I know where you are from: The Twenty First Sunday in Ordinary Time

 I know where you are from

The Twenty First Sunday in Ordinary Time

August 21, 2022

www.johnpredmoresj.com | predmore.blogspot.com

predmoresj@yahoo.com | 617.510.9673

Isaiah 66:18-21; Psalm 117; Hebrews 12:5-13; Luke 13:22-30

 

          One of the first questions that is asked of anyone in the Middle East is, “Where are you from?” In the United States, we often ask, “What do you do?” or “Where do you work?” Where you come from says a lot about your identity, while the type of work that you do is temporary. In the Gospel, Jesus says to those who do not choose his way, that he does not know where they are from. To him, they do not belong to his tribe, his family. He will not recognize the one who is not serious about their faith as one of his friends. That person is unrecognizable to him, even though he or she may superficially know him.

 

          Who will be saved? This question was asked of Jesus of Nazareth, and as the unique revealer of God’s mind and attitudes, he was able to describe the type of life God wants all people to live, and there are plenty of people who are not interested in righteousness. What if we asked that same question to Jesus, the Christ, the Risen One we know today? Who or what types of people do we think might be saved today? Perhaps a better place to start is to ask who might not be saved? It ultimately leads to who we think God is.

 

          We can point to any number of people who do not act like Christians, and yet they call themselves Christians. Some people bloviate and talk loudly and hold shallow opinions about the world and others. They do not act with charity, and they are sometimes vulgar and judgmental. Their hypocrisy is evident, and yet they call upon the name of the Lord in public discourse. These seem to be the type of people that Jesus will not recognize. But it doesn’t seem to be so easy.

 

          As Jesus judges with mercy, we have to question who is excluded? We can never know how Jesus the Christ decides upon the person’s worth and dignity. To God, every person, no matter how vulgar or cultured, how educated or mis-informed, how privileged or deprived, how aligned with God or misguided, deserves dignity and respect. Each person deserves a chance. This is reassuring because we cannot be presumptuous about our righteousness in relation to another person’s. We have to assume that, in God’s perspective, each person is beloved and belongs to God. We are the ones to make judgments though, so we better be careful who we include and exclude. We have to remind ourselves as Church that we are to always ask ourselves, “Who are we to judge?”

 

          It is often best for us not to look to the actions of others, but to our own thoughts and attitudes to get our lives together. All we have to do is to build a friendship with Jesus, now and today, so that when we meet him in the afterlife, he does not need to ask the question, “Where are you from?” We want him to see us, to widen his smile, and say, “Welcome home, my friend. It is good to see you here.”

 

Scripture for Daily Mass

 

First Reading: 

 

Monday: (2 Thessalonians 1) This is evidence of the just judgment of God, so that you may be considered worthy of the Kingdom of God for which you are suffering. We always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and powerfully bring to fulfillment every good purpose and every effort of faith, that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, in accord with the grace of our God and Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Tuesday: (2 Thessalonians 2) We ask you not to be shaken out of your minds suddenly, or to be alarmed either by a “spirit,” or by an oral statement, or by a letter allegedly from us to the effect that the day of the Lord is at hand. Let no one deceive you in any way.

 

Wednesday: (Revelation 1) “Come here. I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” He took me in spirit to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. It gleamed with the splendor of God.

 

Thursday: (1 Corinthians 1) I give thanks to my God always on your account for the grace of God bestowed on you in Christ Jesus, that in him you were enriched in every way, with all discourse and all knowledge, as the testimony to Christ was confirmed among you, so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Friday (1 Corinthians 1) Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the Gospel, and not with the wisdom of human eloquence, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its meaning.

 

Saturday (1 Corinthians 1) God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise,
and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong, and God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something, so that no human being might boast before God.

 

Gospel: 

 

Monday: (Matthew 23) Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You lock the Kingdom of heaven before men. You do not enter yourselves, nor do you allow entrance to those trying to enter.

 

Tuesday: (Matthew 23) Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You pay tithes of mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier things of the law: judgment and mercy and fidelity. 

 

Wednesday (John 1) Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the law, and also the prophets, Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth.” But Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”
Philip said to him, “Come and see.”

 

Thursday (Matthew 24) Who, then, is the faithful and prudent servant, whom the master has put in charge of his household to distribute to them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master on his arrival finds doing so.

 

Friday (Matthew 25) The Kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones, when taking their lamps, brought no oil with them, but the wise brought flasks of oil with their lamps. 

 

Saturday (Matthew 25) A man going on a journey called in his servants and entrusted his possessions to them. To one he gave five talents; to another, two; to a third, one– to each according to his ability. Then he went away.

 

Saints of the Week

 

August 21: Pius X, pope (1835-1914), was an Italian parish priest for 17 years before he became bishop of Mantua, the cardinal patriarch of Venice, and eventually pope. He urged frequent communion for adults, sacramental catechesis for children, and continued education for everyone. He is known for rigid political policies that put him at odds with a dynamically changing world that led to World War I.

 

August 22: The Queenship of Mary concludes the octave of the principal feast of Mary as she celebrates her installation as queen and mother of all creation. This feast was placed on our calendar in 1954 following the dogmatic proclamation of the Assumption. 

 

August 23: Rose of Lima (1586-1617) was the first canonized saint of the New World. She had Spanish immigrant parents in Lima. Rose joined the Dominicans and lived in her parents' garden to support them while she took care of the sick and the poor. As a girl, she had many mystical experiences as she practiced an austere life. She also had many periods of darkness and desolation.

 

August 24: Bartholomew (First Century), according to the Acts of the Apostles, is listed as one of the Twelve Disciples though no one for sure knows who he is. Some associate him with Philip, though other Gospel accounts contradict this point. John's Gospel refers to him as Nathaniel - a Israelite without guile.

 

August 25: Louis of France (1214-1270) became king at age 12, but did not take over leadership until ten years later. He had eleven children with his wife, Marguerite, and his kingship reigned for 44 years. His rule ushered in a longstanding peace and prosperity for the nation.  He is held up as a paragon of medieval Christian kings.

 

August 25: Joseph Calasanz, priest (1556-1648), was a Spaniard who studied canon law and theology. He resigned his post as diocesan vicar-general to go to Rome to live as a pilgrim and serve the sick and the dying. He used his inheritance to set up free schools for poor families with children. He founded an order to administer the schools, but dissension and power struggles led to its dissolution.

 

August 27: Monica (332-387) was born a Christian in North Africa and was married to a non-Christian, Patricius, with whom she had three children, the most famous being Augustine. Her husband became a Christian at her urging and she prayed for Augustine's conversion as well from his newly adopted Manichaeism. Monica met Augustine in Milan where he was baptized by Bishop Ambrose. She died on the return trip as her work was complete.

 

This Week in Jesuit History

 

• August 21, 1616: At Pont a Mousson in Lorraine died Fr. William Murdoch, a Scotchman, who when only 10 years of age was imprisoned seven months for the faith and cruelly beaten by the order of a Protestant bishop. St. Ignatius is said to have appeared to him and encouraged him to bear the cross bravely. 
• August 22, 1872: Jesuits were expelled from Germany during the Bismarckian Kulturkampf. 
• August 23, 1558: In the First General Congregation, the question was discussed about the General's office being triennial, and the introduction of Choir, as proposed by Pope Paul IV, and it was decreed that the Constitutions ought to remain unaltered. 
• August 24, 1544: Peter Faber arrived in Lisbon. 
• August 25, 1666: At Beijing, the death of Fr. John Adam Schall. By his profound knowledge of mathematics and astronomy, he attained such fame that the Emperor entrusted to him the reform of the Chinese calendar. 
• August 26, 1562: The return of Fr. Diego Laynez from France to Trent, the Fathers of the Council desiring to hear him speak on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. 
• August 27, 1679: The martyrdom at Usk, England, of St. David Lewis, apostle to the poor in his native Wales for three decades before he was caught and hanged.