Photo: Blue Glass Pumpkin

 

Poem: “We Thank You, Creator God,” Rev. Peter Lippiett

 We thank you, creator God,

for the goodly heritage you offer us,
from green downland
to the deep salt seas,
and for the abundant world
we share with your creation.
Keep us so mindful of its needs
and those of all with whom we share,
that open to your Spirit
we may discern and practice
all that makes for its wellbeing,
through Jesus Christ our Lord,

Photo: Boo

 

Spirituality: Gerhard Lohfink, Suicide is forgiven

It will come to light that many of those who have committed suicide were, in their despair, seeking nothing, but the meaning of their lives in the world, that many who worship their ancient inherited gods have, without knowing it, lifted their hands to the one God, And that many who deny God in reality, denied false gods, and sought the true God, but God was not shown to them.

Is This All There Is? page 151

A Superabundant Hospitality: Thirty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time 2025

                                                A Superabundant Hospitality:

Thirty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time 2025 

November 2, 2025

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Wisdom 3:1-9 Psalm 23; Romans 6:3-9; John 6:37-40

 

We see that God practices a superabundant hospitality. The Gospel and the first reading by Wisdom assure us of God’s comforting care for all who know God. God knows everyone who God creates and can never forget anyone. Our souls reside in the palm of God’s hands and we have personal protection from all that may harm us. Our faith in God gives us ultimate peace. This is a reason these passages are used in the Mass of the Resurrection when one has died. We trust in God and live on in hope. 

 

 We celebrate All Saints and All Souls Days contiguously because we believe in the communion of saints that extends from this temporal world into the future. In our faith, we believe that since we live in God’s world now, we will live in God’s presence after we die. We believe that death is a liminal reality, a space in which God’s world and ours touches during the moments we love each other and share each other’s pain. Death is but a doorway into another reality in which God’s love is constant and we realize that our earthly life is but a brief pilgrimage. 

 

 This final month of the Church year is one in which we reflect fondly and charitably upon and remember that good lives that have gone before us. We remember also those with whom we have had ambiguous relationships and the suffering associated with them. We do not always remember everyone fondly and we consider the unreconciled moments and the pain we have seen and the relationships that could not be mended. We trust in God’s greater will. Life is messy. Life is hard. Death brings about a finality to the chance for reconciliation and greater understanding. Not all saints were holy, pure, and ideal, and there are many people who would never be canonized as saints but were remarkably holy people. Humanity at times is a mess. Death reminds us of the messiness of human existence, which is the reason we appeal to the superabundance of God. 

 

This God has a personal relationship with each person, those who are flawed and those who are saints, and God works out everything in the end. We believe in God’s justice and that each person has the opportunity to see more clearly upon death. We hope and pray that those whose actions and words were hurtful and unreconciled have now come to support us with prayer from heaven. We believe God will take each person into God’s embrace and that this love will change hearts and minds. God’s justice will always bend towards mercy and forgiveness.

 

We recognize there is no limit to God’s forgiveness, and if we are open to the need to transform our lives, we will experience and understand that forgiveness. Somehow, God will work in our lives to bring us peace and integrity and prompting us to reconcile our broken relationships, even if the person has died. God wants us to be open to the possibilities of transformation because God will do all that is possible to make us whole. 

 

These feasts of All Saints and All Souls help us to dream again of God’s plan for our salvation. As we remain open to the mysterious world of God’s superabundance, we can see the many ways in which God calls us to be our best selves and to be centered with a contented joy. We can recline in trust that God will work out everything for our good because this is a God of unwavering mercy, this is a God of superabundant wisdom, this is a God who will not stop trying to enter deeply into our lives and love us in a way we have never been loved. This is a God who lives deeply within us and finds us lovable. This God will not ever be able to stop loving you or gazing upon you in wonder and admiration. God will always hold you in the palm of God’s hands – now, and forevermore. 

 

Scripture for Daily Mass

Monday: (Romans 11) The gifts and the call of God are irrevocable. Just as you once disobeyed God but have now received mercy because of their disobedience, so they have now disobeyed in order that, by virtue of the mercy shown to you, they too may now receive mercy.

 

Tuesday: (Romans 12) Let us exercise them: if prophecy, in proportion to the faith; if ministry, in ministering; if one is a teacher, in teaching; if one exhorts, in exhortation; if one contributes, in generosity; if one is over others, with diligence; if one does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

 

Wednesday: (Romans 13) Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. Love does no evil to the neighbor; hence, love is the fulfillment of the law.

 

Thursday: (Romans 14) None of us lives for oneself, and no one dies for oneself. For if we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord; so then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's.

 

Friday (Romans 15) But I have written to you rather boldly in some respects to remind you, because of the grace given me by God to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in performing the priestly service of the Gospel of God, so that the offering up of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

 

Saturday (Romans 16) Now to him who can strengthen you, according to my Gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret for long ages but now manifested through the prophetic writings and, according to the command of the eternal God, made known to all nations to bring about the obedience of faith, to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ be glory forever and ever.

 

Gospel: 

Monday: (Luke 14) When you hold a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or sisters or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors, in case they may invite you back and you have repayment.

 

Tuesday: (Luke 14) "Blessed is the one who will dine in the Kingdom of God." He replied to him, "A man gave a great dinner to which he invited many. When the time for the dinner came, he dispatched his servant to say to those invited, 'Come, everything is now ready.'

 

Wednesday (Luke 14) Which of you wishing to construct a tower does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if there is enough for its completion? Otherwise, after laying the foundation and finding himself unable to finish the work the onlookers should laugh at him and say, 'This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish.'

 

Thursday (Luke 15) The tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus,
but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them."

 

Friday (Luke 16) A rich man had a steward who was reported to him for squandering his property. He summoned him and said, ‘What is this I hear about you? Prepare a full account of your stewardship, because you can no longer be my steward.’

 

Saturday (Luke 16) Now to him who can strengthen you, according to my Gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret for long ages but now manifested through the prophetic writings and, according to the command of the eternal God, made known to all nations to bring about the obedience of faith, to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ be glory forever and ever.

 

Saints of the Week

 

November 2: All Souls Day is the commemoration of the faithful departed. November is known as All Souls Month. We remember those who died as we hasten towards the end of the liturgical year and the great feast of Christ the King. As a tradition, we have always remembered our dead as a way of keeping them alive to us and giving thanks to God for their lives. 

 

November 3: Rupert Mayer, S.J., priest (1876-1945), resisted the Nazi government and died while saying Mass of a stroke. In 1937, he was placed in protective custody and was eventually released when he agreed that he would no longer preach.

 

November 3: Martin de Porres, religious (1579-1639) was a Peruvian born of a Spanish knight and a Panamanian Indian woman. Because he was not pure blood, he lost many privileges in the ruling classes. He became a Dominican and served the community in many menial jobs. He was known for tending to the sick and poor and for maintaining a rigorous prayer life.

 

November 4: Charles Borromeo, bishop (1538-1584), was made Bishop of Milan at age 22. He was the nephew of Pope Pius IV. He was a leading Archbishop in the Catholic Reformation that followed the Council of Trent. During a plague epidemic, Borromeo visited the hardest hit areas so he could provide pastoral care to the sick.

 

November 5: All Saints and Blessed of the Society of Jesus are remembered by Jesuits on their particularized liturgical calendar. We remember not only the major saints on the calendar, but also those who are in the canonization process and hold the title of Blessed. We pray for all souls of deceased Jesuits in our province during the month by using our necrology (listing of the dead.)

 

This Week in Jesuit History

 

• November 2, 1661. The death of Daniel Seghers, a famous painter of insects and flowers. 
• November 3, 1614. Dutch pirates failed to capture the vessel in which the right arm of Francis Xavier was being brought to Rome. 
• November 4, 1768. On the feast of St Charles, patron of Charles III, King of Spain, the people of Madrid asked for the recall of the Jesuits who had been banished from Spain nineteen months earlier. Irritated by this demand, the king drove the Archbishop of Toledo and his Vicar General into exile as instigators of the movement. 
• November 5, 1660. The death of Alexander de Rhodes, one of the most effective Jesuit missionaries of all time. A native of France, he arrived in what is now Vietnam in 1625. 
• November 6, 1789. Fr. John Carroll of Maryland was appointed to be the first Bishop of Baltimore. 
• November 7, 1717. The death of Antonio Baldinucci, an itinerant preacher to the inhabitants of the Italian countryside near Rome. 
• November 8, 1769. In Spain, Charles III ordered all of the Society's goods to be sold and sent a peremptory demand to the newly elected Pope Clement XIV to have the Society suppressed. 

Una hospitalidad superabundante: Trigésimo Primer Domingo del Tiempo Ordinario 2025

                                              Una hospitalidad superabundante:

Trigésimo Primer Domingo del Tiempo Ordinario 2025

2 de noviembre de 2025

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Sabiduría 3:1-9 Salmo 23; Romanos 6:3-9; Juan 6:37-40

 

Vemos que Dios practica una hospitalidad sobreabundante. El Evangelio y la primera lectura de la Sabiduría nos aseguran el cuidado reconfortante de Dios para todos los que lo conocen. Dios conoce a cada uno de sus seres queridos y nunca olvida a nadie. Nuestras almas residen en la palma de sus manos y tenemos protección personal contra todo aquello que pueda dañarnos. Nuestra fe en Dios nos da la paz definitiva. Por eso, estos pasajes se usan en la Misa de Resurrección cuando alguien fallece. Confiamos en Dios y vivimos con esperanza.

 

Celebramos el Día de Todos los Santos y el Día de los Fieles Difuntos de forma contigua porque creemos en la comunión de los santos que se extiende desde este mundo temporal hacia el futuro. En nuestra fe, creemos que, dado que vivimos en el mundo de Dios ahora, viviremos en su presencia después de morir. Creemos que la muerte es una realidad liminal, un espacio en el que el mundo de Dios y el nuestro se tocan durante los momentos en que nos amamos y compartimos el dolor. La muerte es solo una puerta a otra realidad donde el amor de Dios es constante y comprendemos que nuestra vida terrenal es solo una breve peregrinación.

 

Este último mes del año eclesiástico nos permite reflexionar con cariño y caridad sobre las buenas vidas que nos precedieron y recordarlas. Recordamos también a quienes mantuvimos relaciones ambiguas y el sufrimiento que conllevaron. No siempre recordamos a todos con cariño, y reflexionamos sobre los momentos de no reconciliación, el dolor que hemos presenciado y las relaciones que no se pudieron recomponer. Confiamos en la voluntad superior de Dios. La vida es complicada. La vida es dura. La muerte trae consigo la irrevocabilidad de la oportunidad de reconciliación y una mayor comprensión. No todos los santos fueron santos, puros e ideales, y hay muchas personas que nunca serían canonizadas, pero que fueron personas extraordinariamente santas. La humanidad a veces es un caos. La muerte nos recuerda el caos de la existencia humana, razón por la cual apelamos a la sobreabundancia de Dios.

 

Este Dios tiene una relación personal con cada persona, tanto con los imperfectos como con los santos, y al final, Dios resuelve todo. Creemos en la justicia divina y en que cada persona tiene la oportunidad de ver con más claridad tras la muerte. Esperamos y oramos para que quienes actuaron y dijeron cosas dolorosas e irreconciliables hayan venido a apoyarnos con oraciones desde el cielo. Creemos que Dios acogerá a cada persona en su abrazo y que este amor transformará corazones y mentes. La justicia divina siempre se inclinará hacia la misericordia y el perdón.

 

Reconocemos que el perdón de Dios es ilimitado, y si estamos abiertos a la necesidad de transformar nuestras vidas, experimentaremos y comprenderemos ese perdón. De alguna manera, Dios obrará en nuestras vidas para traernos paz e integridad, impulsándonos a reconciliar nuestras relaciones rotas, incluso si la persona ha fallecido. Dios quiere que estemos abiertos a las posibilidades de transformación porque hará todo lo posible para sanarnos.

 

Estas fiestas de Todos los Santos y de los Fieles Difuntos nos ayudan a soñar de nuevo con el plan de Dios para nuestra salvación. Al permanecer abiertos al misterioso mundo de la sobreabundancia de Dios, podemos ver las múltiples maneras en que Él nos llama a ser la mejor versión de nosotros mismos y a estar centrados en una alegría plena. Podemos confiar plenamente en que Dios obrará todo para nuestro bien, porque este es un Dios de misericordia inquebrantable, este es un Dios de sabiduría sobreabundante, este es un Dios que no dejará de intentar penetrar profundamente en nuestras vidas y amarnos como nunca antes. Este es un Dios que vive profundamente en nosotros y nos encuentra dignos de ser amados. Este Dios nunca dejará de amarte ni de contemplarte con asombro y admiración. Dios siempre te sostendrá en la palma de su mano, ahora y para siempre.

 

Escritura para la misa diaria

Lunes: (Romanos 11) Los dones y el llamado de Dios son irrevocables. Así como ustedes una vez desobedecieron a Dios, pero ahora han recibido misericordia debido a su desobediencia, así también ellos han desobedecido para que, en virtud de la misericordia mostrada a ustedes, ellos también puedan recibir misericordia.

 

Martes: (Romanos 12) Ejercitémoslos: si el de profecía, en proporción a la fe; si el de ministerio, en ministrar; si uno es maestro, en enseñar; si uno exhorta, en exhortar; si uno contribuye, en generosidad; si uno está sobre otros, con diligencia; si uno hace obras de misericordia, con alegría.

 

Miércoles: (Romanos 13) No deban nada a nadie, excepto amarse unos a otros; porque quien ama al prójimo ha cumplido la ley. El amor no hace mal al prójimo; por lo tanto, el amor es el cumplimiento de la ley.

 

Jueves: (Romanos 14) Nadie vive para sí mismo, ni muere para sí mismo. Porque si vivimos, para el Señor vivimos, y si morimos, para el Señor morimos; así que, ya sea que vivamos o muramos, somos del Señor.

 

Viernes (Romanos 15) Pero os he escrito con cierta osadía, para recordaros en parte, por la gracia que me ha sido dada por Dios de ser ministro de Cristo Jesús a los gentiles, ejerciendo el sacerdocio del evangelio de Dios, para que la ofrenda de los gentiles sea agradable, santificada por el Espíritu Santo.

 

Sábado (Romanos 16) Ahora bien, a aquel que puede fortaleceros, conforme a mi evangelio y la predicación de Jesucristo, según la revelación del misterio mantenido en secreto durante siglos eternos , pero manifestado ahora por medio de las escrituras de los profetas, según el mandato del Dios eterno, dado a conocer a todas las gentes para promover la obediencia a la fe, al único y sabio Dios, sea gloria por medio de Jesucristo por los siglos de los siglos.

 

Evangelio:

Lunes: (Lucas 14) Cuando hagas comida o cena, no llames a tus amigos, ni a tus hermanos, ni a tus parientes, ni a tus vecinos ricos, no sea que ellos te vuelvan a invitar y tengas retribución.

 

Martes: (Lucas 14) «Bienaventurado el que cenará en el Reino de Dios». Él le respondió: «Un hombre dio una gran cena a la que invitó a muchos. Cuando llegó la hora de la cena, envió a su sirviente a decir a los invitados: «Vengan, ya está todo listo».

 

Miércoles (Lucas 14) ¿Quién de ustedes, queriendo construir una torre, no se sienta primero a calcular el costo, a ver si hay suficiente para terminarla? De lo contrario, después de poner los cimientos y al verse incapaz de terminar la obra, los presentes deberían burlarse de él y decir: «Este empezó a construir, pero no tuvo lo necesario para terminarla».

 

Jueves (Lucas 15) Los publicanos y los pecadores se acercaban para escuchar a Jesús, 
pero los fariseos y los escribas comenzaron a quejarse, diciendo: "Este hombre recibe a los pecadores y come con ellos".

 

Viernes (Lucas 16) Un hombre rico tenía un mayordomo, al que denunciaron por malgastar sus bienes. Lo mandó llamar y le dijo: «¿Qué es esto que oigo de ti? Haz cuentas completas de tu mayordomía, porque ya no puedes ser mi mayordomo».

 

Sábado (Lucas 16) Ahora bien, a aquel que puede fortaleceros, conforme a mi evangelio y la predicación de Jesucristo, según la revelación del misterio mantenido en secreto durante siglos eternos, pero manifestado ahora por medio de los escritos de los profetas y, según el mandato del Dios eterno, dado a conocer a todas las gentes para promover la obediencia a la fe, al único y sabio Dios, por Jesucristo, sea la gloria por los siglos de los siglos.

 

Santos de la semana

 

2 de noviembre: El Día de los Fieles Difuntos es la conmemoración de los fieles difuntos. Noviembre se conoce como el Mes de los Fieles Difuntos. Recordamos a los fallecidos al acercarnos al final del año litúrgico y a la gran fiesta de Cristo Rey. Como tradición, siempre hemos recordado a nuestros difuntos para mantenerlos vivos y dar gracias a Dios por sus vidas.

 

3 de noviembre : Rupert Mayer, SJ, sacerdote (1876-1945), se resistió al gobierno nazi y murió de un derrame cerebral mientras oficiaba misa. En 1937, fue puesto bajo custodia protectora y finalmente liberado cuando aceptó no predicar más.

 

3 de noviembre: Martín de Porres, religioso (1579-1639) , fue un peruano nacido de un caballero español y una indígena panameña. Al no ser de sangre pura, perdió muchos privilegios en las clases dominantes. Se hizo dominico y sirvió a la comunidad en numerosos trabajos domésticos. Era conocido por atender a los enfermos y pobres y por mantener una rigurosa vida de oración.

 

4 de noviembre: Carlos Borromeo, obispo (1538-1584), fue nombrado obispo de Milán a los 22 años. Era sobrino del papa Pío IV. Fue un arzobispo destacado en la Reforma católica posterior al Concilio de Trento. Durante una epidemia de peste, Borromeo visitó las zonas más afectadas para brindar atención pastoral a los enfermos.

 

5 de noviembre: Los jesuitas recuerdan a Todos los Santos y Beatos de la Compañía de Jesús en su calendario litúrgico. Recordamos no solo a los santos mayores del calendario, sino también a aquellos que están en proceso de canonización y ostentan el título de Beatos. Oramos por todas las almas de los jesuitas fallecidos en nuestra provincia durante este mes mediante nuestra necrología (lista de los difuntos).

 

Esta semana en la historia jesuita

 

• 2 de noviembre de 1661. Muere Daniel Seghers, famoso pintor de insectos y flores.
• 3 de noviembre de 1614. Los piratas holandeses no lograron capturar el barco en el que el brazo derecho de Francisco Javier era llevado a Roma.
• 4 de noviembre de 1768. En la festividad de San Carlos, patrón de Carlos III, rey de España, el pueblo de Madrid pidió la revocación de los jesuitas que habían sido desterrados de España diecinueve meses antes. Irritado por esta exigencia, el rey exilió al arzobispo de Toledo y a su vicario general, acusados de instigadores del movimiento.
• 5 de noviembre de 1660. Falleció Alexander de Rhodes, uno de los misioneros jesuitas más eficaces de todos los tiempos. Originario de Francia, llegó a lo que hoy es Vietnam en 1625.
• 6 de noviembre de 1789. El padre John Carroll de Maryland fue designado como el primer obispo de Baltimore.
• 7 de noviembre de 1717. Muere Antonio Baldinucci, predicador itinerante entre los habitantes de la campiña italiana cercana a Roma.
• noviembre de 1769. En España, Carlos III ordenó vender todos los bienes de la Compañía y envió una demanda perentoria al recién elegido Papa Clemente XIV para que suprimiera la Compañía.

Photo: Gray Pumpkin

 

Poem: “Wisdom to Care for the Earth,” The Cry of the Earth

 Lord, grant us the wisdom to care for the earth and till it. 
Help us to act now for the good of future generations and all your creatures.
Help us to become instruments of a new creation,
Founded on the covenant of your love.

Photo: Autumn Sunset

 

Spirituality: Gerhard Lohfink, Encountering the Living God

Encountering the living God and death means not only that sin and guilt come to light, but also innocence and resistance to evil, the behavior of those who were merciful and did not exercise violence, who hunger and thirst for righteousness, who preserved a pure heart, and were a peacemakers. Before God‘s face will stay in the whole mass of good that holds history and balance.

Is This All There Is? page 150

Poem: “The Garden is Rich,” Chinook Psalter

The garden is rich with diversity
With plants of a hundred families
In the space between the trees
With all the colours and fragrances.
Basil, mint and lavender,
Great Mystery keep my remembrance pure,
Raspberry, Apple, Rose,
Great Mystery fill my heart with love,
Dill, anise, tansy,
Holy winds blow in me.
Rhododendron, zinnia,
May my prayer be beautiful
May my remembrance O Great Mystery
Be as incense to thee
In the sacred grove of eternity
As I smell and remember

The ancient forests of earth. 

Poem: “An Amazing Day,” by E.E. Cummings

 I thank You God for most this amazing

day: for leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes.

Photo: The Bunker Hill Bridge

 

Spirituality: Wendell Berry in Orion Magazine, March/April 2003

The only sufficient answer is to give up the animosity and try forgiveness, to try to love our enemies and to talk to them and (if we pray) to pray for them. If we can't do any of that, then we must begin again by trying to imagine our enemies' children who, like our children, are in mortal danger because of enmity that they did not cause.

Photo: Fall Blossoms

 

Spiritualiy: Gerhard Lohfink, on the dead

According to biblical faith, the deceased or judged according not to a system, but by the living God. God alone is the source of justice, all righteousness, not as its symbol, not as its embodiment, not as something God possesses. God is righteousness. God is pure absolute righteousness, and it will nothing else, but that the world God created out of love will become a adjust world reflecting god‘s own self.

Is this all there is? page 149

Photo: A Chapel in the Woods

 

Spirituality: We fly in sacred community, from the Iona Community

The wild goose is a Celtic symbol of the Holy Spirit. Geese in a flock have greater range and fly faster than single geese as they benefit from the lift of their wings. When the lead goose gets tired, it rotates back into formation and another flies at the point position. We fly in sacred community, interdependent with one another.

Photo: A labyrinth

 

Spirituality: from "Prayer for Resentment" in Alcoholics Anonymous Big Book

If you have resentment you want to be free of, if you will pray for the person or thing that you resent, you will be free. If you will ask in prayer for everything you want for yourself to be given to them, you will be free.

Photo: All the leaves are brown

 

Photo: Christian Scientist Church

 

Poem: “The Beauty of Nature,” Walter Rauschenbusch

 O God, we thank you for this earth, our home;

For the wide sky and the blessed sun,
For the salt sea and the running water,
For the everlasting hills
And the never-resting winds,
For trees and the common grass underfoot.
We thank you for our senses
By which we hear the songs of birds,
And see the splendor of the summer fields,
And taste of the autumn fruits,
And rejoice in the feel of the snow,
And smell the breath of the spring.
Grant us a heart wide open to all this beauty;
And save our souls from being so blind
That we pass unseeing
When even the common thorn bush
Is aflame with your glory,
O God our creator,
Who lives and reigns forever and ever.

Spirituality: Cynthia Bourgeault from the "Ten Practical Guidelines for Conscious Aging"

Honestly accept the journey into physical diminishment as the new learning curve in your life and embrace it with curiosity and beginner's mind. Keep facing forward with a gently yielded heart; that is always the direction from which the new integration emerges.

Photo: The Milennial Building

 

Prayer: Nan Merrill from "Psalm 54"

Awaken me, O Mighty One,
in your holy mercy,
that I might be free of fear...

With boundless confidence,
I abandon myself to You...
For You deliver me from illusion,
and through Love,
my heart opens to Wisdom.

Photo: Sun setting on a Golf Course in Quincy

 

Poem: “An End to Waste,” Author Unknown

 Let us pray for an end to the

Waste and desecration of God's creation
For access to the fruits of creation
To be shared equally among all people
And for communities and nations to find sustenance
In the fruits of the earth and the water God has given us.

Almighty God, you created the world and gave it
Into our care so that, in obedience to you,
We might serve all people:
Inspire us to use the riches of creation with wisdom,
and to ensure that their blessings are shared by all;
That, trusting in your bounty, all people may be
Empowered to seek freedom from poverty, famine, and oppression.

How to Persist Charitably: Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time 2025

                                                     How to Persist Charitably:

Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time 2025 

October 19, 2025

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Exodus 17:8-13; Psalm 121; 2 Timothy 3:14-4:2; Luke 18:1-8

 

Today we see how Moses’ persistence rallied the troops around the Israelites against the Amalekites in a battle of nomads in the Egyptian desert. As long as his arms were stretched out and upward, the Hebrew troops fared well. His raised arms served as a symbol that God was indeed helping them. The persistence of Moses helped his army to persist. Jesus tells a story of the persistent woman petitioning an unjust judge, who relents and gives her the justice she seeks. The moral of the story is that we are to persevere in prayer knowing that we have a just judge who wants to give us all that we need and ask. Jesus reminds us that God will provide justice for those who are faithful.

 

The story is about persevering in prayer, and the same principles can apply to our daily lives, but as Christians, we are to persist in charity, and many times, we are at a loss to do so. We are not prepared for some of the statements that people make, and we have not practiced a charitable response to handle these awkward situations because we get caught at inopportune times. For instance, I was at a wedding recently, and one of the guests of honor approached me to lament how divisive society has become and he longed for the days of peace and civility and a time when people got along better. He wished for peace and charity, and concluded his remarks by saying, “This Pope is awful.” This is a type of situation in which most are caught off guard by someone imposing his viewpoint upon others. It is a type of bullying.  What does one do?

 

I related this story to a friend who said that the priest in his church concluded his service by saying, “Oh that we would have a Pope that would return to his homeland and free us from the grip of socialism and communism.” I asked the friend what he might do, and he asked, “Do you think I ought to invite him into a conversation?” I replied, “Yes, conversations are the catalyst for understanding, and it helps the other person know when he or she has crossed a boundary.” My friend composed an email requesting to sit down with the priest and ask about the appropriateness of his message in the context of a Mass.” 

 

          We persist in charity when we use “the question” as a friend. Asking questions blows open the discussion that most people want to keep closed. Asking questions means that I do not have to respond and that I deliberately shift the responsibility to the person to clarify and elaborate. Asking questions does not make me feel uncomfortable, while answering the question makes the person feel like he is on the hot seat. Asking questions shifts the burden of responsibility from my shoulders back to the person who originated the statement. Asking questions means that I do not allow you to get away with frivolous or unsubstantiated opinions. If you are going to engage with me, give me substance. Asking questions helps the person realize that just because someone has an opinion, there is a proper place and time to express it, and that it should be done when a person wants to hear it. I did not allow that man at the wedding to drop a bombshell statement without engaging him with a series of questions. He did not like being questioned, but since that he made his statement, he needed to defend it. He realized I did not accept his viewpoint at his word, but that I needed to understand his position. 

 

          As Christians, we seek to understand. We want to act in charity, and we are put into situations where people act poorly and transgress boundaries. It is our responsibility to say, “Stop. I do not permit that.” However, the tactic that works well is through our use of questioning. There is an art to questioning that uncovers, seeks to understand, respects, and honors, but through it all, it frees us to seek the just judgment. Persevere in your charitable, kind questions. They are your friends. 

 

Scripture for Daily Mass

Monday: (Romans 4) Abraham did not doubt God's promise in unbelief; rather, he was empowered by faith and gave glory to God and was fully convinced that what God had promised he was also able to do. That is why it was credited to him as righteousness.

 

Tuesday: (Romans 5) Through one man sin entered the world, and through sin, death,
and thus death came to all men, inasmuch as all sinned.

 

Wednesday: (Romans 6) For sin is not to have any power over you, since you are not under the law but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? Of course not!

 

Thursday: (Romans 6) I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your nature. For just as you presented the parts of your bodies as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness for lawlessness, so now present them as slaves to righteousness for sanctification.

 

Friday (Romans 7) I know that good does not dwell in me, that is, in my flesh. The willing is ready at hand, but doing the good is not. For I do not do the good I want,
but I do the evil I do not want.

 

Saturday (Romans 8) Now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has freed you from the law of sin and death. For what the law, weakened by the flesh, was powerless to do, this God has done.

 

Gospel: 

Monday: (Luke 12) "Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?" Then he said to the crowd, "Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one's life does not consist of possessions."

 

Tuesday: (Luke 12) Gird your loins and light your lamps and be like servants who await their master's return from a wedding, ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival.

 

Wednesday (Luke 12) Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour
when the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.

 

Thursday (Luke 12) I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing! There is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished!

 

Friday (Luke 12) When you see a cloud rising in the west you say immediately that it is going to rain–and so it does; and when you notice that the wind is blowing from the south you say that it is going to be hot–and so it is.

 

Saturday (Luke 13) Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were greater sinners than all other Galileans? By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!

 

Saints of the Week

 

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. 

 

October 23: John of Capistrano, priest, had a vision of Francis of Assisi when he was imprisoned during an Italian civil war at which time he was the governor of Perugia. He entered the Franciscan Friars Minor in 1415 after ending his marriage. He preached missions throughout Europe including a mission to Hungary to preach a crusade against the Turks. After the Christian victory at the Battle of Belgrade in 1456, John died. 

 

October 24: Anthony Claret, bishop (1807-1870) adopted his father's weaving career as a young man but continued to study Latin and printing. After entering seminary, he began preaching retreats and giving missions. He published and distributed religious literature and founded the Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. He was appointed archbishop of Cuba but was called back to Spain to be Queen Isabella II's confessor. He resumed publishing until the revolution of 1868 sent him into exile. 

 

This Week in Jesuit History

 

• 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. 
• October 21, 1568: Fr. Robert Parsons was elected Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford. He resigned his Fellowship in 1574. 
• October 22, 1870: In France, Garibaldi and his men drove the Jesuits from the Colleges of Dole and Mont Roland. 
• October 23, 1767: The Jesuits who had been kept prisoners in their college in Santiago, Chile, for almost two months were led forth to exile. In all 360 Jesuits of the Chile Province were shipped to Europe as exiles. 
• October 24, 1759: 133 members of the Society, banished from Portugal and put ashore at Civita Vecchia, were most kindly received by Clement XIII and by the religious communities, especially the Dominicans. 
• October 25, 1567. St Stanislaus Kostka arrived in Rome and was admitted into the Society by St Francis Borgia.