2016/06/05 — 10th Sunday in Ordinary Time — Year C

Ordinary Time has returned. The 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time came just before Lent, and Eastertide followed Lent. Eastertide ended on Pentecost, May 15; and on May 16 we were in the 7th week of Ordinary Time. We determine which week it is by counting back from Advent: the 34th week is always the week preceding the 1st Sunday of Advent (which is the fourth Sunday before Christmas). Rarely, if at all, is there room for all 34 possible weeks of Ordinary Time before Lent and after Pentecost. This year, it was the sixth week that got crowded out.

But even though we've been in Ordinary Time since May 16, we didn't have the Masses of Ordinary Time on the 8th and 9th Sundays because we celebrated Trinity Sunday and Corpus Christi on those days. Now we're back to the wearing of the green vestments on Sundays.


Today's readings provide two accounts of the raising of widows' only sons and Paul's account of how he acquired knowledge of the gospel.

The first reading — 1 Kings 17:17-24 — tells of the prophet Elijah. There is a famine in Israel, and he has gone to the pagan territory of Sidon, where he is living in the home of a widow and her son. The preceding verses tell how her supply of four and oil are being miraculously kept from running out by the prophet, a miracle which prefigures the multiplication of loaves and fishes by the Lord. Now there is a second miracle in favor of the pagan woman. Elijah's prayer brings about the raising of her dead son. This miracle elicits a profession of faith from the woman.

This reading continues a theme from the readings assigned to the ninth Sunday in Ordinary time, namely the inclusion of Gentiles within God's embrace. In 1 Kings 8:41-43 Solomon prays at the dedication of the temple that the Lord hear the prayers who come to pray there, so that all peoples will know God's name. And in the gospel for that day, the Roman centurion professes his faith in Jesus. So bath last Sunday and this there is a message that God's love and saving action are not limited to Israel. Similarly, we should realize that God's love and saving action are not limited to the members of his Church.


The responsorial psalm — verses of Ps 30 with a refrain based on v. 2 — has us praise God for rescuing us, for changing our sorrow to joy (as he did for the widow of Zarephath and for the widow of Nain in today's gospel).


The second reading — Galatians 1:11-19 — contains what seems like an astounding claim: that Paul received the gospel, not from humans, such as the apostles, but by direct revelation. Clearly, he knew something of the beliefs of Christians when he was persecuting them, but the Jewish Christians did not clearly understand at that time that Gentiles could be saved by faith in Jesus without being circumcised or following all the prescriptions of the law. This point, which is the central theme of  this epistle, is what must have been directly revealed to him during his sojourn in Arabia. Subsequent verses make it clear that the apostles ratified his teaching as correct. God used Paul to reveal the implication for the Gentiles of Jesus' being the savior, yet, by going to Jerusalem and meeting with Peter (Cephas) Paul acknowledged the authority of the Church in matters of doctrine. Today the same holds true: theologians may have insights into the meaning of revelation, but the teaching authority of the Church judges the validity of those insights; similarly the Holy Spirit speaks to all of us, but if what we hear is contrary to what the Church teaches, it did not truly come from the Holy Spirit.


In the gospel — Luke 7:11-17 — we meet another widow whose son has died. Jesus restores him to life. Unlike Elijah, Jesus does not engage in fervent vocal prayer or perform an elaborate ritual. He just speaks a word of command. Unlike Elijah, he has the power of God within himself. As the widow of Zarepath recognized Elijah as a prophet, the people of Nain recognize Jess as a prophet, but they go beyond that to say the God has visited his people. Jesus is God-with-us.

These two raisings show God's power over life and death, but they are not the same thing as Jesus' resurrection and the one we are promised. The two sons in today's readings had their ordinary, mortal life restored. Jesus rose with a glorified body to an immortal life, and that is what he promises us at the end of time. Now, it is his Body and Blood which sustain the immortal life already invisibly in us.

2016/01/31 — 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time — Year C

Today we hear about the opposition that prophets encounter and we hear about love.

Our first reading — Jeremiah 1:4-5, 17-19 — tells of  the call of Jeremiah and of the Lord's promise not to give Jeremiah ease and comfort in his vocation but to enable him to fulfill it despite all opposition. God planned this role for Jeremiah while he was still in the womb: from conception. In verses which the reading passes over, Jeremiah tries to refuse the call, but God doesn't accept his excuse. Jeremiah will proclaim the Lord's word to a people who don't want to hear it, and he will be persecuted because of it, but he will be faithful to his call.

In the responsorial psalm — Ps 71:1-6, 15, 17 with a refrain based on v. 15 — we ask for protection such as God gave Jeremiah. Like him, we have our vocation from before our birth, and like him we proclaim God's deeds.

The gospel — Luke 4:21-30 — repeats the last line of last Sunday's pericope and tells of what happened after that. Jesus has said he has been anointed by God to proclaim a sort of jubilee year. The people like what he's saying, but find it hard to believe tat Joseph's son should be the one with that vocation. They want him to do what he has done in Capernaum. Luke hasn't provided any specifics (see 4:14-15), but it is safe to infer that he had performed healings such as marked his subsequent ministry. There seem to be two possible meanings of the request that he do what was done in Capernaum. Possibly they want these things for their own sake. Miracles are ore important to them than the good news Jesus proclaims. Alternatively, they could be like the scribes and Pharisees elsewhere in the gospels who want Jesus to perform signs to show that he is approved by God. Either way, they don't simply accept his message. The prophet is rejected, but, just as God promised Jeremiah, he is given enough protection to enable him to complete his work.

The familiar words we heard from First Corinthians in the second reading — 1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13 — invite us to think about love.

Most of us have heard this passage at weddings. But we should realize that it’s not just talking about the love of husband and wife. In fact, that is really incidental to what St. Paul is thinking about. Paul is thinking of love as the preventive of strife and divisions in the church of Corinth. The second readings of the past two weeks and today follow each other without a break in Paul’s letter. Two weeks ago we heard that there is a variety of ministries in the Church, but all come from the one Holy Spirit. Then last week Paul used the analogy of the body. Just as the body needs all its parts, and all parts need the rest of the body, so the Church needs its members and they all need one another, in all their varied ministries and roles. Today we are told that love matters more than any specific role or action, no matter how great the role or action may be. Love manifests itself in how we deal with the other members of the community. The love that is patient, kind, not jealous, pompous, inflated, rude, self-interested, quick-tempered, brooding over injuries, or rejoicing over wrongdoing, that rejoices with the truth, and bears, believes, hopes, and endures all things is the love that unifies the community. This is not passion, or being “in love.” This love is permanent, and it is needed not only in marriages and families, but also in parishes, dioceses, and the universal Church, and in the societies in which we live.

So we ask ourselves, "Are there ways in which we fall short of this patient and kind love for all? Do our dealings with others spring from love? Even when we need to try to correct them on some point, does  the correction express the love that motivates it?"

May the Holy Spirit, giver of all gifts, guide our words and actions to witness to God's word to his people, soften our hearts to make them more loving, and show us how to let love be the ground of all we do.

2015/07/12 — 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Here's a bit of background about Amos, who gives us today's first reading. King Solomon died in about 931 B.C. Then, in 928, the northern tribes of the kingdom broke away and formed the Kingdom of Israel, while the remaining tribes were the Kingdom of Judah. As today's reading indicates, Amos was from the Kingdom of Judah, but he was sent by God to preach in the Kingdom of Israel. He proclaimed that worship was useless without justice and concern for the poor. His career was around the year 750 B.C. He was the first prophet to write his prophecies in a book. (Elijah and Elisha were about a hundred years before Amos, but they did not write separate books: they are written about in the historical books.)

The first reading — Amos 7:12-15 — tells of the reaction of the priest of Bethel to Amos' message denouncing the wrongs of Israel. He accuses Amos of being a "professional prophet." There were groups of self-appointed prophets who made a living by telling people what they wanted to hear. Amos replies that he is nothing of the sort. He's not in it to make money. The Lord called him and sent him to Bethel.

Prophets often warn of impending punishment, but it is always conditional. God is calling people to repentance, to live as they should, to return to him. The warning of punishment if they do not heed the message is an incentive to do what is right.

This is one more instance of the call of a prophet, after the others we have heard in the past few weeks. It is not as detailed as those of Jeremiah, Isaiah, or John the Baptist, but it is very clear that being a prophet is not a matter of family business, or self-selection. God can choose anyone, from any condition of life.


The responsorial psalm — Ps 85:9-14 — invites us to reflect that God is calling us to the peace that will come when we heed his call to justice.


The gospel — Mark 6:7-13 — tells of the mission of the Twelve. They are to "travel light" and depend on the hospitality of those they go to. Concern for possessions and obtaining different housing would distract them from their mission. The Twelve are doing what Jesus has been doing — calling people to repentance, driving out demons, and healing the sick.

There is always the possibility of being rejected, of finding the message rejected. At some point the only response is to let go and move on. They can't force people to accept God's call, and they shouldn't waste time and effort when they could take their mission to others.


The second reading — Ephesians 1:3-14 — is the first of a series of five selection that will be proclaimed on this and the next four Sundays. We have been chosen by God from all eternity. The prophets and apostles are chosen to deliver God's message, and we all have some share in that mission. But that prophetic mission is instrumental. The basic purpose is to make people aware of their being chosen by God for life in him. Over and over, Paul says, "in Christ," and "in him." It is by means of our incorporation in Christ — through baptism — that we share in God's blessings of adoption, redemption, and forgiveness. Three times, Paul says that these are given so we can praise God's glory — our ultimate purpose. God gives these blessings because he sees us in Christ. When he looks at Christ, he sees us in him. This is God's eternal plan.


God's love is not general and impersonal. It is specific to each one of us, and if it calls all to holiness and salvation. it calls each of us in a specific way, in specific circumstances, in a specific life, to praise God's glory.

The first thing the gospel says about the sending of the Twelve is that Jesus gave them authority over unclean spirits. I don't think this means that we should all be performing formal exorcisms, but it might be good to remind ourselves that such spirits exist. Our temptations are not simply self-made. While we have our faults and weaknesses, we are not fighting just against ourselves when we strive to live as God calls us. This is why we need the "authority" of God's power and grace at work in us.

We have our calling to participate in the spreading of the kingdom of God, which we do above all by holy lives. While remaining faithful, we realize that it is not within our power to force others to accept the good news of salvation, but we shouldn't become discouraged. Above all, we should rejoice in our eternal call to redemption in Christ because of God's eternal love for us. This is, to borrow Pope Francis' phrase, the joy of the gospel.

2015/07/05 — 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time

This week it's about prophets.


First we hear the beginning of theLord's call of the prophet Ezekiel. Ezek 2:2-5. In the first chapter, Ezekiel, one of the exiles from Jerusalem in the Babylonian Captivity, has a vision of the Lord's glory. Now the Lord speaks to him in a way similar to the calls of Isaiah and Jeremiah which we heard on the solemnity of John the Baptist. Even in their exile, the Israelites are rebellious against the Lord, but he wants to call them back to him. Because they are likely to resist the word of God which the prophet will deliver, he must be firm and deliver the message regardless of their resistance, because it is the Lord's word, not his own, which he is proclaiming. The remainder of this chapter and the beginning of the next spell this out.

God knows that people will not always listen to him, but he does not give up trying to reach them/us.


The responsorial psalm — Ps 123:1-4 — invites us to have the mind of those who realize our need of God.


St. Paul fits the definition of prophet: one whom the Lord sends to deliver his message to the people. Our reading — 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 — tells toward the end of the "insults, hardships, persecutions, and constraints" which he had to endure. Like Ezekiel, he encountered people who did not want to hear the message he proclaimed, in this case the gospel of Jesus as savior. Beyond that external resistance, he also had "a thorn in the flesh" which impeded him. People have been guessing ever since he wrote this just what that thorn in the flesh was, but nobody knows. We know what we need to know: it somehow restrained Paul's impulse to think too highly of himself; that it weakened him in some way; and that God's power can work and achieve his purposes even through human weakness. Certainly we know that God used Paul to achieve a wonderful spread of the faith.


In this Sunday's gospel — Mark 6:1-6 — we hear of the hostile reception Jesus received in his home town. He is, as he says, a prophet, but when he proclaims God's word, the reaction is along the lines of, "Who does he think he is?" And where did he get his knowledge, his ability to teach? At the Jordan River, when John baptized him and the Spirit descended on him in the form of a dove and anointed him for his public mission.

As with Paul — even more so — God's power was made perfect in Jesus' weakness. It was when Jesus was at his weakest, on the cross and in the grave that he conquered sin and death for us, to rise triumphant over both.


Catholics believe that God's revelation to the world was completed with the completion of the Scriptures. So we no longer have prophets who are telling us something new about God and our relations with him. But every generation, every individual, has to hear God's message, and needs to apply that message to contemporary circumstances. Baptism gives us an anointing of the Holy Spirit to carry on the mission of Jeasus of proclaiming God's word in our own time. There is still a tendency for people to rebel, as the ancient Israelites did. But God wants to call them back.

Today's "prophets" are all who announce God's word, such as missionaries and catechists and preachers. Prophets may confirm for us what we have already heard and accepted. But unless we are perfect — which we aren't — God may also send people to correct us. In that case they will be giving us a message we don't want to hear. This does not mean that every unwelcome message comes from God. It means that we have to be willing to be corrected, and we need to pray for the grace to discern what correction comes from God, and what does not. Sometimes we will know in the depth of our heart that what we are hearing is true, but we will be tempted to make rationalizations to try to convince ourselves that we are right and the messenger is wrong. Docility, teachability, is necessary, along with a clear understanding of the faith so we won't be led astray.

Among those who are called by God to be "prophets" by announcing his word are all of us who are baptized. We must be faithful to God's word, like Ezekiel — not changing the message to gain greater acceptance. We mustn't let opposition or rejection deter us, any more than Paul or Jesus did. But we must remain humble, as they did. For most of us, preaching the word is not a full time occupation. But if we are at all aware, we will notice occasions when we can, in small ways or large, tell people something they need to hear — a word confessing our own faith, a word of encouragement, a word of gentle rebuke. The world always needs to hear again of God's love and how we can best live in that love and in love for the world. God calls us to bring that message, at the very least by our lives.