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Scripture:

Romans 16:3-9, 16, 22-27
Luke 16:9-15

Reflection:

At first glance, today’s gospel sounds rather disturbing.  “I tell you, make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth, so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings,” Jesus tells his disciples.  He had just shared a parable about a dishonest steward and his master.  It sounds as though Jesus is instructing his disciples to be as dishonest as that steward.  This, of course, is not the message.  What Jesus is saying is that we ought to use our spiritual wisdom with the same zeal and commitment as the steward used his dishonest business wisdom.

And while Jesus’ parable is ostensibly about money, it really is more about values.  It is quite possible to be wealthy and still enjoy God’s favor.  The question is not about how much money one has, but about how much one loves money and clings to it.  Jesus was challenging a popular belief of the times, that wealth was a sign of God’s blessing, and poverty a sign of God’s displeasure – the prosperity theology popular even to day among some Christians.  Perhaps, this is why the Pharisees “sneered” at Jesus.  The word “sneer” in the Greek is ekmykterizo, and it means literally to turn one’s nose up at someone.  The Pharisees’ turned up their noses at Jesus’ warning about serving God or serving one’s wealth and possessions.

Mammon will do no good in the kingdom.  This currency will have no value.  True wealth comes from faithfulness in serving God and others.  The disciples of Jesus – that includes us – are called to use our resources generously so that when it’s gone, we will be welcomed into the kingdom.  But what is the welcome Jesus is referring to?  Is it the welcome of the angels and saints?  The rabbis of old may have the answer with their saying: “The rich help the poor in this world, but the poor help the rich in the world to come.”  That would be joyful welcome indeed.

A final thought.  Some may believe this gospel isn’t for them, since they’re not wealthy.  True, most of us may not have great financial wealth.  But we all have another kind of wealth, a more valuable wealth, like love, forgiveness, and compassion.  This is the wealth all can share with the poor.  This is the true coin of God’s realm.  Now who can turn their nose up at that wealth?

Deacon Manuel Valencia is on the staff at Mater Dolorosa Passionist Retreat Center, Sierra Madre, California.

Scripture:

Romans 15:14-21
Luke 16:1-8

Reflection:

Today’s reading is hard because Jesus seems to be upholding being dishonest/unethical and protecting your own back as a prudent way of being. But I think the message goes deeper.

This steward didn’t care about the poor people who owed money and goods to his master…UNTIL… he saw things from the other side. He realized that he would soon be fired and therefore joining the ranks of those without money or resources. There is no substitute for truly encountering those in need and imagining oneself walking in their shoes for gaining motivation to help. In this case, yes, the steward was trying to pave his own path by having people feel grateful and indebted to him. But in the process, and through putting himself in their shoes, perhaps he realized the value of generosity, the reciprocity of compassion, and the fundamental truth that this is the way we should all be dealing with each other anyway.

Interestingly, the master wasn’t angry at him for depriving his business of payment, which may reflect the likelihood that those payments were inflated to the highest level possible, allowing the powerful master to take advantage of the powerless to line his own pockets. Perhaps, ironically, the master saw that a little easing of a debtor’s burden could be a way to increase his business even more, thereby generating good will and gratitude among customers who would spread the word about the benefits of working with him.

In other words, Jesus was pointing out that businesspeople who get in trouble or who act out of pure self-interest often act more kindly to people than so-called Christians act toward one another in the regular course of their day. In fact, our society today is rapidly turning viciously mean-spirited and judgmental, and the worst of the offenses are often led by people who claim they are Christians acting according to the Word of God. What an indictment! Christ is being crucified by his own followers.

There is a social experiment in which participants are asked to create laws for a society without knowing whether they will be at the top or the bottom of that society. The laws created were more just and equal than anything that currently exists. When we believe we honestly could be next in line to suffer whatever dignity or difficulty we see around us, it would change us profoundly.

For instance, what if every Christian of means lived for at least one week without the money, home, and privilege to which we are accustomed, to truly discover what it’s like for those without it to try to survive? What if non-minority Christians stood side-by-side with our minority brothers and sisters to insist on equal justice, equal opportunity, equal education, and equal wages? What if rather than trying to ban them from the country, Christians stood up for those of other faiths, learning from them, breaking bread together, and defending them from those who would do them harm simply because of their garments or beliefs? What if all Christians could truly listen to and have respectful dialogue with those who disagree politically so we could understand each other and find common ground instead of issuing death threats, refusing all compromise, cutting off connections, and proclaiming judgment on their souls?

Unlike the dishonest steward, we are called to compassion, empathy, and action, not because it enriches us financially, but because we are instruments of Christ in a hurting world. As St. Paul is fond of saying, we should out-do each other in generosity and love, rather than looking out for our own interests, building barriers that keep others away, judging as lazy or unworthy those of lesser means, and allowing fear and mistrust to define our interactions with those of a different skin color, culture, religion, or life.

Can we reverse the indictment? Can we stop putting our own interests first, and live as disciples of the Gospel? What lessons might we learn and what hard places in our hearts might be softened if we do whatever is necessary to share in the sufferings of others and experience the fact that all of us are children of the one God, intimately connected one to the other and deserving of utmost respect?

We need to stop operating by the rules of me-first business and instead operate as disciples of Jesus Christ. Our brothers and sisters cry out from one end of this nation to the other, from one end of the earth to the other. Can we hear? And can we act?

Amy Florian is a teacher and consultant working in Chicago.  For many years she has partnered with the Passionists.  Visit Amy’s website: http://www.corgenius.com/.

Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica

Scripture:

Ezekiel 47:1-2, 8-9, 12
1 Corinthians 3:9c-11, 16-17
John 2:13-22

Reflection:

The lectionary for today’s feast of the Dedication of St. John Lateran offers a wide selection of readings on the Church.

The story of Zacchaeus (Lk 19:1-10) is omitted this year, being replaced by the readings for the feast of the Presentation of Mary. Using it today links the Church to the mystery of the Kingdom of God. In contrast to the wealthy ruler who kept the commandments but grows sorrowful at Jesus’ invitation to leave his possessions and follow him, Zacchaeus, also a wealthy and powerful man, is a ‘sinner’. Joyfully he comes down the tree. His declaration that he is just and uses his money in a proper way is responded to by Jesus who calls him ‘a child of Abraham’. He opens the door for Jesus to enter his house; the door to the Kingdom has opened wide for him.

We may see the facet of Church, the house of the people of God, where we gather to meet Our Lord, and where our gracious host affirms us in generosity and love. We may catch glimpses of Our Lord in our daily game of hide and seek, but he we celebrate the Word and share the Eucharist , and like Zacchaeus, have a personal encounter.

The responsorial  Psalm 122 says ‘we go up to the house of the Lord’. Zacchaeus ‘comes down’. The humble are once again exalted.

We may ooh and ah at the beauty of a church building, perhaps our cathedral or the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington. Today we remember that our most humble church building finds meaning in its connection with St. John Lateran. As the cathedral of Rome, it is our Mother Church, we can feel at home there even from a distance, even if we have never seen it. John Chrysostom describes us in our new creation as the community of the baptized by comparing us to a church. Before baptism we are like a building with doors hanging off their hinges, neglected, run down, a place danger and chaos. After baptism we are beautiful, a place of welcome and gracious hospitality. We gather as Church, we are connected. In the reading of

1 Corinthians (3:9-13,16-17) Paul says that our foundation is Jesus, nothing other. Each of us builds upon that foundation. “The temple of God is holy, and you are that temple.” We bring our gifts; we make it beautiful and welcoming.

In the Church the table of bounteous blessing groans under the weight of what God sets before us. Here God listens to our prayer. We can be in speechless wonder (Isaiah 56:1,6-7). When the temple was blessed everyone fled as the cloud of God filled it. Isaiah sums up well our celebration, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all people’…Here I will set the soles of my feet’, says God. Or as Annie Dillard suggests, we ought to wear crash helmets and fastener seat belts when we gather to praise God. We do not know the surprise of Our Lord’s coming among us.

Fr. William Murphy, CP is the pastor of Immaculate Conception parish in Jamaica, New York.

Scripture:

Romans 13:8-10
Luke 14:25-33

Reflection:

To live in our Generalate House in Rome – the Monastery of Saints John and Paul (in Italian Ss. Giovanni e Paolo) – is literally to ‘live amidst history’!

Part of this history is the bell tower of the Basilica church next to our Monastery. This tower was built in the 12th Century upon the foundation stones of a 1st Century Temple (but that is another story!). The builder of our 12th century tower was a construction company that originated in either north Africa or Spain (which at the time was under the Moors). This ‘company’  came to Rome with a plan for towers and with the labour force and expertise to build them. They were commissioned by many people to build their towers all across Rome and Sts. John and Paul’s was one such customer.

But being a company with workers from countries under Islamic rule, and in order to keep good relations their Muslim workers, the supervisors would allow the workers to decorate parts of the tower with ceramic plates bearing Islamic designs and inscriptions dedicated to Allah. Thus our bell tower – although dedicated to a Christian site and bearing symbols of the cross – is in fact also partly decorated in an Islamic fashion. An early version of inter-faith collaboration, and certainly a sign of a more tolerant time perhaps! (Today the original Islamic plates have been replaced by replicas and the originals have been moved to a museum for safe preservation).

This simple account of the story behind our ‘tower’ might serve as an illustration for our gospel text today. For certainly construction in the time of Jesus, no less than the centuries to follow, was quite a specialised skill. Building skills were often limited to a select few and passed from generation to generation within the one family. One did not attempt major building projects without having the necessary finances, access to the appropriate stone resources and most importantly having the right workforce to build successfully.

Perhaps there had been spectacular failures to successfully construct small towers that dotted the landscape of Jesus’ world. These semi-completed or collapsed towers would form a clear backdrop, a glaring ‘visual’ prop for the lesson that Jesus was trying to teach.

And what is that lesson for us today?

Clearly this Gospel text refutes any suggestion that we can be satisfied to only follow Jesus in a superficial manner. Rather the words and illustrations that Jesus uses are a challenge, a call to embrace our discipleship wholeheartedly and to commit ourselves to the ‘journey’ of discipleship. It is a reminder that there will be difficulties along the way, but it also assures us that with awareness, with planning and preparation we can persevere and be successful.

Like the many crosses dotted in our tower, the Cross itself is the great symbol of Christian life – it is the sign of a salvation that has been won for us all. But the cross is also a symbol and powerful reminder that the way forward towards this inheritance, this free gift of God, is not without its costs and challenges.

Towers are built brick by brick, according to a clear vision and with commitment, daily labour and determination. Christian discipleship likewise is achieved by women and men taking up their crosses each day and following in the way of Jesus – step by step.

Fr. Denis Travers, C.P., is a member of Holy Spirit Province, Australia.  He currently serves on the General Council and is stationed in Rome.

Scripture:

Romans 12:5-16b
Luke 14:15-24

Reflection:

Our youngest sister, Dee developed normally until the age of two, when my parents recognized that rather than continuing to grow, Dee seemed to be regressing. Following many visits, to the medical community and eventually a trip to Illinois Research, the doctors told my parents that Dee was “profoundly mentally retarded”. We probably have a “nicer” term for that today, but those were the words my parents and eventually all six of her siblings heard and ultimately learned to live with.

Dee needed twenty-four hours–a-day, seven days a week care and as you might expect, became the center of attention in our home. As a seven year old at Dee’s birth and throughout her life up to her early death at twenty-two, I questioned God why Dee was born.

Fr. John Morton, C.Ss.R. gave the homily at Dee’s funeral Mass. I don’t remember the readings, but I’ll never forget Fr. John looking directly at all of us gathered in the front row of the church and saying something to the effect: “One day God looked down from heaven at Marion, Joe, Terry, Maryanne, Rog, Dan, Dave and Tim, the O’Donnell family, and said they are such loving persons—I going to send them someone they can shower all that love on, I’ll send Dee.”

After twenty-two years, I got it! Dee was a gift from God. I thought she was a burden. Dee was my teacher. She taught me what it means to love. Dee taught me in the words of Winston Churchill, “You make a living by what you earn; you make a life by what you give.” I suspect maybe that’s what St. Paul is trying to tell us in the first reading for today when he says: “…do not be haughty but associate with the lowly.” (Rom 12:16)

Dan O’Donnell is a Passionist Partner and a longtime friend of the Passionists.  He lives in Chicago. 

Scripture:

Romans 11:29-36
Luke 14:12-14

Reflection:

“When you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

In today’s Gospel, Jesus talks about how to create a guest list and He teaches us that giving has a certain quality to it.  The way we give and the spirit in which we give is what is important.  True giving must have “no strings” attached…..no expectations of getting anything in return.

Years ago, when I began to discern my invitation from God to become a deacon, I wanted to be of service to God’s people most in need.  The first time I went to help serve a meal at our local homeless meal site, I was told that the first, and most important thing I needed to do, was to sit down and have dinner with the members of our homeless community that were present that night. And later I would be given the opportunity to serve.

As I became willing to share a meal and spend time with my brothers and sisters,to get to know their stories, and allow them to get to know me, to really enter into each other’s lives, something profound happened to me.  I was able to put a “face” to a “condition.” And as a result, my perspective changed.  “Homeless” was no longer a concept, but a person–Jesus with skin! “Whatever you do for these, the least of our brothers and sisters, you do for Me.” (Matt. 25)  How blessed I was that day. The same experience has been true in my prison ministry. I discovered Jesus behind the walls.

How can we invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind into our daily lives?

IN OUR OWN LIFE:  Am I willing to invite someone to dinner who is alone and has no family?  Am I willing to reach out to a neighbor who is crippled by fear, anxiety?  Am I willing to visit someone who is poor in spirit at a nursing home?

AT OUR EUCHARISTIC CELEBRATION:  Do we welcome “the crippled, the lame” to our churches by being wheel-chair accessible?  Do we provide sign language interpreters for the deaf?  Large print material for the visually impaired?

True acts of love are not done so that you can benefit from them. They are done because the benefit is in being able to do them.  Yes, you are repaid and rewarded for doing good for those who can’t repay us because in doing so you “will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” 

However, as you do those acts of love and kindness, you will be rewarded in the here and now as well in ways that you will not understand until you look into the eyes of those you are blessing.

Deacon Brian Clements was formerly on the staff of Mater Dolorosa Retreat Center in Sierra Madre, California.

Scripture:

Malachi 1:14b-2:2b, 8-10
1 Thessalonians 2:7b-9, 13
Matthew 23:1-12

Reflection:

The scribes and the Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses. Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example.  Matthew 23:2-3

The gospel for today is interesting for a number of reasons. First, it is directed to both his disciples and the crowds. This was a message Jesus intended for all to hear, not just the masses or His closest followers. Additionally, this sermon was not explained in private to his disciples, so we can take it at face value. There is no subtext we need to look for. This leads to the another interesting point: we are told to, “observe all things whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example.” The Greek word translated as ‘“observe” is tēreō, or to attend carefully. Note this does not say blindly follow. Jesus is instructing the crowds and His disciples to attend carefully to what their leaders say. He then goes on to give all of the reasons we should not follow their example.

So how does this apply to us in 2017? There is no lack of Pharisees (i.e. people more than willing to tell everyone how we should live and behave) in our world today. And, as in the time of Jesus, “their works are performed to be seen,” and “they love places of honor…”  But often they speak wise words. Jesus exhorts us to attend to their words, but discern their actions. There is wisdom to be found all around us. But we must pay careful attention to the full message. Love of one’s country is admirable, but not to the exclusion of the refugee. We should have care for the sensitivity of others, but not to the total exclusion of opposing voices.

My prayer for myself today is that I listen with an open heart to all that is presented to me, while at the same time discerning with the help of the Holy Spirit the actions I am being called to take.

Talib Huff is a volunteer and presenter at Christ the King Retreat Center in Citrus Heights, California.

Scripture:

Romans 11:1-2,11-12,25-29
Luke 14:1,7-11

Reflection:

Today’s Gospel selection sparks our deeper reflection as we enter upon the 2017 Holiday season:  on a Sabbath, Jesus goes to dine with others at the home of one of the leading Pharisees.  A special day…a Special Guest…an invitation to dinner and table fellowship…and a teachable moment!  Jesus is very aware of his host, his fellow guests and their actions at table…and rises to the occasion of this “teachable moment” with a parable.  “When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not recline at table in the place of honor…” Jesus promoting the virtue of humility.  (Today’s Gospel selection will continue with Jesus speaking with his host, encouraging him to reach out and invite to dinner the poor and needy…the least, the last, the lost.)

The virtue of humility invites us to be very aware of our giftedness and our limitations.  The word “humility” is derived from the word “humus” or earth…created matter that sustains life and growth.  Humble people are not wishy-washy or “doormats”, but rather those who know and accept both their God-given gifts and their human limitations.  Perfect examples of humility are Jesus and Mary, followed by the many saintly people whose lives we celebrated in the recent Feast of All Saints.  Humility is a key virtue for Christians of all ages and walks of life.

The month of November helps us celebrate God’s Life shared with us and our world.  The virtue of humility…that grateful acknowledgement of our God-given giftedness…helps us celebrate the lives of the Saints (both officially recognized and those still “under construction”), the giftedness of our life and country which is acknowledged on Thanksgiving Day, and the giftedness which is ours in the Person of Jesus who birth and presence we celebrate on Christmas.  Blessings in abundance!

Jesus challenges us to go deeper in our humility:  to be women and men of grateful prayer, to be of respectful service to our sisters and brothers as we try to meet their basic needs and encourage them, to respect our earth as God’s gift, to see all of us as members of God’s family…in effect, to proclaim God’s Love for all creation!

As these days we dine with our families and friends, as we celebrate the holidays, as we regularly share at the Table of the Lord in celebrating the Eucharist:  may we humbly witness and celebrate God’s Life and Love present in us and our world.  God is good!

Fr. John Schork, C.P. is a member of the Passionist community in Chicago, Illinois.