several people just refused to leave their homes and tried to keep the flames away with garden hoses, etc. Luckily no one died in that fire, but it could easily have ended differently. Some fled without taking anything or even checking on loved ones, while others suddenly decided their baby's irreplaceable first photo was more precious than the insured silverware and jewelry. Still other made sure that the neighbors got out safely or even went back to get their pets. Imminent danger of death has a marvellous way of clarifying our priorities. I hope the man in the Gospel continued to wrestle with his conflicting desires and eventually was able to let go. I guess we'll find out when we get Home.

      Delete
    4. The beauty is that we don't know the rest of the story. The sadness can lead to places very different from anger or resignation. Let's hope he realizes that life without Jesus is not satisfying.

      I look at the fire that burned down our home when I was nine as a complete blessing, though a financial setback for our impoverished family. For me, it was the beginning of an awareness that has served me well in life. We only hope this significant emotional experiences can lead to a greater spiritual awakening.

      Delete