Weekly Reflections
32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, November 6, 2022
Be prepared; live this moment as if heaven were here and now
Gospel: Luke 20: 27–38
He is not God of the dead, but of the living.
Be prepared; live this moment as if heaven were here and now
Luke 20: 27–38
Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus and asked him a question, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers; the first married, and died childless; then the second and the third married her, and so in the same way all seven died childless. Finally the woman also died. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married her.” Jesus said to them, “Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage; but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. Indeed they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection. And the fact that the dead are raised Moses himself showed, in the story about the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive.”
Music Meditations
- Goodness Is Stronger than Evil—Desmond Tutu and John Bell
- Jesus Remember Me—Taizé
- 10,0000 Reasons—Matt Redman
- Shepherd Me, O God—Marty Haugen (Psalms for the Church Year)
Opening Prayer
Help me Lord, to believe in my own personal resurrection, since this belief gives meaning to all that I do and say, all that I pray. Help me to remember that at the doorway of death, life is changed not ended. Help me to believe that the loved ones I have lost are not really “lost”, but have truly been “found” in your abiding love and eternal joy.
Companions for the Journey
Adapted from “first Impressions”, a service of the Southern Dominican Province:
In today’s gospel the Sadducees raise the question of the resurrection and the kind of life we will have in the next world. While their inquiry seems less than sincere and more a way to trip up Jesus, wouldn’t we worshipers like more details about our future home? We certainly have lost enough loved ones and felt the anguish of separation. Where are they now? Are they alright? Will we see them again? When a child asks where a recently deceased grandmother has gone we say, “She has gone to heaven to be with grandpa.” We were told as children to be good so that we would go to heaven. We teach children that heaven is where God lives with all the angels and saints. The saints----those recognized by our community as significant models of humanity; those who give us a glimpse of what we humans can become. Someday we will be there with them and enjoy each other’s company. Heaven--- it’s our goal in life. It animates our good efforts and comforts us in the death of our loved ones.
The ideal state of bliss we call heaven enters the thoughts and conversations of even our secular lives. When people are really happy they say, “It’s like heaven on earth.” “How was the apple pie?” we ask. “Heavenly!” comes the response, “Just perfect, couldn’t be better.” Couldn’t be better—nice summary for what we believe about heaven. It is the very best place to be, no hint of defect, no unhappiness, no end of bliss. We enter a church, look up and see a huge mural. It depicts God, surrounded by the heavenly hosts and an array of famous saints from Jewish and Christian tradition. Not a trace of darkness or a hint of evil. It’s heaven.
Considering heaven’s importance in our religious imagination and iconography one would think there would be abundant descriptions in the scriptures of our resurrected life in heaven. Of course there are parables about “the Kingdom of heaven,” but they have more to do with this life than the next. The scriptures are strangely agnostic about the details of what is waiting for us after death. Our traditional explanations of heaven have been of little help. Resurrected life is described in static terms. We will, we were told, enjoy the “beatific vision.” I must admit, when I first heard that in a college theology class, it sounded boring to me, lacking in energy and vitality, filled with sameness—for eternity.
So, I imagine the Sadducees’ question to Jesus in today’s Gospel might stir up interest in our listeners. It does in me. Yes, Jesus, what’s it going to be like when we are resurrected? Will we have fun? Will we be better singers, always singing on pitch? Run faster? Tell really funny jokes and always get a big laugh? Will I always have my mother’s tomato sauce and pasta for an eternity of Sunday dinners? (That would really be heaven!) If we were physically challenged in this life, will we have functioning arms and legs in the next? And to approach the problem posed by the Sadducees, if we were widowed, remarried and loved both spouses, to whom will we be married in the next life? And if a woman were married to a miserable son of a gun in this life, will she have to stay married to him in the next or could she try another?
The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection. They taught that only the first five books of the bible, those attributed to Moses, were normative for the Jews. Since there is no teaching in these books about resurrection and since Jewish teaching on the subject was still evolving, the Sadducees did not believe in it. The problem they present to Jesus of the seven husbands was an attempt to show by logic the absurdity of the notion of resurrection. They may be asking Jesus a question, but they have already made up their minds. No matter what Jesus says, he is not going to influence them. Nevertheless, Jesus is gracious and treats their question seriously. Life in the next world, he says, will be radically different from this. Drawing conclusions from this life, or extending notions from this to the next, just won’t work. This is an inadequate and useless approach. In early Jewish thinking, before the notions of resurrection developed, this was the only life conceivable. Marriage and having children would be the way to perpetuate one’s family name. Your life continued on in your children and so marriage was essential. Thus there developed the “levirate marriage” (Deut. 25: 5-10). A brother would marry the widow of his childless brother. If they had children, they would be children of the first husband, the deceased brother. It was a law with the good intention of keeping the family memory alive, and preventing the loss of a family to the whole people of Israel.
But in the resurrection, Jesus explains, we will all be children of God. God does not need marriage to make us into God’s children; resurrection is an act of God and a free gift to us. “They are the children of God!” Jesus knows his biblical roots and to match the Sadducees’ reference to Deuteronomy, he draws on Exodus 3: 6 to affirm God as the God of the living. What is it going to be like in the resurrected life? If only Jesus had given us the floor plans of our heavenly abode. But he hasn’t. Even though he doesn’t satisfy our curiosity, he has done much more for us. He has assured us that God will not stop being our God at death. If we have had God’s life here, we will have that life in our resurrected state.
We can’t prove resurrection by our rational arguments. What we read in these gospel stories is that Jesus went through death and came back. In some ways his resurrected body was like ours–he ate, talked and cooked fish for his disciples. But in other ways he was completely different —he could appear in a locked room, disappear before his Emmaus table companions and not be immediately recognized by even his closest friends. Something was so very different about him.
When the scriptures do speak about our resurrected lives they are rich in describing our being together in final joy. We will “know” one another--- “know” God--- and be “known” by God. Knowing, in the scriptures means a full experience of another in a rich and intimate relationship. Heaven isn’t static after all, but an intense sharing in life. We don’t know what that means, but we do get glimpses of it here and when we do, we know we will not be bored!
Weekly Memorization
Taken from the gospel for today’s session…
He is not God of the dead, but of the living.
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
- Have you ever been in a discussion with another who was just in the argument because she liked verbal sparring, or because he was out to advance his point of view, but not open to a true dialogue on the issue or not interested in considering another opinion?
How did you handle it?
Have you ever been the immovable or deliberately argumentative one?
What did you learn from each other in these encounters? - Were any of you struck by the sense that a good part of this discussion centered around the issue of whose possession the woman would be in the next life?
- Describe your first experience of death.
- What are some of the things you have been taught about death?
What are three things you believe about death?
Does your belief focus more on heaven or hell? - On this earthly journey of mine, what am I investing my energies in?
- Have I spent more time shaping my resume or shaping my soul?
- What do I think God will remember me for?
- When fellow parishioner Catherine Wolff was writing a book about the afterlife, she asked me what I thought about heaven. Snarkily, I said: “I don’t think about it much, because you have to be dead to get there.”
Do you think about heaven?
What do you think it will be like?
What are three things you believe about life after death?
What are your doubts about death and the afterlife? - What does “resurrection” mean to you?
Belief in the resurrection—or the lack of it, how does this affect your daily thoughts and actions? - From Daniel Harrington, S.J.:
Do you believe in life after death?
What is the “communion of saints”?
Do you ever reflect on being a member of same?
How does this affect your life? - What is Jesus asking us to trust about God’s love?
- “God is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living” What does this mean to you?
- Tony DeMello, S.J. wrote that “To see life as it truly is, nothing helps so much as the reality of death”. What do you think he meant? As he suggests, does the reality of death teach us to live in the moment? How?
Meditations
A Meditation in the Augustinian Style/Memory:
Spend some time during the month of November communing with someone who has gone before you. Re-live the memories you shared, and share your current joys and challenges. Then pray each day this week in thanksgiving for the presence of this person in your life. Pray also for anyone facing death at this time, that they may have the comfort of knowing they will be joining those they love.
A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions:
This passage from the Book of Daniel in the Jewish Scriptures, demonstrates that a lot of Jews believed at least in a final resurrection. Have you heard any of this before? Have you asked yourself whether you believe in this concept or not? What does it have to do, if anything, with the notion of individual life after death?
At that time there shall arise Michael, the great prince, guardian of your people; It shall be a time unsurpassed in distress since nations began until that time. At that time your people shall escape, everyone who is found written in the book. Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake; some shall live forever, others shall be an everlasting horror and disgrace. But the wise shall shine brightly like the splendor of the firmament, And those who lead the many to justice shall be like the stars forever.
Now, read the following passage from Revelation (7:14-17) in the Christian Scriptures. How does it compare with the reading from Daniel? Which one seems more comforting? Is it how you imagine life after death to be?
After this I had a vision of a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue. They stood before the throne and before the Lamb, wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice: "Salvation comes from our God, who is seated on the throne, and from the Lamb." All the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They prostrated themselves before the throne, worshiped God, and exclaimed: "Amen. Blessing and glory, wisdom and thanksgiving, honor, power, and might be to our God forever and ever. Amen." Then one of the elders spoke up and said to me, "Who are these wearing white robes, and where did they come from?" I said to him, "My lord, you are the one who knows." He said to me, "These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress; 8 they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. "For this reason they stand before God's throne and worship him day and night in his temple. The one who sits on the throne will shelter them. They will not hunger or thirst anymore, nor will the sun or any heat strike them. For the Lamb who is in the center of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to springs of life-giving water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."
A Meditation in the Augustinian Style/Relationship:
Barbara Brown Taylor, commenting on this passage, says that, after all is said and done, the resurrection really isn’t about us at all:
I think it is about God, and to focus on our own faith or lack of faith in it may be to miss the point altogether. Resurrection is not about our own faithfulness. It is a radical claim about the faithfulness of God, who will not abandon the bodies of his [sic] beloved. That is what Jesus is getting at in his answer to the Sadducees. Never mind marriage, he says first of all. Marriage is how we preserve our own lives in this world, but in the world to come that will not be necessary anymore. We will all be wed to God–the God who is able to make children out of dust, out of dry bones, out of the bits and pieces of genuine love we are able to scrape up over a lifetime of trying—“ for he is God not of the dead, but of the living, for to him all of them are alive.”
Does this insight change your personal views about life after death? Have you ever considered the role of your religious and familial community in your everlasting life? What can you do to support others in your lie as they live out their earthly mission? What comfort can you offer those who have lost someone? And finally, spend some time thinking of God's joy at our resurrected life, of God's desire to be with us always. Compose a psalm of your own expressing your trust in God's everlasting love and fidelity.
A Meditation in the Ignatian Style/Imagination:
When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. Martha said to Jesus, 'Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.' Jesus said to her, 'Your brother will rise again.' Martha said to him, 'I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.' Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?' She said to him, 'Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.'
Imagine that you are Martha, who has just lost a beloved brother. Imagine meeting Jesus who was a little late in getting to his friend and there did not save him from death. How would you have responded to Jesus? How would you treat Lazarus after he returned to life? What would you want to ask him?
Poetic Reflections:
Read the following two poems. Which is closer to your feelings?
Birago Diop, A Muslim poet from Senegal, sums up his convictions about those who have gone before us:
Those who are dead have never gone away, They are in the shadows darkening around, They are in the shadows fading into day, The dead are not under the ground. They are in the trees that quiver, They are in the woods that weep, They are in the waters of the rivers, They are in the waters that sleep. They are in the crowds, they are in the homestead. The dead are never dead.
Raymond Carver has a different perspective:
Fear of seeing a police car pull into the drive. Fear of falling asleep at night. Fear of not falling asleep. Fear of the past rising up. Fear of the present taking flight. Fear of the telephone that rings in the dead of night. Fear of electrical storms. Fear of the cleaning woman who has a spot on her cheek! Fear of dogs I've been told won't bite. Fear of anxiety! Fear of having to identify the body of a dead friend. Fear of running out of money. Fear of having too much, though people will not believe this. Fear of psychological profiles. Fear of being late and fear of arriving before anyone else. Fear of my children's handwriting on envelopes. Fear they'll die before I do, and I'll feel guilty. Fear of having to live with my mother in her old age, and mine. Fear of confusion. Fear this day will end on an unhappy note. Fear of waking up to find you gone. Fear of not loving and fear of not loving enough. Fear that what I love will prove lethal to those I love. Fear of death. Fear of living too long. Fear of death. I've said that.
Further reading:
Wolff, Catherine: Beyond: How Humankind thinks About Heaven
Closing Prayer
Teach me to go to this country beyond words and beyond names.
Teach me to pray on this side of the frontier, here where these woods are.
I need to be led by you.
I need my heart to be moved by you.
I need my soul to be made clean by your prayer.
I need my will to be made strong by you.
I need the world to be saved and changed by you.
I need you for all those who suffer, who are in prison, in danger, in sorrow.
I need you for all the crazy people.
I need your healing hand to work always in my life.
I need you to make me, as you made your Son, a healer, a comforter, a savior.
I need you to name the dead.
I need you to help the dying cross their particular rivers.
I need you for myself whether I live or die.
It is necessary.
Amen.
—“Litany” by Thomas Merton
30th Sunday in Ordinary Time, October 23, 2022
Spiritual Arrogance and True Humility
Gospel: Luke 18: 9–14
Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled, and whoever humbles himself shall BE exalted.
Spiritual Arrogance and True Humility
Luke 18: 9–14
To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
“I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
Music Meditations
- Kyrie Eleison—Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, Matt Maher
- O Lord I Am Not Worthy (In YouTube it says: Catholic Gregorian Chant, but it is really just a traditional Catholic Eucharistic hymn)
- Lord, I Need You—Chris Tomlin
- Amazing Grace
Opening Prayer
Lord, keep me centered on you and not on my goodness, my accomplishments. Teach me not to judge others in comparison to myself, and teach me to be generous in praise of others. Give me humility and pureness of heart.
Companions for the Journey
A Big Heart Open to God: an interview with Pope Francis (from America magazine)
Editor’s Note: This interview with Pope Francis took place over the course of three meetings during August 2013 in Rome. The interview was conducted in person by Antonio Spadaro, S.J., editor in chief of La Civiltà Cattolica, the Italian Jesuit journal. The interview was conducted in Italian. After the Italian text was officially approved, America commissioned a team of five independent experts to translate it into English. America is solely responsible for the accuracy of this translation. Father Spadaro met the pope at the Vatican in the pope’s apartments in the Casa Santa Marta, where he has chosen to live since his election. Father Spadaro begins his account of the interview with a description of the pope’s living quarters: The setting is simple, austere. The workspace occupied by the desk is small. I am impressed not only by the simplicity of the furniture, but also by the objects in the room. There are only a few. These include an icon of St. Francis, a statue of Our Lady of Luján, patron saint of Argentina, a crucifix and a statue of St. Joseph sleeping. The spirituality of Jorge Mario Bergoglio is not made of “harmonized energies,” as he would call them, but of human faces: Christ, St. Francis, St. Joseph and Mary.
Who Is Jorge Mario Bergoglio?
I am a sinner. This is the most accurate definition. It is not a figure of speech, a literary genre. I am a sinner.
I ask Pope Francis point-blank: “Who is Jorge Mario Bergoglio?” He stares at me in silence. I ask him if I may ask him this question. He nods and replies: “I do not know what might be the most fitting description.... I am a sinner. This is the most accurate definition. It is not a figure of speech, a literary genre. I am a sinner.” The pope continues to reflect and concentrate, as if he did not expect this question, as if he were forced to reflect further. “Yes, perhaps I can say that I am a bit astute, that I can adapt to circumstances, but it is also true that I am a bit naïve. Yes, but the best summary, the one that comes more from the inside and I feel most true is this: I am a sinner whom the Lord has looked upon.” And he repeats: “I am one who is looked upon by the Lord. I always felt my motto, Miserando atque Eligendo [By Having Mercy and by Choosing Him], was very true for me.” The motto is taken from the Homilies of Bede the Venerable, who writes in his comments on the Gospel story of the calling of Matthew: “Jesus saw a publican, and since he looked at him with feelings of love and chose him, he said to him, ‘Follow me.’” The pope adds: “I think the Latin gerund miserando is impossible to translate in both Italian and Spanish. I like to translate it with another gerund that does not exist: misericordiando [“mercy-ing”]. “That finger of Jesus, pointing at Matthew. That’s me. I feel like him. Like Matthew.” Here the pope becomes determined, as if he had finally found the image he was looking for: “It is the gesture of Matthew that strikes me: he holds on to his money as if to say, ‘No, not me! No, this money is mine.’ Here, this is me, a sinner on whom the Lord has turned his gaze. And this is what I said when they asked me if I would accept my election as pontiff.” Then the pope whispers in Latin: “I am a sinner, but I trust in the infinite mercy and patience of our Lord Jesus Christ, and I accept in a spirit of penance.
Prayer: I ask Pope Francis about his preferred way to pray.
“I pray the breviary every morning. I like to pray with the psalms. Then, later, I celebrate Mass. I pray the Rosary. What I really prefer is adoration in the evening, even when I get distracted and think of other things, or even fall asleep praying. In the evening then, between seven and eight o’clock, I stay in front of the Blessed Sacrament for an hour in adoration. But I pray mentally even when I am waiting at the dentist or at other times of the day. “Prayer for me is always a prayer full of memory, of recollection, even the memory of my own history or what the Lord has done in his church or in a particular parish. For me it is the memory of which St. Ignatius speaks in the First Week of the Exercises in the encounter with the merciful Christ crucified. And I ask myself: ‘What have I done for Christ? What am I doing for Christ? What should I do for Christ?’ It is the memory of which Ignatius speaks in the ‘Contemplation for Experiencing Divine Love,’ when he asks us to recall the gifts we have received. But above all, I also know that the Lord remembers me. I can forget about him, but I know that he never, ever forgets me. Memory has a fundamental role for the heart of a Jesuit: memory of grace, the memory mentioned in Deuteronomy, the memory of God’s works that are the basis of the covenant between God and the people. It is this memory that makes me his son and that makes me a father, too.”
Weekly Memorization
Taken from the gospel for today’s session…
Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled, and whoever humbles himself shall BE exalted.
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 Ignatian Style/Imagination:
I re-read this parable of the Pharisee and Publican. I place myself in the events of this little story. What does the temple look like? Where is each man standing? What is the posture and manner of the Pharisee? How about that of the Publican (tax collector)? Who do I identify with more—the man who did what he was supposed to and prayed regularly, gave to the poor, and was an honest, good person, or the tax collector, who preyed on the weak and the helpless, extorting monies from them they could little afford and raking off a profit for himself? When we try to live a good life, is it hard not to be a little smug sometimes? I try to put myself in each man’s shoes. First I look at the part of me that loves and honors God and tries to be a good person. Do I unconsciously measure my goodness against that of others around me? Isn’t that a natural thing to do? Now I look at the part of me, like the tax collector, who has done some things for my own advancement that I’m not too proud of—a sleazy little lie here, a little shameless flattery there, perhaps a little subtle character assassination to top it off. Which side of me do I emphasize when I pray? I speak to Jesus about both sides of my nature and pray for the understanding to know when I’ve been wrong, for humility which does not allow for personal pride in my own goodness, and for the wisdom to know that both understanding and humility are gifts of God.
A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions:
A Meditation in the Augustinian Style/Relationship:
In New Seeds of Contemplation Thomas Merton said:
And now I am thinking of the disease which is spiritual pride. I am thinking of the particular unreality that gets into the hearts of saints and eats their sanctity away before it is mature. There is something of this worm in the hearts of all religious men. As soon as they have done something which they know to be good in the eyes of God, they tend to takes its reality to themselves and to make it their own. They tend to destroy their virtues by claiming them for themselves and clothing their own private illusion of themselves with values that belong to God. Who can escape the desire to breathe a different atmosphere from the rest of men? (p. 49) The saints are what they are not because their sanctity makes them admirable to others, but because the gift of sainthood makes it possible for them to admire everybody else (p.57).
Think about your particular spiritual gifts, but be very careful not to be smug about them and careful not to compare yourself to someone else, good or bad. What can you do to be honest with yourself about all the ways in which you have been especially arrogant about your own beliefs or actions, and particularly dismissive of the beliefs and actions of others. Then, write your own prayer to God, thanking God for all the ways that you are like others, and thanking God for all those in your life who have been an example and a corrective to your sometimes self-absorbed, tendencies. Recall the times that you have fallen short of the ideal, knowing that God has continued to be forgiving and merciful. Then recall times that you have been harsh or dismissive in your judgement of other people or other groups. Ask God to help you do better.
A Meditation in the Franciscan Style/Action:
Think of someone in your life right now whose actions you don't particularly admire. Try to spend some time talking to this person in an attempt to get to know her better, not to convince him of the wrongheadedness of his actions. Try to listen to this person with a truly open mind, realizing that there may be much more that this person is dealing with than you know about. Pray for unconditional love for this person.
Poetic Reflection:
Read the following poems by Rev. Ed. Ingebretzen, S.J., and Turner Cassidy and think again of the message of the story of the Publican and the Pharisee.
“In the Center of Right”
The woman taken in adultery
faces the glee of the takers—
they leap upon her
like shoppers upon the prize.She wears her fright
like the face on Veronica’s veil
as they toss their cage
of rectitude and certainty,having caught at last
the lioness smelling of blood
trapped in the heat of love.We are never safe, she and I—
unfaithful as cats in heat
in neighborhoods where dogs strain
with white, law-edged teeth.From behind her eyes, encircled,
I catch a bit of her fear;
I feel in my bones the violence
come of being wrong, cornered
in the center of right.—Ed. Ingebretzen, S.J., from To Keep From Singing
“Carpenters”
Forgiven, unforgiven, they who drive the nails Know what they do: they hammer. If they doubt, if their vocation fails, They only swell the number, Large already, of the mutineers and thieves. With only chance and duty There to cloak them, they elect and nail. The vinegar will pity. Judas who sops their silver his accuser, errs To blame the unrewarded. They guard the branch he hangs from. Guilt occurs Where it can be afforded.
—Turner Cassidy, from The Uncommon Touch
A great short story for further reading:
Flannery O'Connor, "Revelation" from Collected Works
Closing Prayer
Adapted from sacred Space, a service of the Irish Jesuits, 2022
Lord, can I ever get rid completely of the Pharisee in me? I find it is so easy to feel superior to others in one way or another while being blind to my own shortcomings. Remind me that humility, however, is not meant to exaggerate my shortcomings and failings, but simply to trust that you understand and will help me to do better. Help me to be honest with myself and kind to myself, grounded in the reality of your love. Remind me that I am not loved by you because I am good, but because you are good. My sinfulness, failures are not reasons for doubting your love, but rather they are an invitation to marvel all the more at your loving kindness.
29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, October 16, 2022
What is prayer for? What does perseverance in prayer mean to me?
Gospel: Luke 18: 1–8
Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says. Will not God secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night?
What is prayer for? What does perseverance in prayer mean to me?
Luke 18: 1–8
Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’
“For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”
And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
Music Meditations
- My God, My God, Why (Psalm 22)—Psalm Project
- The Lord’s Prayer—Andrea Bocelli
- Kyrie Eleison—Chris Tomlin and others
- Lord, I Need You—Matt Maher
- Prayer of St. Francis
Companions for the Journey
From “First Impressions, 2019”:
We need to be wary of today’s parable of the widow and the unjust judge, lest we convey a false image of God. (Remember the command, “Thou shall not have strange gods before me.”) Well, if we are not careful, we are liable to imagine a “strange god” and even seem to make what we say sound legitimate or backed up by this parable.
The trap lies in our modern tendency to be too literal. By that I mean, we tend to miss the imaginative aspects of these parables and apply a strict formula to them in our interpretation. It goes something like this: the judge is God and we are the widows. So, like the widow we need to pray incessantly if we want to get what we want from God. Keep at it, God will eventually give in – isn’t that what the parable seems to imply? This, or similar ways of interpreting parables, treats them as allegories – not parables. Look what such an interpretation does to our faith: it paints God as hard-hearted and our constant prayer like water dripping on the stone heart of a reluctant God, hoping to eventually wear God down on our behalf. Remember too that the judge in the parable is unjust – making it even more dangerous to allegorize this parable, lest God take on the features of this judge in our imaginations.
If God gets so misrepresented then we, who are praying earnestly and even desperately for something, are made to feel doubly alone, with no one on our side against the Almighty and seeming-reluctant God. If this is what we infer from this parable, no matter how unintentionally, then we will have created a “strange god” indeed! Certainly not the God of Jesus’ words and actions. This false image will only reinforce an old stereotype of a God so offended by our sin, that God would punish us severely, were it not for Jesus, God’s beloved child who, by his faithfulness and sacrifice, stays God’s angry hand. This makes God sound schizophrenic – partially with us in Jesus, but ill-disposed as our Creator – with the Holy Spirit going back and forth between us humans and the two trying to tie up the loose ends.
Even if we didn’t have the citation telling us that this is a parable from Luke’s gospel, we could easily guess its authorship. The parable has the signs of a Lucan tale, for again, we hear his often-repeated themes about the poor, women and prayer. Widows were especially vulnerable in biblical times and in the scriptures we often hear the reference to “widows and orphans” – two particularly defenseless and needy groups. A widow would be dependent on her sons, or a close male relative to take care of her. She was especially vulnerable if the responsible males were indifferent to her welfare, or worse, had defrauded her. In such situations a widow would have recourse to a judge who was supposed to protect the rights of widows and the poor. But the judge to whom our widow turns has no regard for her plight and “neither feared God nor respected any human being.” What chance would she have against a judge like this who disregards the basic commandments about God and neighbor? The cards are stacked against her and things look pretty grim for her ever getting her due.
But this is no ordinary widow! She confronts the judge using the only things she has on her side – her voice and her persistence. What she wants is justice, but from a judge who is not in the least bit interested in giving it to her. The only recourse she would normally have had is not in the least bit interested in her just cause. But by her persistence she wears down the judge who finally gives in to her. Don’t you find it amusing to hear the judge’s fear that a widow is going to come and “strike” him? The original language suggests that he is afraid she will give him a black eye. I hear Jesus’ listeners, so often denied their own rights before the rich and powerful, chuckling as Jesus paints this picture of a “dangerous” widow who will give a good boxing to a corrupt male judge.
This is one of those “how-much-more parables.” Jesus paints a picture of a despicable judge who eventually gives in to the persistent demands of the widow. It is as if he is saying, “If this kind of a person eventually responds, how much more will God?” Why? Because God is not turned against us and will “secure the rights” of God’s chosen. Of course, our struggle lies in the fact that so much in our world is unjust, especially for the disenfranchised. We pray for things to be put right and even pray that we can help make them so. Yet often, conditions don’t improve, sometimes they even get worse. Doesn’t that make you want to despair of every seeing things righted? So, we are tempted to cease our works and quite our prayers. “What’s the use?”, we lament. Even when things improve a bit there still is an enormous mountain of wrongs to address – in our homes, church, community and world. We feel our efforts are so puny and so we are tempted to withdraw back into our private world saying, “What difference can I make?”
Such feelings tempt us to quit our efforts at prayer and works on behalf of God’s reign. Jesus expresses how serious the issues are, how powerful the forces against us are and seems to worry about the effects on his disciples. He asks, “But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” Not an idle, or speculative question, but one that is based on the experiences of the church from its beginnings: disciples have hard work and prayer to do until the Lord returns and the wait, without immediate signs of “success,” can disillusion us and threaten our faith.
If we are looking for an image of the divine in this parable and don’t find it in the judge, is there another possibility? Here is another approach by the New Testament scholar Barbara Reid (Parables For Preachers: The Gospel of Luke, Year C. Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2000.). She suggests finding the God-like figure in the widow who persistently pursues injustice, denouncing it until justice is achieved. This interpretation is consistent with the New Testament message that power is found in weakness. A conclusion we would draw for ourselves then is that if this is the God in whose image we are made, then we too should tirelessly pursue justice even if it is against more powerful forces than we can muster.
I like the first reading’s image for prayer. As powerful and exemplary a model of faith Moses was during hard times, nevertheless, as the battle against Amalek wears on, Moses’ raised hands “grew tired.” We can identify with that fatigue, we who find it hard to keep our hands raised in prayer as life tries to wear us down. Even Moses needed help. So, Aaron and Hur support his hands, “one on one side and one on the other, so his hands remained steady till sunset.” We all need help in our struggles against evil forces and in our desire to stay faithful in hard times.
Look around at those who worship with us at this Eucharist. We see the elderly, even infirmed, here – still praying. We know of those who can’t get out of bed to come to church, but we also know they are praying and staying faithful. They give strength and determination to our faltering prayer, they help keep our hands “raised.” Perhaps someone notices us here at worship. We don’t think of ourselves as great models of faith, but who knows what straggling soul at prayer is helped by seeing us here? We may be helping them keep their faltering and tired hands “raised” in hope and prayer.
Further reading:
- Commentary on Luke 18:1-8 from “Living Space” >>
- Homily from 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C, by Father Robert Glynn, S.J. >>
Weekly Memorization
Taken from the gospel for today’s session…
Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says. Will not God secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night?
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/Asking Questions:
(This is taken from "First Impressions", a service of the Southern Dominican Province for 29 Sunday C 2019):
The widow’s plight calls to mind those who are deprived of justice in our own society. As elections draw near, whose voices are going to be heard by both politicians and voters? Whose interests will be at the top of the list? Will the voices of the poor and powerless be outshouted by individuals and special interest groups who have more financial or voting power? It would be a rare election indeed if this didn’t happen. Most often the poor, minorities, immigrants, homeless, infirmed, aged and very young are not first on the minds of those running for office, or those casting votes. We can hear the widow’s voice in another way, for now she is speaking for those in our society who are not heard despite their just and desperate need. Will her voice be heard today by city planners deciding where to put a new power plant, city dump, petro-chemical plant, refinery? Who will influence municipal and federal governments when decisions are being made about which homes will be destroyed to build a super highway? Picture the widow standing among those disenfranchised at our borders and hear her voice, “Render a just decision for [us] against [our] adversary.” What is the role of prayer, generally, in social justice situations? What is my role, generally, in social justice situations?
A Meditation in the Augustinian Style/Relationship:
Here is a prayer from a spiritual writer:
Hi God, I am just a mess. It is all hopeless What else is new? Would be sick of me, if I were you, But miraculously, you are not, I know I have no control over other people's lives, and I hate this. Yet I believe that if I accept this and surrender, you will meet me wherever I am. Wow, can this be true? If am, how is this afternoon--say, two-ish? Thank you in advance for your company and blessings. You have never let me down. Amen
Get out a journal, and write your very own prayer, seeking God's help in your life. Be real. Be honest. Be persistent. On small pieces of paper, write down all the things that you are worried about right now. All of them. Then put them in a sealed envelope, or a locked box where you can't get your sticky little fingers on them, and then let God do the work. You just might become unstuck yourself…..
A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions:
Let us take some few minute and ask ourselves about our own prayer life: What part of my personal prayer is asking for what I want? What part of my personal prayer shares with God exactly how I am feeling? What part of my personal prayer is formal, using words and phrases I have memorized, or pray on Sundays? What part of my personal prayer is about trust, open to new adventures? What part of my personal prayer is a plea for mercy, because I have fallen short of my ideals? What part of my personal prayer is thanking God for all that has happened and is happening to me in my life? What part of my prayer is about awe at God's generosity to me and to the world? What part of my prayer is about surrender, saying "Amen", or "Let it be as you say"
Can I find the time to spend 1% of every day in prayer? (That's 15 minutes a day, folks)
Poetic Reflection:
Mary Oliver was a very spiritual person, and I suspect, a prayerful person. For example, her book Thirst, is a small gem of prayerfulness, Here are a couple of her poems on the subject of prayer. Do you have your own favorite?
“Praying”
It doesn’t have to be
the blue iris, it could be
weeds in a vacant lot, or a few
small stones, just
pay attention, then patcha few words together and don’t try
to make them elaborate, this isn’t
a contest, but the doorwayinto thanks, and a silence in which
another voice may speak.
“Making the House Ready for the Lord”
Dear Lord, I have swept and I have washed but
still nothing is as shining as it should be
for you. Under the sink, for example, is an
uproar of mice—it is the season of their
many children. What shall I do? And under the eaves
and through the walls the squirrels
have gnawed their ragged entrances—but it is the season
when they need shelter, so what shall I do? And
the raccoon limps into the kitchen and opens the cupboard
while the dog snores, the cat hugs the pillow;
what shall I do? Beautiful is the new snow falling
in the yard and the fox who is staring boldly
up the path, to the door. And still I believe you will
come, Lord: you will, when I speak to the fox,
the sparrow, the lost dog, the shivering sea-goose, know
that really I am speaking to you whenever I say,
as I do all morning and afternoon: Come in, Come in.
Homily from 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C, by Father Robert Glynn, S.J.
The parable of the unjust judge follows the logic of the parable of the unjust steward and the Synoptic idea that “if you who are evil know how to give your children good things, how much more so will your heavenly Father.”
From Father Bob Glynn, S.J.:
The parable of the unjust judge follows the logic of the parable of the unjust steward and the Synoptic idea that “if you who are evil know how to give your children good things, how much more so will your heavenly Father.” Thus, the judge is by no means God. He represents the “wisdom” of a world where one’s own needs and concerns come first, no matter with what kind of authority one has been entrusted.
The judge in the parable never deals with the injustice with which the widow is concerned, since the reader knows no details of the case by which to assess the judge’s reasoning. Injustice is wrong no matter what, and the woman has asserted herself against a male-dominated social system which would see her treated unjustly no matter what her complaint might be. The judge’s final assessment is not based on the rights of the woman, the indignity of what she may have suffered, the fact that as a widow she has no one to champion her, but must take on a role not afforded her by the society in which she lives and which is entrusted with her welfare. Rather, like all who coordinate and benefit from a dramatically skewed system, he is concerned only what personal gain or loss may accrue to him. In the end, “justice” is not served since the law is not even given a wink and a nod.
The woman engages in an activity which would certainly have not been normal for her day. She insists that she be treated with dignity, that her own needs be considered and weighed by those entrusted with seeing that all who are subject to the (Mosaic) law are giving a fair hearing (or any hearing at all). The woman’s persistence marks the only power she possesses, an unlikely one to win the day with such a judge as the mediator of her complaints. Yet she is triumphant—a clear Lucan theme—and can rejoice that her refusal to remain a passive victim of injustice has borne fruit.
Certainly, God who is the author of justice, who is in fact Truth and Justice himself, can only want that the woman and all who are subordinated to the caprices of the powerful be vindicated and an ill-functioning system be subverted. The call is indeed one to prayer, which requires the one praying to trust that God’s power is for those on the verges of society, those who lack the wherewithal to arrange that their own wills be followed. One’s own power is an ultimate trust in God’s goodness and justice which does not fail those who seek to find in Him what is true and right. Prayer is confidence rather than desperation and involves a sense of trust in God’s radical and pervasive love.
Commentary on Luke 18:1-8 from “Living Space”
One of the attributes attributed to Luke is that his is a “Gospel of Prayer”. We see Jesus praying in this gospel more than in the others and he gives more teaching about prayer.
From Living Space, a service of the Irish Jesuits
Commentary on Luke 18:1-8
One of the attributes attributed to Luke is that his is a “Gospel of Prayer”. We see Jesus praying in this gospel more than in the others and he gives more teaching about prayer. Today Jesus tells a parable urging perseverance. “He told his disciples a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary.” This is very much a theme in Paul’s letters (cf. Rom 1:10; 12:12; Eph 6:18; Col 1:3; 1 Thess 5:17; 2 Thess 1:11, etc., and 2 Cor 4:1,16; Gal 6:9; Eph 3:13; 2 Thess 3:13).
The parable features a totally corrupt judge, who fears neither God nor man. It also features a widow, probably the most powerless, the most pitiful and least pitied of people in the society of those days. She has lost her husband, re-marriage is out of the question, she has lost the support of her own family and her husband’s family, and there is nothing comparable to social welfare for her to lean on.
As far as a corrupt judge is concerned, she can be ignored. She has neither power nor money (for bribing). But this widow is different. She is persistent and will not give up. Eventually, the judge, for his sheer peace of mind, settles in her favour.
If, Jesus concludes, a corrupt and ruthless judge can be moved by a helpless widow, what kind of response can we expect when we, his people, call out in our helplessness to our loving and compassionate God? “I tell you, he will give them swift justice.” That is, he will give them what is rightfully due to them.
But, says Jesus in a challenge which should make us sit up and take notice, “When the Son of Man comes, will he find any faith on earth?” Times of persecution are on the way – they have already begun as this gospel is written – and some will give up under pressure. They will not persevere in keeping close contact with God in prayer, finding him and his peace in the midst of their sufferings.
It is easy to pray when things are going well. It is often in times of pressure that we, too, give up praying when we need it most, when our faith is really being put to the test. We have to pray constantly and consistently. We should not be afraid to ask for what we believe we really need.
But then, if God is such a caring person, why should we have to pray to him at all? We need to keep praying, not for his sake but for our own. By doing so, we maintain an awareness that “by ourselves we can do nothing”.
Secondly, the more we pray, the closer we come to God. And, as we pray, what we ask for will gradually change. Ultimately what we want is what we need. And what we need is to bring our thinking, our dreams, our ambitions totally into line with God’s way of seeing things.
The problem is, as Jesus says at the end today, how many people will really be doing that when he comes looking for us? How often do I pray? How consistently do I ask? What do I ask for? What do I really want? Do I distinguish between what I want and what I really need? And do I really have that faith and trust in the loving providence of my God?
There is another and very indifferent interpretation of this passage. When we read this parable about perseverance, we usually think of it in these terms: God is the judge and we are the widow. This means we should persevere in pestering God until our needs are met.
But what happens if we turn that around and say that we are the judge and God is the widow? In some ways, this interpretation makes more sense. We, like the judge, are basically unjust. Sometimes we, too, have no fear of God; that is, we do not allow God to scare us into being good.
Similarly, like the judge we persist in refusing to listen to the cries of the poor all around us. But God is the persistent widow who will not go away. God keeps badgering us, refusing to accept as final our ‘No’ to love. God will persist until we render a just judgment, that is, until we let the goodness out, until we learn to love.*
In Genesis we are told we are made in the image and likeness of God. Perhaps our prayer could be: Dear God, Persevering One, make us more like you!