Not even Slightly "Made Ill" by the Misfortunes of Others, the Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time–Year C

My Sisters and Brothers:

     Today’s Scriptures clearly warn “the wealthy” there will be consequences if they remain complacent while others are suffering. And so they instruct Godly people to work for the well-being of others, and to do so especially for those who are most needy. These Scriptures may prompt us to reflect on our own “wealth,” and our willingness (or not) to serve others with whatever time, treasures, and/or talents we might have.

     The Prophet Amos absolutely condemned those who were concerned only for themselves. He specifically criticized those who lived in luxury and who ignored the plight of the downtrodden. He said such people “anointed themselves with expensive oils, listened to frivolous music of harps, feasted on the finest of the lambs and calves, consumed vast amounts of wine, stretched comfortably on soft couches, slept on fancy beds inlaid with ivory, and all the while were not even slightly ‘made ill’ by the misfortunes of others” (cf. Amos 6:1a, 4-7).

     Jesus used the “Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus” in order to preach a similar lesson. He spoke of “a lavishly dressed rich man who dined sumptuously each day, and who would deny even scraps from his table to Lazarus, a sore-covered, poor and hungry man who laid outside his door” (cf. Luke 16:19-31).

     The Prophet Amos proclaimed such people would be “the first to go into exile,” while Jesus indicated they would be sent “to the netherworld, where they would forever suffer torment.” In each account, it’s clear those criticized were very selfish and had miserably failed to help those in need.

     I believe the temptation to such complacency wouldn’t have been limited only to people who had great material wealth. The obligation to care for the needs of others, especially for the most needy, has always been required of all God’s children, no matter how rich or poor they have been. Maybe this is true now more than ever!

    For us, the clear message of today’s Scriptures is that none of us should become so complacent, and so distracted by our own needs and wants, that we fail to care for those who are less fortunate. This doesn’t mean we’re necessarily called to imitate St. Francis of Assisi and other saints who gave away all their possessions in order to serve the poor for the rest of their lives. It also doesn’t mean we risk eternal damnation if we discern we need not give a few coins to a particular homeless person begging on a corner. But I believe it does mean we are called, in whatever ways we can, to use our time, our treasures and our talents in order to serve those who are less fortunate than ourselves.

     Those criticized in today’s Scriptures weren’t simply faulted because they were wealthy and had enjoyed material benefits during their lives. They were condemned because they cared only for themselves, and they were complacently unable and/or unwilling to do anything about the plight of the poor and needy who lived right alongside of them. They were “not even slightly ‘made ill’ by the misfortunes of others.” And so they found themselves “first to go into exile,” and sent “to the netherworld, where they would forever suffer torment.”

     May it not be so with us! Instead, may we enthusiastically share whatever “wealth” we have–that is, our time, our treasures, and/or our talents–in order to serve those among us who are most in need! My friends, let’s encourage each other with this message!

Praise God!  Friar Timothy

 

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The Children of this World, and the Children of the Light, the Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time–Year C

My Sisters and Brothers:

In today’s Gospel, Jesus actually invites us to learn a lesson from those who are solely motivated by the “things of the world.”  And so we are presented with the “Parable of the Dishonest Steward” in which Jesus tells his followers they “cannot serve both God and mammon” (see Luke 16:1-13).

Usually when Jesus used parables and spoke of “masters,” “owners,” “rulers,” or “lords,” he was metaphorically speaking about God the Father.  The “stewards,” the “servants,” the “slaves,” and the “hired workers” were most often likened to those who were supposed to be his faithful disciples.  With this in mind, we might find ourselves confused by today’s parable. After all, the steward had squandered his master’s property, and then he seemed to cheat him of what others had owed him.  About this, Jesus said “the master commended that dishonest steward for acting prudently.”  Huh?

 

In order to interpret the parable, it’s helpful to understand standard commercial practices of that time.  In those days, when a servant went about collecting his master’s debts, and in order to enrich himself, he usually would have charged the debtors excessive additional fees.  This was a common practice, and everyone from the master to the debtor expected it to be done.  Those who listened to Jesus tell this story would have known the “dishonest steward” had shrewdly eliminated those additional fees in order to simply charge the debtors what was due to the master alone.  Doing thus, the steward would have ingratiated himself to those debtors from whom he hoped to find favor in the future. From a “worldly perspective,” this would have been very wise “business as usual,” but from a “spiritual perspective” the steward’s conniving would have served no purpose at all!  Jesus’ point was that his disciples needed to be just as intent on spiritual things as worldly people were on theirs.  He also made it clear his disciples would be held to “other worldly” and eternal standards.

I believe the central statement of this parable then is found in Jesus’ words “the children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light” (see verse 8b).  This actually was an admonition for those “children of the light.”  Jesus desired to make a distinction, while drawing a kind of parallel, between worldly and spiritual ways of doing things.  In a sense then, Jesus taught that spiritual people must similarly have determined goals, but as “the children of the light,” must always keep their eyes focused on things eternal.  This is why Jesus proclaimed “no servant can serve two masters . . . because he or she will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other . . . he or she cannot serve both God and mammon” (see verse 13).

     

Therefore my friends let us not neglect the “things of the world” for which we must be responsible; at the same time, may we always keep our focus on spiritual realities and things eternal.  And serving God in this life, may we never limit ourselves to “worldly perspectives and to business as usual!”

Praise God!  Friar Timothy

 

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The Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin, and the Lost Son, the Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time–Year C

My Sisters and Brothers:

I love the parables of the “Lost Sheep,” the “Lost Coin,” and the “Lost Son,” told by Jesus in today’s Gospel.  They make bold proclamations about the great love God the Father has for all his children, and even and especially for those who are “lost.” 

It’s no coincidence Jesus specifically addressed these parables to the Pharisees and to the Teachers of the Law.  They had observed “tax collectors, and other outcasts, drawing near to listen to him,” and then had arrogantly and self-righteously complained “he had welcomed sinners and had eaten with them” (cf. Luke 15:1-2).  But responding to them, and in these parables, Jesus makes it clear the lost cannot be found without a loving and passionate desire for their recovery.

As we contemplate this exchange between Jesus and those so-called “religious leaders,” the difference between the way they each regarded and treated “sinners” is obvious.  Jesus had invited the tax collectors and other outcasts “to draw near to him,” because he openly accepted them with the great love of the Father, and he treated them with tremendous dignity and respect.  Jesus enthusiastically sought them out, much like someone who would passionately search for a lost sheep, a lost coin, or a lost child. 

In contrast, the “religious leaders” simply condemned such people; they treated them with contempt, and advocated the shunning and ostracizing of them from the community.  Unlike Jesus, they certainly had no desire to seek out and “to find” the tax collectors, the sinners, nor any other types of outcasts.  Jesus’ disposition toward “sinners” is completely different from theirs!  And we are called to put God’s love into action in precisely the same way!

Reflecting on the message of today’s parables, we might recall how we ourselves have felt when we’ve lost things we’ve greatly treasured.  We know how passionate we might have been when earnestly searching for them.  We know how very disturbing it was when we’ve been unable to find them, and how disheartening it was when their recovery seemed impossible.  If you’re like me, then you know what it was like to fret and to waste a lot of time wondering what happened to whatever had been lost.  And then, if you were actually fortunate enough to have found such lost items, you also know how much of a relief and joy that was.

It’s precisely this emotional dynamic that frames the lesson of today’s Scriptures.  The “Lost Sheep,” the “Lost Coin,” and the “Lost Son,” are likened to those “sinners” who’ve turned away from God’s love.  But Jesus teaches us we must be disposed to “draw them near to us” by the way we passionately seek them out, and by the way we share the great love of the Father with them.  This is exactly how they are to be “found.”   I’m sure this would not be possible if, like those “religious leaders” of old, we would rather choose to condemn and to show contempt for the “tax collectors, the sinners and other outcasts” of our own time. 

Jesus instructs us in today’s parables to put God’s love into action; his words teach us we will do this when we passionately and respectfully seek out those who are lost.  And he challenges us to do this even if there might be arrogant and self-righteous so-called “religious people” who, while finding fault with us, choose to do otherwise.  As we seek to find the lost, let’s encourage each other with this message!   

Praise God!  Friar Timothy

 

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Reject Everything and Focus on Heaven Only, the Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time–Year C

My Sisters and Brothers:  

     The author of today’s first reading wrote “for the corruptible body burdens the soul and the earthen shelter weighs down the mind that has many concerns” (see Wisdom 9:15). In today’s Gospel, Jesus warned his disciples that “those who came to him without hating their fathers and mothers, wives or husbands and children, brothers and sisters, and even their own lives, were not able to be his disciple” and “those who did not renounce all of their possessions were not able to be his disciples” (cf. Luke 14:26).

     As living, breathing human beings, who live day to day in this world, with all of the ordinary and even necessary burdens we must carry, how are we supposed to understand these words of wisdom in our own time? Are we called to reject our families, our possessions, and even the needs of our mortal bodies in order to spend all of our days and energy focused on only things of heaven? It’s likely that many mystics, contemplative religious people, monks, and nuns in the history of the church attempted to do just such in their responses to these scriptural mandates. Even today, there are some who strive to do the same. But is this required of all the rest of us as well? Certainly not!

     It’s definitely laudable for a chosen few to have embraced austere lives completely focused on heaven and detached from all worldly concerns. But this was and is certainly not the reality for everyone else – that is, the ninety-nine point-nine percent of the rest of the Christian population throughout all of history and in our own time. So what did Jesus mean when he taught his disciples “to hate their fathers and mothers, wives, husbands and children, brothers and sisters, and even their own lives?” After-all, this mandate seems extremely harsh to say the least!
 
     When we contemplate the teachings of Jesus, it’s always important to recall that he frequently used a popular teaching method, common during those days, which used hyperbole or exaggeration in order to drive home a specific point. Therefore, those who heard Jesus’ words would have understood they were not actually required to hate their family members, and/or their very selves, in order to be his followers. Instead, they surely would have understood that care for others, attention to one’s bodily needs, and prudent stewardship over one’s material possessions, were certainly necessary. But it would have also been clearly understood that these concerns were always and actually “secondary” to the more important heavenly and spiritual realities. And our own understanding of these teachings must be the same.

     The Book of Wisdom reminds us that “the corruptible body burdens the soul and the earthen shelter weighs down the mind that has many concerns,” but it doesn’t suggest we need not take care of our bodies or reject the material things we must have in order to survive. I don’t believe Jesus would have suggested otherwise.

     As spiritual people who long for the day we meet God face-to-face, let’s not then neglect our many earthly responsibilities! And so, are family and relational issues, the realities of health concerns, financial difficulties, job related challenges, and etcetera dragging us down? Jesus tells us, and all of those who truly wish to be his “disciples,” not to become so burdened by these things that they distract us from higher realities. Instead, he promises to “have our backs” when dealing with all of these ordinary and even necessary aspects of our lives!

     Let us encourage each other with this promising message of our faith!

Praise God!  Friar Timothy

 

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