Jesus is in our Disputes: The 23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time

                                                       Jesus is in our Disputes:

The 23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time

September 10, 2023

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Jeremiah 20:7-9; Psalm 63; Romans 12:1-2; Matthew 16:21-27

 

The Gospel gives Christians a way to settle disputes among themselves, so they do not have to bring their complaints to court. It presumes sufficient goodwill because one’s faith determines how one conducts one’s affairs, especially among those who belong to the Jesus community. The community gets involved to help the parties in dispute to amicably settle their case so harmony can be restored to the community. The Christian community is to be gently intrusive into the legal matters of its members. 

 

We all know from experience that some people absolutely cannot even have a conversation with another person because of one’s views. How does this happen among Catholics? This week I read an article in the Atlantic magazine titled, How America Got Mean, with a subtitle of “In a culture devoid of moral education, generations are growing up in a morally inarticulate, self-referential world.” The article comments on the rising rates of depression and the rising deaths of despair from drugs, alcohol, and suicide. It claims more than half of all Americans says that no one knows them well. The author also dealt with the question, “What American have become so mean?” where social trust is plummeting, charitable giving decreased considerably, and the words that define our age reek of menace: conspiracy, polarization, mass shootings, trauma, and safe spaces. Social observers are trying to explain the rise of hatred, anxiety, and despair. Can we say this of Catholics? We need to rely upon our relationship with Jesus. 

 

I have been in the proximity to conversations where each side wholeheartedly believes that they are right and the other is wrong, which means there is no place of discussion or dialogue. For a person who is closed to ideas, dialogue means compromise, and compromise means they will have to give in. Some people are simply unwilling to let their worldviews become better informed. It seems clear that logic, facts, and reasoning will not change another person’s mind. One must decide that one’s conscience needs to be more fully formed or better informed to accept data from outside one’s mind. There is a mantra I personally live by that goes like this: When you criticize or blame me, I say to myself, “You are partly right.” When you praise or affirm me, I say to myself, “You are partly right.” It helps me to retain balance and to grow in my ongoing development of life. 

 

The Gospel reminds us that how we do things is more important than what is done. As Christians, it is most important for us to retain the existing relationship with other believers. The Church’s crucially important value is unity. It is what we pray for at Mass. We must see that when we argue or when we agree, Jesus is present in those deliberations. We cannot be childish and believe that Jesus is only on my side, that because I believe something that Jesus agrees with me. Jesus is in the midst of conflict, and we see this often in the Gospels when he is mediating disputes and finding clever ways to honor God and the other person. It means we must get out of our own personal self-referential world. We may be at the center of our universe, but you are not at the center of anyone else’s universe, hence the necessity of learning to live and to adapt in community. What you bind and close down here on earth is what you bind and close down in heaven; What you set free here on earth is also set free in heaven. Jesus shows us the imperative to raise our hearts and minds to honor God’s rule. 

 

Jesus is guiding us through the Church’s Universal Synod, which teaches us how to dialogue with one another and therefore to solve our problems. It is a process that examines ideologies and positions that people hold and allows the person to be set free from those positions they hold tightly so they may be attentive to God’s plan. It allows for the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ that teaches us about God’s rule, to move freely, to build up the communion of the Church, and to increase participation. Jesus is in the middle of these deliberations, and he continues to teach us, not just historically, but today in our current reality. With that said, that ought to give us great comfort and consolation.

 

Scripture for Daily Mass

 

Monday: (Colossians 1) I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh. I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his Body, which is the Church, of which I am a minister in accordance with God's stewardship given to me to bring to completion for you the word of God.

 

Tuesday: (Colossians 2) See to it that no one captivate you with an empty, seductive philosophy according to the tradition of men, according to the elemental powers of the world and not according to Christ.

 

Wednesday: (Colossians 3) If you were raised with Christ, seek what is above,
where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Think of what is above, not of what is on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ your life appears, then you too will appear with him in glory.

 

Thursday: (Numbers 21) With their patience worn out by the journey, the people complained against God and Moses, "Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in this desert, where there is no food or water?

 

Friday (1 Timothy 1) I am grateful to him who has strengthened me, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he considered me trustworthy in appointing me to the ministry. I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and an arrogant man, but I have been mercifully treated because I acted out of ignorance in my unbelief.

 

Saturday (1 Timothy 1) Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Of these I am the foremost. But for that reason I was mercifully treated, so that in me, as the foremost, Christ Jesus might display all his patience as an example for those who would come to believe in him for everlasting life.

 

Gospel: 

Monday: (Luke 6) The scribes and the Pharisees watched him closely to see if he would cure on the sabbath so that they might discover a reason to accuse him. But he realized their intentions and said to the man with the withered hand, "Come up and stand before us."mAnd he rose and stood there.

 

Tuesday: (Luke 6) Jesus departed to the mountain to pray, and he spent the night in prayer to God. When day came, he called his disciples to himself, and from them he chose Twelve, whom he also named Apostles.

 

Wednesday (Luke 6) Blessed are you who are poor, for the Kingdom of God is yours. Blessed are you who are now hungry, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who are now weeping, for you will laugh.

 

Thursday (John 3) And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.

 

Friday (John 19) When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son." Then he said to the disciple,
"Behold, your mother." And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.

 

Saturday (Luke 6)  For every tree is known by its own fruit. For people do not pick figs from thornbushes, nor do they gather grapes from brambles. A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good.

 

Saints of the Week

 

September 10: Francis Garate, S.J. (1857-1929) was a Basque who entered the Jesuits and became a doorkeeper at the Univeristy of Deusto in Bilbao. He modeled his ministry after Alphonsus Rodriguez and became known for his innate goodness, humility, and prayerfulness. 

 

September 12: The Name of Mary was given to the child in the octave that follow her birth on September 8th. Mary (Miriam) was a popular name for a girl because it means "beloved." 

 

September 13: John Chrysostom, bishop and doctor (347-407) was a gifted homilist and was called "Golden Mouth" because his words inspired many. He was raised in Antioch and joined a community of austere hermits but the lifestyle damaged his health. He became the archbishop of Constantinople where he introduced many conservative and unpopular reforms. He fled to escape an uprising from the people and on the way to exile he died.

 

September 14: The Triumph of the Holy Cross remembers the finding of the true cross by the Emperor Constantine's mother, Helen in early 4th century. Two churches were dedicated in the name of the cross on this day in the 4th century. Therefore, the feast was applied to this day. In the 7th century, the feast was renamed, "The Triumph." The Church of the Holy Sepulcher in 335 was also dedicated on this day.

 

September 15: Our Lady of Sorrows was once called the Seven Sorrows of Mary as introduced by the Servite Friars. After suffering during his captivity in France, Pius VII renamed the devotion that encapsulates: Simeon's prophecy, the flight into Egypt, searching for Jesus at age 12 in the Temple, the road to Calvary, the crucifixion, the deposition, and the entombment.

 

September 16: Cornelius, pope and martyr (d. 253) and Cyprian, bishop and martyr (200-258) both suffered in the Decian persecutions. Cornelius was being attacked by Novatian, but since Novatian's teachings were condemned, he received the support of the powerful bishop, Cyprian. Cyprian was a brilliant priest and bishop of Carthage who wrote on the unity of the church, the role of bishops, and the sacraments. Cyprian died under Valerius after supporting his church in exile by letters of encouragement.

 

 

This Week in Jesuit History

 

• September 10, 1622. The martyrdom at Nagaski, Japan, of Charles Spinola and his companions. 
• September 11, 1681. At Antwerp, the death of Fr. Geoffry Henschen (Henschenius). A man of extraordinary learning, he was Fr. Jan von Bolland's assistant in compiling the Acts of the Saints. 
• September 12, 1744. Benedict XIV's second Bull, Omnium Sollicitudinum, forbade the Chinese Rites. Persecution followed in China. 
• September 13, 1773. Frederick II of Prussia informed the pope that the Jesuits would not be suppressed in Prussia and invited Jesuits to come. 
• September 14, 1596. The death of Cardinal Francis Toledo, the first of the Society to be raised to the purple. He died at age 63, a cardinal for three years.
• September 15, 1927. Thirty-seven Jesuits arrived in Hot Springs, North Carolina, to begin tertianship. The property was given to the Jesuits by the widow of the son of President Andrew Johnson. 
• September 16, 1883. The twenty-third General Congregation opened at Rome in the Palazzo Borromeo (via del Seminario). It elected Fr. Anthony Anderledy Vicar General with the right of succession.