“Crucify him! Crucify him!”, Palm Sunday – Year C

My Sisters and Brothers:

     During today’s Mass, we have symbolically joined our voices with those who condemned Jesus as we cried out: “Crucify him!  Crucify him!” (see Luke 23:21).  We proclaim these words every year on Palm Sunday and then again on Good Friday, but if you’re like me, then doing so always causes some discomfort. 

     These words were first shouted to Pontius Pilate by some of the elders of the people, a few of the chief priests and a number of the scribes, and what they demanded were the result of a long-running conflict those “religious leaders” had been having with Jesus and his followers.  Jesus had often and strongly criticized them because of their lack of true faith and their hypocrisy. 

     It’s then no surprise the events recorded in today’s Gospel demonstrate those same men spoke outright lies to Pilate when they brought to him their charges against Jesus.  They said: “We found this man misleading our people; he opposes the payment of taxes to Caesar, and maintains that he is the Christ, a king” (see Luke 23:2).  The irony of this charge is they themselves had misled the people by not acknowledging Jesus for whom he truly was; they had been the most vociferous opponents of payment of taxes to Caesar, and furthermore, there is no record anywhere of Jesus ever actually proclaiming himself to anyone to have been a “king.”  This is why we are sure they spoke with outright lies. 

     On this point, the Eighth Commandment comes to my mind; it reads “you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” (see Exodus 20:16).  And so how could it have happened that “religious leaders” would have been so blinded from the truth?  How could it have happened that they would have been so willing to violate one of the Commandments, and the precepts of their own faith, in order to falsely accuse Jesus?  After all, weren’t they members of the most wise and learned group of religious people, and therefore shouldn’t they have been the most receptive to the arrival of the long awaited Messiah?  But instead, the events of the original Palm Sunday only exacerbated that long-running conflict between them and Jesus, and that day contributed greatly to the moment when those words “crucify him . . . crucify him” were angrily shouted. 

     As we reflect on all of this, we have the opportunity to examine the depths of our own faith commitments–and the impact they have on the ways we relate to other people.  Are we ever tempted to be like those “religious leaders” who were in constant conflict with Jesus and his followers?  Is it possible that our own “wisdom” can blind our ability to truly respect the perspectives and faith experiences of others, even when we don’t agree?  At times do we just put on a good “show” of religiosity, but really have shallow or little faith in our hearts?  And in the worst case scenarios, do we resort to lying about others in order to assert our own agendas and/or maneuvers for power?  Against Jesus, do we essentially shout “crucify him . . . crucify him” with our thoughts, our actions and/or our symbolically synonymous words? 

     My friends, instead of these, and as followers of Jesus, may we always live up to the true demands of our faith–especially with regard to the ways that we treat others!  May those words  “crucify him . . . crucify him” truly cause us discomfort as we acknowledge our own faults and failings, and may they in turn always motivate us to turn away from sin and to believe in the Gospel

Praise God!  Friar Timothy

 

     Find me on Facebook by clicking on the following link: http://www.facebook.com/frayteo

The Woman Caught in Adultery, the Fifth Sunday of Lent--Year C

My Sisters and Brothers: 

     The account of the woman caught in adultery appears only in the Gospel of St. John, and we are not given very many details about it (see John 8:1-11).  No mention is made of the woman’s partner in sin, and we can only guess what Jesus wrote on the ground as he spoke. 

     We know that in those days, those who were caught in adultery could be put to death for it.  Of course, such a penalty would seem very harsh to us, but in those days punishments for sins were often meted out rather severely.  It was simply commonly believed that if a person committed a grievous sin, then the punishment for that sin had to be many times more severe than the sin itself.  The religious leaders of the time often based their authority to judge, and to punish, on the age-old Law of Moses. 

     In contrast, we find that Jesus showed the woman tremendous compassion, and this very demonstrably underscored the great mercy and love of the Father.  At the same time, his seemingly radical show of forgiveness served to incriminate those who often gave more importance to the “letter of the law” than to the mercy of God. 

     There can be no doubt that this event challenged the “status quo” of those days, and at the same time exposed the scribes and Pharisees for who they really were.  They had become so blinded by their own self-righteous religiosity, they weren’t able to understand, nor even to admit, their own faults.  And because they operated with this type of extreme hypocrisy, they passed judgements and dealt harsh punishments, all the while believing somehow that they were the righteous arbitrators of “God’s will.” 

     In contrast to them, Jesus’ words and actions ushered in a new way of thinking; he invited the truly righteous-filled to acknowledge their own sinfulness, and to treat others as they themselves would want to be treated.  If they could understand that all people were sinners, that no one was perfect, and that God’s love was eternally characterized by patience, forgiveness, and peace, then the teaching that mercy was more important than the law could be understood. 

     Jesus’ treatment of the woman was able to motivate her to true repentance, and to the possibility of renewal and change; in fact, he told her “go, and from now on do not sin any more” (see verse 11b).  And so we should ask: how does this story challenge us in our own spiritual lives, and what does it say about the manner in which we ought to treat others, especially the “sinful people” in our lives?  How do we react when members of our families, our friends, our neighbors, and/or our co-workers, fail to live up to our expectations of them?  How do we treat them when they commit what we believe to be serious sins, or even minor errors of judgement?  Do we, like the scribes and Pharisees, fail to acknowledge our own weaknesses, and our own possible sinfulness, as we self-righteously judge the faults and failings of others? 

     With these questions in mind, and as we prepare for the events of Holy Week, let's recall that the same Jesus who showed mercy to the woman caught in adultery carried all of our sins to the Cross.  He sacrificed himself for the sins all people, and in doing so definitively and for all time demonstrated the great mercy and love of the Father. 

     May the same type of mercy motivate every action of our lives, and may it profoundly affect the manner in which we treat those fellow sinners we encounter along the way!

Praise God!  Friar Timothy

 

     Find me on Facebook by clicking on the following link: http://www.facebook.com/frayteo

The Prodigal Son, the Fourth Sunday of Lent–Year C

My Sisters and Brothers: 

     The Parable of the Prodigal Son is one of Jesus’ most well-known and recited lessons (see Luke 15:1-3, 11-32).  In telling this story, Jesus intended to challenge the thinking of the Pharisees, scribes, and others who had criticized him for associating with tax collectors and sinners.  It’s not difficult to understand its teaching about the great love, mercy, and forgiveness of God the Father.

     According to the parable, the son squandered his inheritance on immoral and loose living in a foreign and faithless land, and then as a result of his misdeeds ended up even worse off than pigs.  Clearly, this young man would have been counted among the greatest of sinners, perhaps even among the ranks of the absolutely “unforgivable.”

     Although the whole story is packed with symbolism and meaning, I believe one of the most poignant details has to do with those pigs, and how it clearly illustrated just how low and desperate the prodigal son had become.  We are told he “hired himself out to one of the local citizens who sent him to his farm to tend the swine . . . and he longed to eat his fill of the pods on which the swine fed, but nobody gave him any” (see verses 15 and 16).  To those who first heard the preaching of Jesus, this particular point would have added incredible and tremendous severity to the dire situation in which the young man had found himself.

     At that time, and as adherents to strict kosher diets, Jewish people simply did not eat pork.  It was also not permissible even to own or to work on a pig farm.  To this day in the Jewish state of Israel the breeding of pigs is almost entirely illegal, and is only allowed in northern areas inhabited by Christian Palestinians.  Accordingly, pigs were and are considered to be the most filthy (and therefore ungodly) of animals.  No good and faithful Jew at the time of Jesus would have had anything to do with them.  And so not only had the son become the servant of a gentile pig farmer, and was forced to live with such filthy animals, but to make matters even more dire, the pigs were eating better than he was.

     Those who heard Jesus tell this story, and how he included the severity of this detail, would have understood that the son had sunken to the level of the lowest of the low, even to the point of being absolutely “unforgivable,” and you couldn’t get any worse than that!  I believe this is the principal reason why the generous and merciful love, and the forgiveness of the father, would have seemed so incredible to those who first heard the parable.

     Jesus himself had been criticized by the Pharisees and scribes because he had been seen associating with tax collectors and other sinners. Perhaps by comparison to Jesus’ own show of compassion, the treatment of the son by his father demonstrated an even greater mercy and love than that for which he himself had been criticized.  I believe this is the very point of the story.

     Of course it was necessary for the son to reach the conclusion to change his life, and to seek the forgiveness of his father, but it wouldn’t have been possible if the father had considered his sins to be absolutely “unforgivable.”  And so today, as we contemplate this great and often quoted parable, we might ask ourselves if there are “sinners” in our own time and place who we might consider to be absolutely “unforgivable?”  If so, are we willing to reach out to them and to show them the compassion of Jesus?  Even more than that, are we willing to offer them the same kind of love, mercy, and forgiveness shown by our Father in heaven?

     As we continue our Lenten journey, may we be grateful that this same forgiving God has called each of us away from the death of sin, has welcomed us into his loving arms, and has promised us the fullness of Easter life!  May we treat others as we ourselves have been treated!   

Praise God!  Friar Timothy

 

     Find me on Facebook by clicking on the following link: http://www.facebook.com/frayteo