Faith and Wisdom:
The Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time 2024
October 13, 2024
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Wisdom 7:7-11; Psalm 90; Hebrews 4:12-13; Mark 10:17-30
The First Reading tells us that the one who has faith is given wisdom, and today, wisdom remains a precious, rare treasure. Its value brings delight because all good things come together under Wisdom’s gaze, and it is a divine virtue that surpasses all else. The Gospel introduces us to a man with a searching heart. He is seeking wisdom and righteousness and has created a comfortable life for himself. He answers in informed freedom, and Jesus applauds his obedience and his integration of divine teaching, and yet, there is room in his heart for growth. The true test of one’s faith is the wisdom to love the poor. Sadly, the man is not yet able to do that, and he walks away with a bruised but restless heart. This man remains a good man. His heart needs time and room to grow.
Faith, wisdom, and love. They are inseparable. Jesus tells us that the genuine believer is the one who bothers to love. As we can see love the way our faith requires. God’s love is boundless, and we are called to imitate the boundless unconditional love of God. Jesus points out that human love should resemble God, who is present in everything with love and as love. We can humbly and realistically claim that we are like this man who walks away. We are not God and loving as God does is beyond our grasp, and we cannot do it. We know our limits and capabilities, and we know that holding fast to commandments without love is hollow. It is inadequate. Yet, this faith is demanding. We are not just called to love; we are commanded to love, and once again, Jesus asserts that the love for God and love for one’s neighbor are inseparable. We are called to be like God from whose love no one is ever excluded. No one. Ever. Never. If you are like me, I have a lot of work to do. I should say that I have a lot more loving to put into my heart.
Faith is expressed not in the words we speak or the convictions we express. Faith is proven through actions. We are bombarded through social media with assertions from many people who make a statement about one’s identity. Posts about political worldviews reveal one’s ideology, not one’s faith, and people claim their own righteousness, and God alone is the judge of one’s righteousness. Christians will make statements that are contrary to Catholic social teaching, and we are left wondering if people know the faith of Jesus. These words are simply straw if their actions do not back up one’s claims. The God that Jesus told us about participates in everyone and everything in the cosmos. Love is God's essence, and love can only be expressed through one's actions.
The gift of faith is an immensely precious gift. The young man of the Gospel also pointed out the preciousness of the restless human heart. This restlessness is always seeking and longing to go further. We do not know the rest of the story of that man, with his restless heart, and yet we know that critical questioning, doubting, and crises of faith are valuable teachers in life. Embrace this restlessness for God often teaches us in our unconscious part of our being. It is there that ideas, inspirations, and dreams are born. Hold onto that restlessness as it seeks God’s wisdom. Fortify it with courage and allow for creativity to lead you to unexpected places where God invites you. Most likely, it will lead you to an ever-expanding heart, full of wisdom, full of boundless love, and you will not walk away, but stand by the side of Jesus.
Scripture for Daily Mass
Monday: (Galatians 4) It is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the freeborn woman. The son of the slave woman was born naturally, the son of the freeborn through a promise. Now this is an allegory.
Tuesday: (Galatians 5) For freedom Christ set us free; so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery. It is I, Paul, who am telling you that if you have yourselves circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you.
Wednesday: (Galatians 5) If you are guided by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are obvious. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
Thursday: (Ephesians 1) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him.
Friday (2 Timothy 4) At my first defense no one appeared on my behalf, but everyone deserted me. But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the proclamation might be completed and all the Gentiles might hear it.
Saturday (Ephesians 1) Hearing of your faith in the Lord Jesus and of your love for all the holy ones, I do not cease giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation resulting in knowledge of him.
Gospel:
Monday: (Luke 11) While still more people gathered in the crowd, Jesus said to them, “This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah. Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation.
Tuesday: (Luke 11) After Jesus had spoken, a Pharisee invited him to dine at his home. He entered and reclined at table to eat. The Pharisee was amazed to see that he did not observe the prescribed washing before the meal.
Wednesday (Luke 11) Woe to you Pharisees! You pay tithes of mint and of rue and of every garden herb, but you pay no attention to judgment and to love for God. These you should have done, without overlooking the others.
Thursday (Luke 11) Woe to you who build the memorials of the prophets whom your fathers killed. Consequently, you bear witness and give consent to the deeds of your ancestors, for they killed them and you do the building.
Friday (Luke 10) The Lord Jesus appointed seventy-two disciples whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit. He said to them, "The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few
Saturday (Luke 12) Everyone who acknowledges me before others the Son of Man will acknowledge before the angels of God. But whoever denies me before others will be denied before the angels of God.
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 Avila, 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.
This Week in Jesuit History
- October 13, 1537: At Venice the Papal Nuncio published his written verdict declaring that Ignatius Loyola was innocent of all charges which had been leveled against him by his detractors.
- 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.
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