The Lover of All Souls

November 3, 2019 • Thirty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time
First Reading: Wisdom 11:22–12:2
Psalm: Psalm 145:1–2, 8–9, 10–11, 13, 14 (cf. 1)
Second Reading: 2 Thessalonians 1:11–2:2
Gospel Acclamation: John 3:16
Gospel: Luke 19:1–10

God, the Creator of all that is, loves us all passionately. He is for us even while we are yet sinners. He wants us to turn around, come back home and trust in His love, mercy and forgiveness. That theme is repeated over and over and over again in the Old and New Testaments. But it is hard to get the message through our thick heads and our fearful and perhaps calloused hearts.

First Reading

The first reading is from the Book of Wisdom, one of the books many of the Reformers threw out in adopting the Hebrew canon rather than accepting the Septuagint (Greek) version of the Old Testament accepted by the Church for the first 1500 years. These books are rich, and I marveled at today’s reading.

The first thing we see in the passage is that the whole universe is as a kernel of grain left on a scale or a drop of morning dew on a blade of grass. That is how great and powerful our Creator, the Lord, is! When I pray the Rosary, the second prayer is the Apostles Creed, which starts out with, “I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.” That’s the God I believe in! Kind of puts things in perspective, doesn’t it? And that is what we need as we head into our days. But this passage in Wisdom gives an even greater perspective on God by comparing the smallness of His creation to Himself. Wow!

The next verse says that His greatness, His omnipotence, omniscience and omnipresence, are the basis of His mercy on all, and when God overlooks the sins in our lives, it is because He is merciful and is working with us towards our repentance, like a loving parent with a rebellious child. His goal is our repentance, reconciliation, restoration and salvation.

Next, we see that God created everything out of love, for God is love. God’s love was the motivation for creation and is the sustaining power behind it. He is merciful and sparing to His creation, because it is His, and He is a lover of souls, and the Holy Spirit moves in and around us as we saw Him hovering over creation in the beginning.

And so the author concludes that because all these things are true about God, that is why He patiently works with us, rebuking us little by little, warning us and reminding us of the things we have done that we shouldn’t have and the things that we haven’t done that we should have, hoping that we will see our need for Him and turn to our Papa and trust Him for our much needed forgiveness, reconciliation, healing and restoration.

Responsorial Psalm

The Psalm is a song of praise, praising God for His qualities, that were revealed in the first reading. Our response should be, “I will praise your name forever, my king and my God!” See the reasons for our praise and thanksgiving listed in verses 8, 9, 13b and 14 below.

The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness.
The LORD is good to all and compassionate toward all his works.
The LORD is faithful in all his words and holy in all his works.
The LORD lifts up all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down.

Second Reading

The Second Reading has to do with our response to God, incorporating what we have learned about our God in the First Reading and the Psalm.

First, we need to pray for each other, according to this knowledge, as Saint Paul and his companions in ministry were praying for the believers that they were ministering to.

Paul shares his prayer with us. Here are the requests.

1. That God would make us worthy of His calling and He would powerfully bring that calling to fulfillment. That is God’s part, not ours. It reminds me of the phrase in the prayer, Hail Holy Queen: “Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.”
2. How does God do this? He uses every good purpose (will, direction) and every effort of faith (action based on trust) that we offer Him; this is our part. God is there to do the heavy lifting, as we move in faith and obedience in response to His calling. He rejoices over our every triumph of grace, when we choose Him and follow Jesus.
3. The result will be that the name of Jesus will be glorified in us and we will be glorified together with Him (instead of trying to glorify ourselves) in this working out of our God’s and our Lord Jesus Christ’s grace.

Second, we need to keep our focus on working with Jesus through the present, while looking forward to our Lord’s coming. So, what’s the problem here? Throughout the history of the Church, starting with the pages of the Book of 2 Thessalonians, there has been a tendency on the part of God’s people to stop working when they think the Lord is coming back tomorrow. We quit our jobs, sell our belongings and party in some field or on some hilltop. We become a disorderly mob. That’s why Paul penned this letter as a corrective.

Gospel Acclamation

The Alleluia Verse is John 3:16, which points to Jesus as proof that God is the lover of all souls.

Gospel

We see Jesus, God made Man, living out the truth of today’s readings in the story of His encounter with Zacchaeus, a hated chief tax collector. Zacchaeus was an outcast from the Jewish people because of his self-benefiting collaboration with the Roman authorities in collecting their taxes for them from his own people. But Jesus joyfully greets him up in the tree and invites himself to the house of Zacchaeus, where the man has a change of heart and future. God is a lover of all souls.

Christianity is a state of heart and mind in harmony with our Creator, living out our calling in the midst of a broken world which He desires to restore through His Son, Jesus Christ, who loves us and gives Himself for us forever.

Reflections on the readings for Sunday 09/22/19

September 22, 2019 • 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time
First Reading: Amos 8:4–7
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 113:1–2, 4–6, 7–8 (cf. 1a, 7b)
Second Reading: 1 Timothy 2:1–8
Gospel Acclamation: cf. 2 Corinthians 8:9
Gospel: Luke 16:1–13

When I read the first reading from the Book of the Prophet Amos, I thought to myself, “Wow, this sounds like what I see going on in America!” The readings for this Sunday are about God’s concerns for the plight of the poor, needy and powerless, and for the souls and destiny — temporal and eternal — of those with wealth, power and privilege. Why is God so concerned about the first group, the poor, needy and powerless? Because often the second group takes advantage of of them, because the rich and powerful can shape the government, economy, society and culture to their own benefit, at the expense of the poor. He warns the second group to change their ways, because their souls and destinies depend on it.

First Reading

And that is what is going on in this first reading. Amos, a prophet who is a shepherd by trade (and thus one of the first group) in the Southern Kingdom of Judah, has been called by God to warn the Northern Kingdom of Israel of their impending disaster because of their sins.

This Sunday’s passage focuses on all-consuming greed that takes advantage of those seeking one of the necessities of life: food. In America, it is happening with all kinds of necessities, like medical care, housing, energy, etc.

In the reading, the rich grain merchants are so greedy that they chafe at the restrictions placed upon their economic activities by their religion. Money has first place in their lives over God and human beings.

When I was a kid growing up in a small town in New Jersey, we had what were known as the “Blue Laws,” which required all businesses, with a few exceptions for travel related ones, to be closed on Sunday, so that people would hopefully spend the day attending worship services and engaging in restorative activities. Now many businesses are open 24/7/365. Workers are working in shifts around the clock.

Another thing these merchants were doing was rigging the system to maximize profits while giving their customers less for their money. They were diminishing the ephah, the dry unit for measuring grains, so that people were receiving less for the same amount of money. Have you noticed how they have been doing that in the grocery industry in recent years?

The lowly and the poor of Israel had been reduced from real people to commodities to support the rich and powerful. They must have their Gucci sandals and precious metals!

These rich farmers were supposed to leave the gleanings, left over wheat products in the fields and on the threshing floors, so that the poor and needy could pick through them and find missed grains of wheat. Not these guys, they made sure nothing was left behind.

The Northern Kingdom did not repent, and after many warnings, they were conquered by the Assyrians and carried off into captivity, never to return. They became the “Lost Tribes” of Israel.

It would be easy to conclude that, if we are not rich, we’re off the hook. But God and the Catholic Church are concerned with all societal, commercial, governmental and cultural structures that have injustice and oppression built in, of which we can be enablers by our indifference, apathy and participation. We need to examine our lives to see whether we are seeking to alleviate and minimize injustice and oppression as much as it is within our power with God’s help to do so.

Responsorial Psalm

The Psalm reflects on God’s concern for the poor and lowly and praises Him for it. God wants equity and justice, and He will accomplish it, if not in this life then in the next. He will raise and lift the lowly and the poor and seat them with princes at the banquet table. Lifting the poor from the dunghills recalls the multitudes of the poor around the world living in garbage dumps. There are Christian organizations and charities seeking to improve the lives of these people, but they are too few to meet the staggering need.

Second Reading

Here we see God’s concern for all. There is no partiality with God. He desires us to pray for all people, for our leaders, for a peaceful and orderly society and for the salvation of all. God makes it clear that He desires all to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. The Old Testament also echoes this desire of God. “Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, says the Lord God, and not rather that they should turn from their ways and live?” (Ezekiel 18:23). “Say to them, As I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from their ways and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways; for why will you die, O house of Israel?” (Ezekiel 33:11)

The prayers of the Church reflect this emphasis through the prayers of the Mass, in the Our Father (forgive us our trespasses), the Hail Mary (pray for us sinners) and the Fatima prayer (Lead all souls to heaven…).

Gospel Acclamation

“Though our Lord Jesus Christ was rich, he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9). Jesus, as always, is our example of what He is asking us to do.

Gospel

A lot of people are troubled by the story of the unfaithful steward and don’t know what to do with it. Jesus seems to condone the steward’s unauthorized discounting of the debts owed his master, in order to give him a place to live after he gets fired and evicted by his master for cause. But even the steward’s master is impressed by the steward’s regard for his future, and his resourcefulness in securing it.

Jesus wants us to have a similar regard for our eternal destiny in how we handle the world’s money and goods under our control. His concern for us is similar to God’s concern for Israel in the first reading. He wants us to make it to the Father’s house, where He is preparing a place for us. Sooner or later, we must leave this world. Have we given as serious consideration to our eternal destiny and preparing for it as the unfaithful steward gave to his temporal one?

Are we storing up judgment and risking eternal separation from God, or are we securing our place in heaven by how we use mammon in the service of our King, by using it to alleviate poverty and injustice? Are we mastering mammon in obedient service to our King and his Kingdom values, or is it mastering us?

Some will be troubled by Jesus using the adjective “unrighteous” with the noun, mammon or riches. But love of money is a root of all kinds of evil (1 Timothy 6:10) and a great temptation that ensnares and causes the fall of many, both rich and poor alike. Much of the money circulating around has been gotten through unscrupulous means, even if “legal.”

Why can’t we serve both God and Mammon? Because they lead in different directions. It is like a person standing with one foot on an unsecured boat and the other foot on a fixed dock.

We need to examine ourselves and pray with David, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23–24).

The Jesus Prayer

The Jesus Prayer - Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.

This prayer sustained me during a time of intense spiritual warfare when I couldn’t focus on anything like reading the Bible or coming up with my own words to pray. I felt utterly worthless. I was exceedingly anxious. Satan was making his accusations. This prayer was all I could hang on to. It was a ray of light and hope in a dark place. For it reminded me of the prayer of the publican which it is in part. Jesus said that that man went home justified. It also reminded me that Jesus came into the world to save sinners and to seek out those who were lost. So the prayer was addressed to Him who was and is my hope. This period lasted a couple of months. And I prayed the prayer continuously, over and over. And Jesus brought me through.

Then recently, I had a panic attack with lots of physiological sensations. I knew what it was but the only prayer I was capable of praying was the Jesus Prayer. I prayed it quietly over and over until I was stabilized. It enabled me to hold onto His hand in the midst of the crisis, the runaway feelings.

I thought I would share in case anyone is in a similar situation.

Easter Sunday - April 21, 2019

April 21, 2019 • Easter Sunday
First Reading: Acts 10:34a, 37–43
Psalm: Psalm 118:1–2, 16–17, 22–23 (24)
Second Reading: Colossians 3:1-4
Gospel Acclamation: cf. 1 Corinthians 5:7b-8a
Christ, our paschal lamb, has been sacrificed;
let us then feast with joy in the Lord.
Gospel: John 20:1-9

I loved Easter Sunday as a kid growing up in a small town Presbyterian church sitting up on a hill surrounded by a cemetery. We had a pipe organ and choir, and we would sing “Christ the Lord is Risen Today.” Everyone was excited and celebrating, with an air of expectation. I envisioned the graves surrounding the church miraculously opening up and the resurrected occupants in their newly glorified bodies joining our hymn of praise and soaring now where Christ has led, following our exalted head. “O death, where is thy sting?! O grave, where is thy victory?!”

Death and grave have been defeated and conquered! They have been swallowed up by Life, Eternal Life through the resurrection of our Lord, Savior and Friend, Jesus Christ! Not surprisingly, this victory is the topic of the readings for Easter Sunday.

The First Reading records the message that the Apostle Peter brought to Cornelius, the devout God-fearing Roman centurion, and the people gathered at his house, a mostly Gentile gathering. Peter had come at their request to give them the Gospel, and God had to give Peter a miraculous vision to convince him it was okay to go with them.

Peter begins with a very brief summary of the life, ministry, death, resurrection and subsequent presence of Jesus with his disciples and followers, eating and drinking with them. He also tells of the disciples’ commissioning by Jesus as preachers and witnesses and a brief summary of the message, which is that Jesus has been appointed judge of the living and the dead, and that He is offering forgiveness to those who believe in Him. It is a masterful summary of the Gospel, in which the resurrection is the pivotal event. That is good, because the Holy Spirit immediately falls upon Cornelius and his family and friends, and the sermon time is over.

The resurrection of Jesus and His victory over sin and death are something that should be a central focal point in our lives throughout the year, not just during the Easter season. Jesus, our everlasting Lord, has become the cornerstone of our faith. He wants us to enter into a restored, everlasting relationship with Him.

Psalm 118 is a Messianic psalm; it looks forward to and celebrates the mercy and resurrection of Jesus, in which we share. The psalmist is one of the prophets that Peter spoke about in Acts 10 as pointing to Jesus.

The Apostle Paul tells us in the Second Reading, from Colossians 3, that we who believe have already been raised with Jesus, because of His resurrection, from our former way of life — a way which led to separation and death. We need to focus on what lies ahead for us in heaven and live based on that future and goal. We are on a journey to our heavenly home, the Father’s house, with a place prepared for us by none other than Jesus Himself, who will come to us and welcome us home at the end of our earthly lives. Therefore, we need to set our minds and hearts on those things. If we don’t, then we will keep our attachments to the things of this world, the familiar, and think less and less about the glorious future God has in store for us.

Thankfully, the Catholic way of life keeps pointing us to that future through references in the prayers of the liturgy, the Glorious Mysteries in the Rosary which we meditate upon on Wednesdays and Sundays and in many other prayers, hymns, songs, readings, artworks and devotions.

Finally, the Gospel reading from John 20 shows that we are not alone in our difficulties to really observe and believe the Good News of the resurrection of Jesus. Mary of Magdala thinks the authorities have taken His body away and have placed it in an unknown location. So she runs to Peter and John and reports it. They in turn run to the tomb to see for themselves. John lets Peter enter first even though he arrived first. The commentators see this act as John’s acknowledgement of the special position Jesus gave to Peter. Then John says he entered, saw and believed. But what did he believe — Mary’s report or that Jesus was resurrected? Most of the commentators I checked were silent on this verse, except Haydock, who said that John believed Mary’s report. There are three reasons that this seems likely:

• Verse 9, which John himself added by way of explanation. “For they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead.”
• Verse 10, their actions afterwards. “Then the disciples returned home.”
• Verse 19, what they were still doing later that evening. They were hiding out in fear.

I think there’s a tendency to want to see the disciples being quicker on the uptake, more faith-filled on Easter morning. But we have an advantage over them. We know how their story turned out, while they were living it.

They were flesh and blood, like us, and struggled, like us. They went on to continue and finish their marathons of faith, and we must do likewise, looking towards the finish line.

This is my first Easter without our oldest son with me in this world, but I am confident that I shall see him again in the Father’s house. He is alive because of Jesus and His mercy and resurrection.

The Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time – February 3, 2019

Here is a reflection on last Sunday’s readings that I posted in the forum of the Coming Home Network.

The Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time – February 3, 2019

First Reading: Jeremiah 1:4-5, 17-19

Psalm: Psalm 71:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 15, 17 (cf. 15ab)

Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13

Alleluia: Luke 4:18

Gospel: Luke 4:21-30

The second reading and the Gospel for this Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time are continuations from the previous Sunday’s readings. There are a number of themes in these readings but the main one is our call by God to be prophets in the midst of opposition to our message and doubt concerning our suitability for our call, going even to people deemed unworthy. We are motivated by God’s merciful love for us to share His love with all those around us.

You may be thinking, wait a minute, I’m not called to the prophetic mission. Yes, we all are according to the Catechism paragraph 783. Jesus Christ is the one whom the Father anointed with the Holy Spirit and established as priest, prophet, and king. The whole People of God participates in these three offices of Christ and bears the responsibilities for mission and service that flow from them.

We may have different gifts as we learned last Sunday but we are all heralds, prophets and witnesses of the Gospel by what we say and what we do and what we leave undone. The only question is what kind of message are we presenting.

But there are some things we need to know that will help us in our mission and service in the readings.

The first thing we glean from the first reading is that none of us are unplanned by God. He had us in mind before we were even conceived and He has a plan for our lives for good and not for evil. Keep in mind that our life in this world may be hard. That was certainly the case for Jeremiah because he was to proclaim God’s message to those who didn’t want to hear it. Keep in mind though that we are immortals. Our body, which is important contrary to current opinion, may die but it will raised and transformed. This world is not our home, we’re just passing through as the old hymn goes.

God makes it clear In His call that He will be sustaining and protecting Jeremiah as he fulfills God’s mission for him. The same is true for us.

The Psalm is a prayer we can use to pray for the same care that He provided for Jeremiah as we seek to carry out God’s missions for us. Just remember He gets to decide when our mission is done and it’s time to come home. God has always been with us even when we felt and thought we were alone. And He will be with us always even to the end of the age. We can proclaim his justice, salvation and wondrous deeds.

Last Sunday’s second reading was from 1 Corinthians 12 on the spiritual gifts the Holy Spirit confers upon us. This Sunday’s reading is about how those gifts are to be exercised with and in love. Otherwise they will be caricature of what they’re supposed to be. The list of love’s attributes is a good resource for our examination of conscience for the Sacrament of Reconciliation and for a reality check of our relationships and ministry.

The Gospel reading is a continuation of Jesus reading of His call from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah to the people in the synagogue of His hometown, Nazareth. The people at first are amazed at the reading and Jesus applying it to Himself. Then they begin to say to themselves .”wait a minute, we know this guy and he’s not that special.” Jesus anticipates they will be asking for a sign such as a miracle next and confronts them on their unbelief stating that they are like Israel in the days of the prophets Elijah and Elisha who were then sent to the Gentiles. Jesus also makes the observation that their response is typical. “No prophet is accepted in his hometown.” Matthew 13 and Mark 6 also record this event and note that Jesus was unable to do many miracles there due to their unbelief. John notes of Israel in general that this was their response. “He came to what was His own but His own people did not accept Him.”

The people of Nazareth are furious at Jesus and try to hurl Him down a steep hill but He escapes through them. Jesus experiences unbelief and opposition just like Jeremiah and many of us. But as you can see His Heavenly Father took care of Him until it was time to call Him home. Jesus was eventually killed but God raised Him from the dead and Jesus ascended into heaven.

So don’t be disheartened if your testimony is not accepted among your own family and friends, Jeremiah and Jesus have gone before you. Love those who oppose you and pray for them. Live out your faith in obedience to Jesus before them. I have seen miracles happen as the scales fall off people’s eyes and they begin to see.

May God bless you and keep you close to His heart of love.