Weekly Reflections
27th Sunday in Ordinary Time, October 2, 2022
What is faith and what is our role as servants of God?
Gospel: Luke 17: 5–10
The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.”
We would protest, “Our faith is weak and small.” He would respond as he did to his apostles, “You already have faith and what I have given you is enough to do the work of discipleship!”
What is faith and what is our role as servants of God?
Luke 17: 5–10
And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.”
The Lord replied, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to [this] mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.
“Who among you would say to your servant who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, ‘Come here immediately and take your place at table’?
Would he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something for me to eat. Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink. You may eat and drink when I am finished’?
Is he grateful to that servant because he did what was commanded? So should it be with you. When you have done all you have been commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.’”
Music Meditations
- We Walk by Faith—Marty Haugen
- Servant Song—Richard Gillard & Betty C Pulkingham
- Here I Am Lord—Dan Schutte
Opening Prayer
Dear Lord, it is sometimes hard to know if the faith we have will sustain us in times of difficulty and stress. Give us the wisdom to see that you are always with us, and we are to trust in you and your care for us. You will never leave us orphans. Then we ask that you give us the faith in our own abilities to respond to your call to be your servants in the world. Let your love and your grace be our reward.
Companions for the Journey
Today’s gospel feels disjointed. How do we get from having faith the size of a mustard seed to a story about servants doing what they (we) are supposed to do? The section of Luke from which today’s passage is taken includes the first four verses of chapter 17 (not part of today’s reading). Luke gives four sayings and the theme of discipleship ties the four sections together; two make up today’s passage. It’s a shame that we do not have all four sayings. Just prior to the opening of our passage (verses 3-4), Jesus teaches about the necessity to forgive seven times a day, if “seven times a day your brother or sister turns back to you saying, ‘I am sorry.’” The number seven is one of those biblical numbers that has symbolic meaning and can’t be translated literally. It is not as if, after I forgive seven times, my obligation is complete. Rather, seven is a number that sets no limits. You can imagine how chagrined the apostles must have been! No end to forgiveness!? They realize the difficulty of the question and that they cannot be such extraordinary disciples on their own. They will need faith.
The disciples know what they must do to be followers of Jesus, but knowing it and doing it, as Jesus just described, are two different things. Discipleship isn’t merely a matter of learning the ground rules, keeping them and getting a deserved reward. Rather, the gift of faith comes first and as a result of the gift, our response is the desire and ability to do what Jesus is asking of us. Who among us, already disciples, has not looked at an upcoming challenge to what we believe and realized we could never do it on our own? Nor did it feel that we could do it on the little faith we felt we had. Our prayer replicates that of the apostles—“Increase our faith.” I’m struck by the directness of their request. You can sense the urgency and desperation they must have felt; you can hear the pleading in their voice, as if to say, “We’ll never be able to follow this teaching, give us more faith!” Jesus won’t let them wallow in despair, nor will he let them or us get away with the excuse, “I just don’t have enough faith.” In the original language his response really sounds something like this, “Since you do have faith the size of a mustard seed....” The faith they already have enables them to do great things and as an example, he exaggerates and tells them, “You could pull up the deep rooted mulberry tree and cast it into the sea with the faith you already have.”
Of course he is not suggesting that disciples are to go around doing daily acts of wonder and spectacle—drink this poison, handle that snake, move this mountain, uproot that mulberry tree. But his teaching to them, on their journey to Jerusalem, is that they are to share the cup of suffering with outcasts and the poor; take hold of poisonous and unjust structures and handle them; move mountains of indifference and uproot racism, ageism, and sexism whenever they come upon them. We would protest, “Our faith is weak and small.” He would respond as he did to his apostles, “You already have faith and what I have given you is enough to do the work of discipleship!” Of course, the biggest task we disciples have to face over and over again, the one that pushes us to the limits and unmasks our recalcitrance is the obligation to forgive “seven times a day.” The command to forgive exposes us to the very core of the gospel message: on our own we cannot live this life to which Jesus is calling us. But with the gift of the mustard seed of faith, his life becomes possible in us. In addition, living his mandates, especially the one he just gave them about forgiveness, will be a visible sign to others who observe us that Jesus, the one who prayed from the cross for forgiveness for his killers, still lives in the community of his followers.
Jesus next asks a rhetorical question, “Who among you...?” The expected reply is, “None of us would.” No one expects a servant coming in from the fields to sit down and expect to be served by the master or mistress of the house. That’s not the way such relationships work—servants are expected to do their job. (By the way, in the original Greek, it’s “slave” not servant. Jesus is drawing upon social circumstances of his day to make a point. We know he is not condoning slavery, it’s just that such relationships were the backdrop to his listeners’ world.) The servant/slave in this story is at the disposition of the master. In such a situation, the one serving has no basis to expect special privileges or to boast about how hard he/she has worked for the master. What was done was the servant’s duty, it was supposed to be done–that’s that. Nothing special and no special reward is due.
Parables are about God’s dealings with us. God is gracious to us and each day gives us the faith we need to face whatever the day brings. We respond to the gift and “accomplish” the works of disciples. Sometimes these accomplishments feel like we have done the impossible (like pulling up a mulberry tree). And we have. But there is nothing to boast about, we have responded to a gift and done what we were supposed to do. In the context of today’s section, the work we were supposed to do is to forgive seven times. We have no grounds to say, “I’ve accomplished a great deal, now I can await my reward.” We can’t get puffed up as disciples, the accomplishment was not ours. That’s the way discipleship works, we don’t have a claim on God. Being a faithful disciple is a daily gift and has daily responsibilities. We are not the ones in charge. Thankfully God is, and God will always be there to help us serve another day in the fields and at the table.
The Eucharist turns the parable around. We have come in from the fields of our labors and gather in community before God. We have done much to fulfill our vocations as parents, caretakers, volunteers, job-holders, students, ministers, etc. We can grow weary and we need to be waited on and that is what God does for us—has us sit around the banquet table. There God serves us with a special chosen Word to empower us and the bread and wine to renew us with Jesus’ life for the return trip to the fields and serving places of everyday life.
Weekly Memorization
Taken from the gospel for today’s session…
The apostles said to the Lord: “Increase our faith.”
Living the Good News
What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion?
Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow:
Reflection Questions
- Is faith for you a collection of theological principles with which we must agree?
Are some articles of faith more important than others, or are all equally important? - Why is important for any church to have a set of truths about God for which it stands?
- What are the most important Catholic articles of Faith, in your mind?
- When is it hard to have faith?
- Credo, the Latin word for faith, can also be translated trust or belief.
What or whom do you trust in?
What or whom do you believe in? - In what ways do both faith and experience shape us?
Can faith be quantified?
Is it the quality of our faith that matters?
What does that all mean to you? - How hard is it to judge the faith of another?
Should we being doing so?
Do we often do so, in subtle ways? - From “First Impressions” 2022:
Have we ever used the excuse that our faith is weak and done nothing
when we should have done something?
Have we encouraged others in their faith? How? - Are there certain people in a “servant” position whom I treat with distain, as if I were their master?
Do I treat those in the service industry as if they were invisible?
Are “please” and “thank you” in my ordinary vocabulary for those who are in a service job?
Are “please” and “thank you” in my ordinary vocabulary for those in my household? - When I do a favor for someone, what are my expectations of that person?
Do I expect gratitude, or a return favor?
What, for me, is the link between faith in God and service to God? - Do I see myself as servant of Jesus; do I expect some reward for my service?
What would that reward be: (good health, happiness, peace, heaven, etc.)
What if I am disappointed in my reward for service to God? - In what specific incidents in scripture did Jesus act as the servant of others?
Is this an example for me?
Meditations
A Meditation in the Ignatian Style/Imagination:
Read Luke 23: 33-46:
When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him and the criminals there, one on his right, the other on his left.
Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.”
They divided his garments by casting lots. The people stood by and watched; the rulers, meanwhile, sneered at him and said, “He saved others, let him save himself if he is the chosen one, the Messiah of God.” Even the soldiers jeered at him. As they approached to offer him wine they called out, “If you are King of the Jews, save yourself.”
Above him there was an inscription that read, “This is the King of the Jews.”
Now one of the criminals hanging there reviled Jesus, saying, “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us.” The other, however, rebuking him, said in reply, “Have you no fear of God, for you are subject to the same condemnation? And indeed, we have been condemned justly, for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, but this man has done nothing criminal.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
He replied to him, “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” It was now about noon and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon because of an eclipse of the sun. Then the veil of the temple was torn down the middle.
Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit”; and when he had said this he breathed his last.
Now imagine that you are Jesus, and this is what your mission appears to have come to: an ignominious death on the cross. Do you wonder if you failed, somehow? Do you wonder if you could have spent the last three years with a wife and family in your little carpentry business? How does it feel to have the crowds who followed you so happily now staring at you in stony silence—perhaps afraid of those soldiers? What kind of temptation exists to try to save yourself by renouncing all you did and all you taught? What kind of temptation exists to demand that your Father save you? After all, you were on His mission, doing what He had sent you to do. Did you expect silence from Him? Where did your final words in the Gospel of Luke come from?
The point is this: for all that he was the Son of God, for all that he has a special relationship with his Father, this man too died not with the experience of resurrection, not with unassailable proof that he would rise from the dead; he died with faith in his Father, with hope of life forever. That is why his last words on the cross are so striking, so faith-full: “Father, into your hands I entrust my spirit.” In Luke’s gospel, he died trusting—trusting in a Father ever faithful.
—Fr Walter Burghardt, S.J., in Speak the Word With Boldness.
In what ways do I have trust in God? In what ways do I lack trust? Do I think God understands? What are my expectations for being a “faithful servant”? Do I expect more favors and special treatment from God than Jesus received?
A Meditation in the Franciscan Style/Relationship:
Poetic Reflection:
In this sonnet attributed to St Francis Xavier we see what moved him to become a servant of the Lord:
It is not your promised heaven That moves me, Lord, to love you. It is not the fear of hell That moves me to fear you. What moves me Lord, is you, Lord, Fixed to a cross and mocked. What moves me is your wounded body, The insults and your death. What moves me really is your love, so that Were there no heaven, I would love you still. For me to love you, you need nothing give, For even if I did not hope as I indeed hope, Even so I would love you as indeed I love.
Closing Prayer
Dear Lord, you didn’t spend your time boasting about all you did and all you suffered. You were like a slave, serving us all, washing our feet, dying for us. Make me a bit more like you in your humility and self-forgetfulness. While I want to be generous, there are some times when I expect to be served rather than to serve. Give me humility to look honestly at what I do and why I do it, and the interior freedom to respond to your call to serve others.
26th Sunday in Ordinary Time, September 25, 2022
Money and the comforts it brings can blind us to the needs of others
Gospel: Luke 16: 17–31
There was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linen and dined sumptuously each day. And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table.
What is striking about this scene is that nothing seems to be happening. The rich man is eating; the poor man is sitting and waiting. There are no words between them. The poor man is not abused or chased away; he is simply ignored as if he did not exist.
Money and the comforts it brings can blind us to the needs of others
Luke 16: 17–31
Music Meditations
- Open My Eyes, Lord—Jesse Manibusan
- My Wealth Is Not in What I Own—Fernando Ortega
- Give Me Jesus—Vince Gill
Opening Prayer
Jesus, we offer to you in prayer all that we are and all that we have. We ask for help in using wisely all that we possess, and living easily with what we might like to possess but cannot. Bless those that have so little and open our eyes to what we might do to help. Us. Give us the eyes to see and the hearts to understand the suffering poverty brings to those in our own midst. And finally, give us the spirit of generosity.
Companions for the Journey
From “Living Space”, a Service of the Irish Jesuits 2022:
Commentary on Luke 16:19-31
Here we have illustrated in parable form two of Luke’s beatitudes: “Happy are you who are poor, you who are hungry now!” and “Woe to you who are rich, who are filled now!” The links with the First Reading are also obvious.
On the one hand, you have a rich man dressed in purple and fine linen, both signs of great wealth. He also has a good table and enjoys the choicest of foods every day. (He is sometimes called ‘Dives’, which is simply the Latin word for ‘rich’.)
At the same time you have a poor man called Lazarus. (The rich man is nameless. In spite of all his money, he is a Nobody.) He was hungry and longed, like the dogs, to pick up the scraps that might fall from the dining table. The dogs even licked his sores. Dogs were abhorrent to Jews so this was a particularly degrading thing to happen.
What is striking about this scene is that nothing seems to be happening. The rich man is eating; the poor man is sitting and waiting. There are no words between them. The poor man is not abused or chased away; he is simply ignored as if he did not exist. “As often as you neglected to do it to the least of these brothers of mine, you neglected to do it to me.”
Then both men die. Lazarus is brought by angels to the bosom of Abraham; the rich man is condemned to an existence of great suffering in Hades, the place of the dead. The rich man now begs for even the slightest relief from the man he ignored in his lifetime. But it is now too late.
The rich man had his chance and he blew it. He had his life of “good things”; he now knows just how “good” they really were. It is now Lazarus’ turn to have the really good things, the companionship of his God.
The rich man begs on behalf of his brothers that they be warned. “They have Moses and the prophets [the whole Jewish religious tradition],” replies Abraham. “But if only someone would come to them from the dead, they would change their ways.” “If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.”
Surely a reference to Jesus himself and to the many Jews who refused to believe in him even after his resurrection. There are people today who want some special signs from God in order to believe. We have the Good News of the New Testament and the living, experienced presence of Jesus among us; we do not need any more. We have all the guidance we need to lead the kind of life which will ensure we spend our future existence in the company of Lazarus.
And that life is measured not by wealth, status, or power but in a life of caring and sharing relationships. In a world of extreme consumerism, hedonism and individualism, today’s readings have a very important message. Those are truly rich who enrich the lives of others.
Weekly Memorization
Taken from the gospel for today’s session…
If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead
Living the Good News
What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion?
Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow:
Reflection Questions
Meditations
A Meditation in the Franciscan Style/Action:
Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions:
Poetic Reflection:
Sometimes, when we see someone among us who is down on his or her luck, or really desperate, we don’t see them as invisible. Worse, we can dismiss them from our consciousness if we see them as culpable in their own misery. This poem, written by a one-time welfare mother, dispels that notion:
My name is not “Those People.”
I am a loving woman,
a mother in pain, giving birth to the future,
where my babies have the same chance to thrive as anyone.My name is not “Inadequate.”
I did not make my husband leave—he chose to,
and chooses not to pay child support.
Truth is though, there isn’t a job base for all
fathers to support their families.
While society turns its head, my children pay the price.My name is not “Problem and Case to Be Managed.”
I am a capable human being and citizen, not a client.
The social service system can never replace the compassion
and concern of loving Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Fathers,
Cousins, Community—all the bonded people who need to be
but are not present to bring children forward to their potential.My name is not “Lazy, Dependent Welfare Mother.”
If the unwaged work of parenting, homemaking and community building
was factored into the Gross National Product, my work would have untold value.
And I wonder why my middle-class sisters whose husbands support them to raise their children
are glorified—and they don’t get called lazy and dependent.My name is not “Ignorant, Dumb or Uneducated.”
I live with an income of $621 with $169 in food stamps.
Rent is $585. that leaves $36 a month to live on.
I am such a genius at surviving that I could balance the state budget in an hour.
Never mind that there is a lack of living-wage jobs.
Never mind that it is impossible to be the sole emotional, social and economic support to a family.
Never mind that parents are losing their children
to the gangs, drugs, stealing, prostitution, social workers, kidnapping, the streets, the predator.
Forget about putting money into schools—just build more prisons.My name is not “Lay Down and Die Quietly.”
My love is powerful and my urge to keep my children alive will never stop.
All children need homes and people who love them.
They need safety and the chance to be the people they were born to be.
The wind will stop before I let my children become a statistic.
Before you give in to the urge to blame me,
the blames that lets us go blind and unknowing into
the isolation that disconnects us, take another look.
Don’t go away.For I am not the problem, but the solution.
And…My name is not “Those People.”
—Julia Dinsmore
Closing Prayer
Help us to remember what matters most in the midst of all we have to do. Give us eyes to see the needs of those around us. Give us ears that hear the meaning behind the words, Give us hands that reach out to make a difference. Give us hearts that beat in tune with Yours rather than with the clock on the wall. Remind us often that time and good are to be given, not spent.
25th Sunday in Ordinary Time, September 18, 2022
We have to choose between the values of Jesus and the values of the world
Gospel: Luke 16: 1–13
A rich man had a steward who was reported to him for squandering his property. He summoned him and said, ‘What is this I hear about you? Prepare a full account of your stewardship, because you can no longer be my steward.’
As we examine the complexities of the parable, its subsequent sayings and its social and cultural aspects, we can get side tracked in studious details and miss the obvious impact of Jesus’ images and words. He is asking us about our fundamental choices and loyalties.
We have to choose between the values of Jesus and the values of the world
Luke 16: 1–13
Then he also said to his disciples, “A rich man had a steward who was reported to him for squandering his property.
He summoned him and said, ‘What is this I hear about you? Prepare a full account of your stewardship, because you can no longer be my steward.’
The steward said to himself, ‘What shall I do, now that my master is taking the position of steward away from me? I am not strong enough to dig and I am ashamed to beg.
I know what I shall do so that, when I am removed from the stewardship, they may welcome me into their homes.’
He called in his master’s debtors one by one. To the first he said, ‘How much do you owe my master?’
He replied, ‘One hundred measures of olive oil.’ He said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note. Sit down and quickly write one for fifty.’
Then to another he said, ‘And you, how much do you owe?’ He replied, ‘One hundred kors of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note; write one for eighty.’
And the master commended that dishonest steward for acting prudently.
“For the children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light.
I tell you, make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth, so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.
The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones; and the person who is dishonest in very small matters is also dishonest in great ones.
If, therefore, you are not trustworthy with dishonest wealth, who will trust you with true wealth?
If you are not trustworthy with what belongs to another, who will give you what is yours? No servant can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”
Music Meditations
- My Worth Is Not in What I Own—Francisco Ortega
- Simple Gifts—Yo-Yo Ma and Alison Krauss
- Lead Me, Guide Me—Elvis Presley (!)
- Be Thou My Vision—Celtic Worship Band
Opening Prayer
Dear Lord, open our eyes to the ways of the world that frequently entice us to act in our own interests and not in the interest of the common good or the interest of another individual. Help us to know what to do when life gets difficult. We pray that you will guide us the next time it does.
Companions for the Journey
From “First Impressions”, 2007
The parable is the main feature, so let’s focus on it. The steward has been caught. We aren’t sure of his exact offense, but he has been reported for “squandering” the rich man’s property. He is in trouble and needs to act quickly and decisively. And he does. He reduces the debts owed the master. Hasn’t he acted dishonestly again? How can he be praised for that? This gospel passage has been a challenge to those who read and study the scriptures. It’s possible the steward was charging extra interest from the debtors, hoping to make a profit for himself. If so, by his discounting the debts he was eliminating his own dishonest gains. Since usury was forbidden by Jewish law, the steward was doing what he should have been doing in the first place as an observant Jew. Or, maybe the steward was eliminating the commission he would have rightfully received for himself. You can see why the sayings (8b-13) are placed after the parable. The first saying is certainly applicable, “the children of this world are more prudent with their own generation than are the children of the light.” The steward acted shrewdly in a crisis situation and for that he deserves praise.
Jesus may be suggesting that his followers will face another kind of urgency in their own generation. If Jesus continues his journey to Jerusalem and is punished and dies, what will his followers do in that crisis? Will they be “children of light” and have the wisdom to continue choosing Jesus and his ways in that and any other crisis they face? Or, will they be “children of the world” and go for the quick fix and the easy way out? What will we do when crisis occurs in our lives? It has and it will again. We hope we will be the “prudent” stewards who take serious stock of the situation and once again turn towards the light.
The parable invites us to examine our use of material possessions. One of the central themes in Luke’s gospel is the suspicion Jesus conveys towards worldly wealth. Material things can trap us and divert our attention from what truly matters in life. Haven’t we seen families divided over possessions and inheritances; marriages ruined by a spouse preoccupied with business dealings; wars fought over land and resources; lives ruined for the sake of the “bottom line,” etc. We can “make friends with dishonest wealth.” There are wealthy people in Luke’s gospel who seem to follow the thrust of the parable and make wise use of their time and their wealth. They use their possessions to serve Jesus as “children of light.” E.g. the woman who anointed Jesus with expensive ointment (7:36 ff) and Zaccheus, who gave half his possessions for the sake of the poor (19:18).
People in gospel times and now have figured out how to use their resources in God’s service. Stirred by teachings like today’s gospel, they have decided to act quickly and decisively when occasions arise. Not because they gave everything away, though some did, but because they never let “mammon” rule their lives or be the sole guide for their decisions. For example. Smart business people have financed and helped train the unemployed so that they could find work and support their families. Others have helped the elderly organize their finances so that they could pay for crucial medications and health care. Lawyers have argued cases for those who couldn’t afford to pay them. Teachers have donated after-school hours to kids who need a hand to catch up. We have many kinds of resources that can be used—guided by Jesus’ wisdom. The gospel gives us an example of someone who knew what he had to do in a crisis situation and Jesus directs us to act quickly and behave similarly—but under the direction of “the light.”
As we examine the complexities of the parable, its subsequent sayings and its social and cultural aspects, we can get side tracked in studious details and miss the obvious impact of Jesus’ images and words. He is asking us about our fundamental choices and loyalties. He wants to know who or what comes first in our lives. If, after reflection, we discover that we have been acting more like “children of this world” and less like “children of the light,” then this parable can serve as an impetus to “set things right.” It also advises us to be quick about it! To put it crassly, God’s and only God’s business should be first in our lives.
Weekly Memorization
Taken from the gospel for today’s session…
The person who is untrustworthy in very small matters is also untrustworthy in great ones
Living the Good News
What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion?
Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow:
Reflection Questions
- Some of Jesus’ teachings are difficult to hear and difficult to understand. How do I react when I come across a difficult passage in scripture?
Do I take it absolutely literally, no matter the obvious impracticality?
Do I try to manipulate the meaning so it is easier for me to swallow?
Is there a third way? - Who are children of the world and what are their values?
Who are children of the light, and what are their values?
Which is harder to live by? - Like the steward in the parable, when we face a crisis we often have a choice between the way of the world and the way of the light. Has this ever happened to me?
What did I choose? - What do I mean by the word “shrewd”?
Is shrewdness a good thing? - We are all stewards of the resources we have been given. Have I used my resources wisely, for others as well as myself and mine?
- Do I only focus on those in our society who have more than I do, and has this caused resentment or a carelessness with goods belonging to others?
Have I truly been careful with someone else’s property?
Have I ever borrowed something and never quite remembered to give it back? - Do I give to those who have less, or do I hoard gifts and goods for myself and mine?
- I am also a steward of the earth. What have I done to protect and preserve this planet and all creatures in it?
- Like the steward with his master, do I take stock of where I stand with God?
- Has honesty been perverted in our society?
Are there individuals and companies who engage in dishonest practices for personal gain? - Do we speak of “little white lies” as if they were not lies at all?
Have I ever played fast and loose with the truth to get what I wanted?
Have I ever played fast and loose with the truth at the expense of someone else?
Meditations
A Meditation in the Ignatian Style/Imagination:
Imagine yourself as the person who fell afoul of the boss and got dismissed. You do not have any particular talents. What will you do to support yourself? Might it be smart to go to the various vendors of the company you work for and try to strike a deal? To what lengths would you be willing to go to gain new employment? (Would you take a list of clients with you, or take some information that might be proprietary but would help you get ahead in the new company? Would you take a few key employees and set yourself up as a competitor?) To what extent are you careful of another’s property? Ever cheat on an exam? Copy someone’s problem set? Tell the teacher the dog ate your homework? How about copyright laws—did you ever make a copy of a song, a presentation, a speech owned by someone else? Make a copy from a book without the writer’s permission? Where do we draw the line for personal integrity? Is it somewhat fluid? Are there any areas in your life that you need to examine in this regard?
A Meditation in the Augustinian Style/Relationship:
Psalms are very personal conversations with one’s God. The people of Israel were not hesitant to complain to God about the unfairness of the world and their anger and despair over the treachery of others. These psalms of lament are among the most honest prayers in scripture. Read Psalm 12 and then compose your own psalm about the economic world we inhabit, and hat is valued in our society.
Psalm 12
Save me, O LORD, for the holy ones are no more; the faithful have vanished from the sons of men. They babble vanities, one to another, with cunning lips, with divided heart. May the LORD destroy all cunning lips, the tongue that utters boastful words, those who say, “We prevail with our tongue; our lips are our own, who is our master?” “For the poor who are oppressed and the needy who groan, now will I arise,” says the LORD; “I will grant them the salvation for which they long.” The words of the LORD are words without alloy, silver from the furnace, seven times refined. It is you, O LORD, who will keep us safe, and protect us forever from this generation. The wicked prowl on every side, while baseness is exalted by the sons of men.
Poetic Reflection:
For Mary Oliver, what seems to be the values to live by? What is the role of gratitude in becoming “children of the light” as opposed to “children of the age”?
“Messenger”
My work is loving the world.
Here the sunflowers, there the hummingbird—
equal seekers of sweetness.
Here the quickening yeast; there the blue plums.
Here the clam deep in the speckled sand.Are my boots old? Is my coat torn?
Am I no longer young, and still half-perfect? Let me
keep my mind on what matters,
which is my work,which is mostly standing still and learning to be
astonished.
The phoebe, the delphinium.
The sheep in the pasture, and the pasture.
Which is mostly rejoicing, since all the ingredients are here,which is gratitude, to be given a mind and a heart
and these body-clothes,
a mouth with which to give shouts of joy
to the moth and the wren, to the sleepy dug-up clam,
telling them all, over and over, how it is
that we live forever.
Closing Prayer
Dear Lord, help me always to choose to act with integrity. Help me to see that if something is a little bit wrong, it is still wrong. Period. Help me to have courage when I feel desperate or trapped in a situation, whether that situation is of my own making or the result of circumstances beyond my control. Help me to keep you as a lodestar in all that I do.
24th Sunday in Ordinary Time, September 11, 2022
God never takes us for granted, and will always search for us when we have strayed
Gospel: Luke 15: 1–32
But now we must celebrate and rejoice because your brother who was dead has come to life again; he was lost and has been found
God never takes us for granted, and will always search for us when we have strayed
Luke 15: 1–32
The tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to him, but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So to them he addressed this parable.
“What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it?
And when he does find it, he sets it on his shoulders with great joy and, upon his arrival home, he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you, in just the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance.
“Or what woman having ten coins and losing one would not light a lamp and sweep the house, searching carefully until she finds it?
And when she does find it, she calls together her friends and neighbors and says to them, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found the coin that I lost.’
In just the same way, I tell you, there will be rejoicing among the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
Then he said, “A man had two sons, and the younger son said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of your estate that should come to me.’ So the father divided the property between them.
After a few days, the younger son collected all his belongings and set off to a distant country where he squandered his inheritance on a life of dissipation.
When he had freely spent everything, a severe famine struck that country, and he found himself in dire need.
So 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.
Coming to his senses he thought, ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have more than enough food to eat, but here am I, dying from hunger.
I shall get up and go to my father and I shall say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.
I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as you would treat one of your hired workers.”’ So he got up and went back to his father. While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him.
His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called your son.’
But his father ordered his servants, ‘Quickly bring the finest robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.
Take the fattened calf and slaughter it. Then let us celebrate with a feast, because this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found.’ Then the celebration began.
Now the older son had been out in the field and, on his way back, as he neared the house, he heard the sound of music and dancing.
He called one of the servants and asked what this might mean.
The servant said to him, ‘Your brother has returned and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’
He became angry, and when he refused to enter the house, his father came out and pleaded with him.
He said to his father in reply, ‘Look, all these years I served you and not once did I disobey your orders; yet you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends.
But when your son returns who swallowed up your property with prostitutes, for him you slaughter the fattened calf.’
He said to him, ‘My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours.
But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’”
Music Meditations
- Going Home—Bryn Terfel
- Great Is Thy Faithfulness—Selah
- Turn to Me—John Foley
- Wonderful, Merciful Savior—Selah
- I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say—sung by Choir of Manchester Cathedral
Opening Prayer
Lord, you have no favorites. You understand that some people need more patience and understanding than others. You understand that sometimes we are especially needy and selfish in what we desire from you or those in our life. You understand that we are, most of the time, simply doing the best we can. Help us extend that understanding to those we live with, work with, sometimes tangle with. Help us extend that understanding to ourselves so that we can bask in the joy that is your steadfast caring, forgiveness, and love.
Companions for the Journey
From a Homily by Deacon John Kerrigan for the fourth Sunday of Lent, 2019:
Let’s start today with a short quiz. Which of the following stories captures the themes of betrayal, shame, repentance and conversion?
- The Broadway-musical, “Dear Evan Hansen”?
- The tale of the Prodigal Son?
- The journey of your life and mine?
- All of the above?
Option A: Based on a true incident, the musical, “Dear Evan Hansen” has been playing to sold-out audiences on Broadway for three years. It focuses on a 17 year-old boy who, like many of us, is a citizen of two worlds, two different realities separated by the thin veil of a laptop screen.
Evan suffers from debilitating anxiety, and struggles to make friends. He describes his life as, “a slideshow of catastrophes and worst-case scenarios.”
This young man’s desperate search for affection, or actually just attention, gets him into serious trouble. A letter that he has written to himself—part of a self-awareness assignment from his therapist—“Dear Evan Hansen” it began—ends up in the taunting hands of the school’s bully, Connor Murphy. Tragically, Connor takes his own life a short time afterwards.
The substance of the play centers around the aftermath of Connor’s suicide. Through a series of misunderstandings and lies, Evan comes to be seen as Connor’s only friend. News of the relationship soon explodes on social media. For the first time in his life, Evan gets noticed, and is seen, even if briefly, as a hero.
The deception, however, soon unravels, as Evan’s dishonesty is magnified by thousands of texts and posts that appear on Facebook and Instagram. Evan’s life becomes a shambles. In his shame, he cries out, “I am alone to the core. Broken. How could I fool myself into thinking I deserved anything close to happiness?”
Fortunately for Evan, and for all of us, there is a heroine in the midst of all this angst: Evan’s mother, Heidi. At his moment of darkest despair—when he declares, “I am a nothing!”—Heidi says to him, “Evan, talk to me. It’s not a command. It’s a welcome mat.” Thankfully, he does eventually reach out to her. Expressing his gratitude, he tells her, “You stuck with me. The mess that I am.”
For anyone who has ever sat alone at lunch or been ostracized in some other way, “Dear Evan Hansen” has a most enduring message; it’s found in the title of one of the play’s most powerful songs: “You Will Be Found.”
Now, let’s look at Option B. Do the themes of betrayal, shame, repentance and conversion characterize the tale of the Prodigal Son?
As the story begins to unfold, we find Jesus hanging out with people of doubtful reputations—prostitutes and the destitute. You can easily imagine characters like Evan Hansen and Connor Murphy joining this crowd, and all of them listening to the message of the Lord. Surrounding this group of misfits are some of the supposedly upright members of society: Pharisees and Scribes, harrumphing, tut-tutting, and muttering to themselves.
The big surprise of this tale, however, is the fact that it’s less a story about repentance than it is about being found by a God who is willing to go out searching for us; less about anything you and I do, and so much more about the unconditional love of the Almighty.
Picture the scene: the son on the road back to his father’s house, ashamed and memorizing his lines: “Father, I have sinned against-heaven and before you. I no longer deserve to be called your son.” “Father, I’ve sinned…”
Meanwhile, the father isn’t moping around inside the house, peeking through the drapes and saying to himself, “Hey, there goes that bum, formerly known as my son!” No, the father is outside seeking and searching. And when he spies his ragged and exhausted son, he runs to him and embraces him. He will hear none of his “I’m so very sorry speech,” and instead instructs his servants to bring the finest robe, a ring and sandals for this son of his. And then he plans a banquet, a celebration. The father is thrilled that his son has come home. We can almost hear the music and words from the song “You Will Be Found,” playing in the background.
What’s the point of Jesus’ parable? That repentance isn’t about climbing a ladder of shame and sorrow; instead, it’s about the joy of being found by a loving God who is always on the lookout for us.
In this tale of the prodigal son, the father, by word and action, communicates a message that God longs to share with each of us: “You need not cower, for you are very precious to me, and not because you never sin.” The story makes this fact crystal clear: the wayward son never lost his father’s love. Likewise, we can never really lose God’s love. Sure, we can go rogue, but God is willing to absorb the losses that we inflict. Recall Evan Hansen’s mother’s loving words: “Evan, talk to me. It’s not a command. It’s a welcome mat.” God will always stick with you and me, the messes in which we often find ourselves notwithstanding.
The people of Jesus’ day, those who heard this parable firsthand, would have been scandalized by the Lord’s description of God as being like this loving and forgiving father. And many of us might also find ourselves somewhat shocked by the very same description. For while we know that Jesus preached and practiced the forgiveness of sin, too many in today’s Church put the emphasis on the prevention of sin rather than on mercy. And yet, compassion and mercy are at the very heart of the gospel message.
What about Option C? Do the themes of betrayal, shame, repentance and conversion characterize the journey of your life and mine?
Let me begin to answer that question from a personal point of view. Although the events of my life are not quite as dramatic as the experiences of the prodigal son, they often resemble the ups and downs of the Grand Tetons mountain range in Yellowstone Park: I sometimes betray my ideals, allow my false self to dominate, have to “come back to myself” in regret and repentance, and rely on the glory of forgiveness and conversion. I’m also a little embarrassed to have to ADMIT that this cycle occurs over and over!
For a moment, consider the peaks and valleys of your own life’s journey. Isn’t it often the story of wandering far afield in order to ultimately come home to a great reconciliation? In a sense, this is the story of humanity-at-large, as well as the tale of our individual journeys.
How many of you would vote for Option D? All of the above? If that’s the case, just what are the implications of today’s Gospel for your life and mine?
We know that Lent is a time during which our lives can be transformed; due to God’s grace, you and I are offered an opportunity to deepen our understanding about the life that the Almighty longs to share with each of us. All of our readings today remind us of that possibility.
And so, let’s have a change of heart, and pledge to be HERALDS of God’s mercy, both to ourselves and to all whose lives we touch each day. Having experienced the Lord’s love first hand, may our lives and our words proclaim the message of today’s gospel, the message that transformed the life of the prodigal son: “You will be found.”
Weekly Memorization
Taken from the gospel for today’s session…
But now we must celebrate and rejoice because your brother who was dead has come to life again; he was lost and has been found
Living the Good News
What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion?
Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow:
Reflection Questions
- Some people have said that to extend compassion or forgiveness to someone who has hurt someone else somehow demeans or trivializes the suffering of the victim. Do you agree or disagree?
How do you think Jesus felt about this issue? - When Jesus was on the cross he forgave his killers. How hard was this?
Why did he do so? - If you were Jesus, what would you have said to Peter when you met him by the lake after his resurrection? (Check out John 21:15-19 to see what he actually said 3 times)
- Have you ever been on the other end of someone’s forgiveness when it did not seem like forgiveness at all? Did it harm your relationship in any way?
- How do you fit the first examples of the lost sheep and the lost coin in with the parable of the two lost sons and the father?
What does Jesus seem to be saying about God’s persistence in forgiving us and welcoming us?
In my life, have I ever sought out someone who has hurt me and tried to reconcile?
Did I do so by reminding them why I was hurt in the first place? - In what ways is the younger son in need of forgiveness?
Have I ever hurt someone, regretted it, and tried to find my way back into the relationship?
What made it hard—my bad deed or the anger of the person whom I hurt? - In what ways is the elder son in need of forgiveness?
Have I ever resented it when a sibling got away with things I never would have thought of doing?
Am I angry when someone bends the rules and never seems to get caught?
Have I ever resented it when someone who didn’t deserve it got a second or third chance?
Did my anger also spill over onto the person extending that second or third chance?
Did I gloat or did I ever say “I told you so” when someone disappointed his mother or her boss again?
Do I believe that God understands and is willing to forgive me my smallness and resentment? - In what ways is the father in need of forgiveness?
Have I ever inadvertently shown favoritism to a friend, a relative or a co-worker who then took advantage of me?
Are there certain people in my life I am more disposed to give a second chance? - This is a parable, not a metaphor. So God is not exactly like the father in the story. What qualities of the father do not resemble the God I know and believe in?
What qualities of the father resemble the God I know and believe in?
Do I believe God understands both my smallness and my big mistakes? - From “Faith Book” 2013, a service of the Southern Dominican Province:
Do today’s parables reflect your image of God, or do they challenge you to reconsider how you have thought about and prayed to God?
How do you think you can put flesh on today’s parables by your own behavior?
Meditations
A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions:
A Meditation in the Augustinian Style/Relationship:
A Meditation in the Ignatian Style/Imagination
Poetic Reflection:
Slowly, slowly
Comes Christ through the garden
Speaking to the sacred trees
Their branches bear his light
Without harm
Slowly, slowly
Comes Christ through the ruins
Seeking the lost disciple
A timid one
Too literate
To believe words
So he hides
Christ rises on the cornfields
It is only the harvest moon
The disciple
Turns over in his sleep
And murmurs:
“My regret!”
The disciple will awaken
When he knows history
But slowly, slowly
The Lord of History weeps into the fire
—Thomas Merton “Cables to the Ace” (stanza 80)
Poetic Reflection:
“The Hound of Heaven”
I fled Him, down the nights and down the days;
I fled Him, down the arches of the years;
I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways
Of my own mind; and in the midst of tears
I hid from Him, and under running laughter.
Up vistaed hopes I sped;
And shot, precipitated,
Adown Titanic glooms of chasmed fears,
From those strong Feet that followed, followed after.
But with unhurrying chase,
And unperturbed pace,
Deliberate speed, majestic instancy,
They beat and a Voice beat
More instant than the Feet
'All things betray thee, who betrayest Me'.
I pleaded, outlaw-wise,
By many a hearted casement, curtained red,
Trellised with intertwining charities;
(For, though I knew His love Who followed,
Yet was I sore adread
Lest, having Him, I must have naught beside.)
—Francis Thompson
Closing Prayer
I ask you Lord, to be patient with me; extend your mercy and compassion toward me. Help me to understand that you will never leave me, never forsake me, that you always seek me out because you love me so much. Teach me to meet other with the same love, forgiveness and compassion.
23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, September 4, 2022
The real cost of discipleship
Gospel: Luke 14: 25–33
The real cost of discipleship
Luke 14: 25–33
Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’
“Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.”
Music Meditations
- All That I Am—Sebastian Temple
- The Summons—Robert Kolchis
- Be Thou My Vision—Nathan Pacheco
- All That I Am, All That I Have—Divine Hymns
Opening Prayer
Teach me, O Lord, to have trust in your love and goodness. I ask you to show me what I am holding onto too tightly to be your true disciple. Teach me not to invest my whole life in people or approval or things that increase my pleasure and personal comfort at the expense of others or the world at large. Teach me not to settle for the comfort and security that keeps me from hearing your call.
Companions for the Journey
Weekly Memorization
Taken from the gospel for today’s session…
"If you do not carry your own cross and come after me, you cannot be my disciple."
Living the Good News
What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion?
Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow:
Reflection Questions
Meditations
A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Considering the Issues at Hand:
A Meditation in the Ignatian Style/Imagination:
The community of believers was of one heart and mind, and no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they had everything in common. There was no needy person among them, for those who owned property or houses would sell them, bring the proceeds of the sale, and put them at the feet of the apostles, and they were distributed to each according to need. Thus Joseph, also named by the apostles Barnabas (which is translated “son of encouragement”), a Levite, a Cypriot by birth, sold a piece of property that he owned, then brought the money and put it at the feet of the apostles.
Poetic Reflection:
What does the poem by Father Michael Kennedy, S.J., tell me about taking Jesus at face value, about actually hearing what Jesus was saying so long ago?:
When Luke uses what We would call exaggeration As he has Jesus describe how The new disciples are to act and Where their priorities must be We tend to dismiss it because We still often refuse to take The Gospels on their own Terms and instead we Read them in light Of our images and Concepts and so Yet again we may Miss the point **** And of course He is Not asking for families to Be split apart nor for them To hate each other nor is He Really thinking that they should Go about being unprepared in even Little things but He is warning Them that truly nothing can Replace their commitment To Him and to the Ministry He will Entrust to them And which will Be demanding **** We are also in Trouble if we think of Discipleship as just another Workplace to be abandoned After hours on the job for this Jesus calls us to also be Christian (gasp) even On weekends **** © Michael J. Kennedy 2007
Closing Prayer
Dear Lord, help me take those steps that will lead me to participation in your Kingdom. Help me to turn away from anyone or anything that might hamper my journey. Help me to be generous of heart toward those who are struggling with these same issues. Above all, keep me on the path that leads ultimately to you.