Christ the King Year C 2019

CHRIST THE KING (C)

(2 Sam 5:1-3; Colossians 1:12-20; Luke 23:35-43)

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There was a time when Jesus asked His disciples what people were thinking about Him:

Who do men say that I am?

They answered Him saying that people thought Him to be one of the former prophets back on earth.  Shortly afterwards, however, at His crucifixion, there was, as we heard in the Gospel reading, a public proclamation, made by the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, representative of the Roman Emperor and sole custodian of  executive political and military power in the land, a statement intended to ‘hit back’ at the Jewish Sanhedrin leaders and Temple authorities – such experts at political chicanery and religious hypocrisy – a  declaration for all ordinary Jews and visiting pilgrims  to read, concerning the identity of Jesus:

An inscription was written over Him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

The distinguishing mark for membership of the Jewish nation was, of course, circumcision, or so the Jews of Jesus’ time thought; St. Paul, however, most insistently tells us (Philippians 3:3) that circumcision of the flesh is not the true circumcision:

We (Christians) are the (true) circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.

Traditional Jewry, showed the failure of their fleshly, racial, circumcision by their rejection of Jesus, their God-sent Messiah and religious King.   Do modern-day Christians then, who are of the true circumcision as St. Paul assures us, recognize Jesus as their King?

Jesus knew Himself to be a King, of that there is no doubt:

Jesus stood before the governor. And the governor asked Him, saying, "Are You the King of the Jews?" So, Jesus said to him, "It is as you say." (Matthew 27:11)

But there is some doubt today – among ever-so-modern and worldly-sensitive believers -- about whether or not He is really their King; indeed, do all of us practicing Catholics and sincere Christians fully accept Him as our King?

What does that word “King” mean for people these days?  Catholics and Christians have traditionally used the same word as was used in Jesus’ times, but have those who like to consider themselves as sensible, up to date, believers got the meaning of that word right?  Are they aware of, and even more important, are they willing to accept in their lives, the full meaning of “King” when, in today’s celebration and Creed we say “Jesus is our King”?

Well, we are all aware, of the splendour and power of kings, and Jesus yields to no one in that regard; listen to St. Paul telling us of Jesus’ power and splendour (Colossians 1:15-17):

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation, for by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him; He is before all things and in Him all things hold together.

We traditional Catholics can indeed be proud of, can glory in, Jesus our King; no earthly king could ever compare with Him.  On that account, we certainly are proud to claim that “Jesus is OUR King”.

Continuing with this examination of the meaning of the word “King” we recognize in it not only power and majesty, but also authority … for there is no doubt that a king has always been thought to have authority over his subjects.  Do we now want to proclaim so loudly that Jesus is King over us individually?  Do we -- who so readily and enthusiastically recognize His splendour and glory, His wisdom and might – accept, with similar enthusiasm, that He has authority over us and over the way we live our lives?  Many claim to be believers -- thereby acclaiming Christ as their King -- but do they, in fact, want to bask only in His reflected glory, without considering themselves in any significant way subject to His authority?  Many so-called believers seem rather to be prepared to accept Jesus as king in the style of our own democratic monarchy: with plenty of most admirable pomp and circumstance and, indeed, not without popular support and respect, but without any real, autonomous power, or spiritual authority.  

However, that is not the style of kingship recognized in the Bible, such was not the leader that the people of Israel wanted; their king had to have authority:

The people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, "No, but we will have a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles. (1 Samuel 8:19-20)

And in the very beginning, at the birth of the People of God, the leaders, Moses and Joshua were not called kings, but their authority was, nevertheless, very real:

All that you command us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. Just as we heeded Moses in all things, so we will heed you. Only the LORD your God be with you, as He was with Moses. Whoever rebels against your command and does not heed your words, in all that you command him, shall be put to death.

The people of Israel said: “Wherever you send us we will go.”  ‘Wherever’ meant ‘wherever on the way to the Promised Land’, for that was what had been promised them, the Promised Land, their true homeland and ultimate resting place: wherever you command us to go as we journey towards that Promised Land we will go.

Today, however, there are so-called Christians who have no desire, let alone hunger, for the heavenly destiny offered to all who commit themselves, through faith in Jesus Christ, to the Father’s plan of salvation; they seem to have lost their longing for a promised land because passing pleasures in the desert of this present world have distracted their minds and seduced their hearts.

In ancient Israel some tribes had entered the land Promised to their forebears and into their own personal inheritance before crossing the Jordan, but they were not allowed to rest on their territory, with their families, cultivating their land and gathering their crops … no, they must cross over with all their brethren and fight with them until they too could enter into their inheritance promised by the Lord, the God of Israel.

Today, far too many Christians want to settle for what they have got now, they want to taste to the full the seemingly endless pleasures this world seems to offer them, or else they have weighed themselves down with cares that blind them and leave them without hope in their lives.  Such disciples are not necessarily against the glory and the splendour of a King they can understand and rejoice in: one appreciated and praised by all for his goodness and wisdom, his humility and sympathy in His dealings with the underprivileged of his time; indeed, many of them would accept a King who, as heavenly Lord, is able to give them spiritual comfort and joy as they participate in the holy atmosphere and liturgical splendour of His Church.  What they cannot accept, however, is One Who has everyday and immediate authority whereby He might refuse to let them rest in, or even just ‘try-out’ at times, the pleasures and plenty of earthly possessions and passions, just as the Israelites of old were not allowed to rest on the wrong side of the Jordan.  But most of all it would seem, they cannot, will not, accept as King Him Who has us pray:

            Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us!

Joshua (another form of the name Jesus) had been told by the people, ‘may the Lord be with you; only be strong and courageous’; that is, given that the Lord our God is with you, and you show yourself strong and courageous, we will follow you through whatever trials which lead into the Promised Land.  Was Jesus strong and courageous in His life and in His death?  Was the Lord, His Father, with Him in His Resurrection?  Indeed, Jesus was all that could be wanted of a leader of God’s People; and yet, despite all that, for so many modern ‘religious-minded believers’ the obedience due to the authority of Christ the King is withheld and has become the litmus test for true discipleship.

            And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself. (John 12:32)

When lifted up on the Cross Jesus will draw all those whom the Father gives to Himself.  The obedience of the Cross is indeed the criterion for distinguishing true disciples, those whom the Father has called, from those who have come to Jesus, not in obedience to the Father’s call, but out of other motives -- apparently so admirable at times – but, for all that, diabolically unwilling to yield obedience to Christ as King.

People of God, Jesus is our King, and we are most proud to give true and total obedience to His kingly authority in our lives because we want to share in the splendour and beauty, power and glory, of His Kingdom.  The opportunity is there for us; the promise has been made to us; we are already equipped for the journey and indeed, we already have a beginning of its fulfilment: for today’s rejoicing in our King should give us some faint inkling of the blessed glory and glorious bliss that is to come. 

            Thy will be done that Thy Kingdom may come, Lord Jesus.

33rd Sunday Year C 2019

33^rd. Sunday of Year (C)

(Malachi 3:19-20; 2 Thessalonians 3:7-12; Saint Luke’s Gospel 21:5-19)

After forewarning His disciples of the trials and persecutions which lay ahead of them and would bring them to the same end as He Himself was soon to suffer, Jesus said:

            That will be your opportunity to bear witness.

That is, the whole wretched process of misunderstanding, rejection, betrayal, persecution, arrest and trial, would not be simply the result of blind chance, nor even, ultimately, the outcome of human perverseness or hatred.  No, threatening clouds would assemble over the heads of the disciples with God’s permission, indeed, as part of His plan for them, that will be your opportunity to bear witness.

The word ‘opportunity’ has special connotations which are most important for our thoughts on Our Lord’s meaning, because an ‘opportunity’ has to be grasped surely, must not to be missed, let slip; an opportunity is something to be welcomed and indeed be most grateful for.

Corresponding to the severity of the threat in which the disciples might find themselves would be the measure of God’s grace available to them: as the swelling waters of violence and hatred appear on every hand and mount up against them, that is when their opportunity will also be at hand, an opportunity to bear witness lifted up on the wings of God’s own wisdom, for they will not only be helped to defend the Good News of their proclamation, but Jesus Himself will, through their words, demonstrate the Gospel’s truth and power:

I Myself will give you an eloquence and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to resist or contradict.

That this glorious outcome might take place the disciples must learn to forget themselves and trust completely in the Lord:

            Keep this carefully in mind: you are not to prepare your defence.

They must commit themselves entirely to the Spirit of God in the Church Who will give them – in a manner of His own choosing and perhaps imperceptible to themselves at the time – the necessary eloquence to utter His wisdom, despite their personal inadequacy or feelings of natural anxiety.

This belief and appreciation, that Christ is ever with His Church and, through His Spirit given to and through her, seeks to guide all her children -- living members  of His Body -- in their and her need, as indeed He is seeking to guide us personally here and now, for God’s purposes – that is an essential part of Christian self-awareness and Catholic strength, BUT it is also something not to be presumed, imitated, ‘put-on’ like show people; rather is it something to be most humbly desired, and lovingly prayed for.

In the world of classical music, it is supremely desirable for a singer to be able to sing the words and music he or she is performing ‘from the heart’, that is, without the direct supervision of mental scrutiny.

Of course, that ready, disciplined, ‘heart’ needs to have been previously formed with careful attention to the vocal techniques required, to a deeply sensitive understanding and expression of the emotions evoked by the words and music, and indeed it needs to  have an appropriate observance of current life in society and even a sharp awareness of the concert-hall atmosphere itself.  All that however, once the performance is about to begin, must be put aside, ‘forgotten’, in order that the performance might be a ‘living and heart-felt experience’ thanks to the unmistakable beauty and truth of ‘artless’ (!) spontaneity.

Now, the witness of Christians and Catholics to Christ is something of that nature.  It is not, ultimately, a matter of expressing a merely human appreciation of and response to, Jesus the Christ, and to His Church’s proclamation of His Gospel.  It is rather a matter of baring (sic) a loving and obedient relationship between disciple and Lord, between (our) God and (my) Saviour.  And the bearing (sic) of such witness is not for anybody to presume for themselves, it is promised in our Gospel reading only to those disciples who had been with Jesus throughout His public ministry and who were prepared to suffer, with Him and for Him.  That means for us today, that one can only hope to fully trust in, rely on, the guidance of the Holy Spirit of God, on the basis of a whole-hearted conversion to Christ, a life of faith not to be measured in years necessarily, but in sincerity and commitment lived with Him according to His discipline in joy and peace.

In the Old Testament we are told that the Lord had wanted Moses to go and speak not only to the People of Israel enslaved in Egypt but even to Pharaoh, the autocratic King of Egypt himself, with a message from the Lord:

But Moses said to the Lord, ‘Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent.  I am slow of speech and of tongue’.

Moses was painfully aware – from previous experience it would seem – of his inability to express himself with ease and fluency, and he was afraid that he might make a fool of himself before the mighty ruler of Egypt and prove to be an embarrassment for the People of Israel, and above all, that he might fail the Lord Himself most miserably.  Nevertheless, the Lord said to him:

Who has made man’s mouth?  Is it not I, the Lord?  Now, therefore, go, and I will be your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.   (Exodus 4:10ff.)

Moses’ ‘opportunity’ was to be given him despite his fears, and the Holy Spirit did enable him to do what was above him for the glory of Israel’s God and the saving of His people.

Our Blessed Lord Himself, soon after having spoken to His disciples about their coming opportunity to bear witness, Himself had such an ‘opportunity’, something which, despite the accompanying circumstances of betrayal and hateful hypocrisy, He did indeed embrace whole-heartedly from His Father:

If you loved Me you would rejoice that I am going to the Father ... The ruler of the world is coming.  He has no power over Me, but the world must know that I love the Father and that I do just as the Father has commanded Me.  Get up, let us go!  (John 14: 28-31)

Thus, He left the warmth of the Last Supper to go to Gethsemane with His faithful disciples in order to grasp His own ‘opportunity’, to meet up with and face down His enemies, Judas Iscariot and the Temple police.

People of God, opportunities will come our way  and only when we have experienced and humbly accepted our own measure of helplessness and personal nothingness, only when we are dead to self-glory and truly seeking God’s will, can we and should we most confidently hope for and trust in God’s supplying grace to grasp such moments of special grace. 

Throughout the Christian life there is a most delicate balance between a God-graced mistrust of personal pride, and a like confidence in the goodness and mercy of God, and the true, exemplary, source of a life-sustaining and life-promoting balance is to be seen in Our Lord and Saviour and He assumed our lowliness in order that He might bestow on us a share in His Own divine prerogatives.

Dear People of God, we are now living in persecution times when Christians are suffering all over our world from radical fanatics, mocking unbelievers, and those whose lives are dedicated to seeking pleasure and power ‘a plenty’ or, at least, wherever they can be found.  In such times ‘opportunities’ – which can appear unexpectedly and are gone if not seized -- abound for all Christians.  We may miss some, but let us remember with holy fear that among those whom Jesus said He will deny before His Father and the angels are those who ‘are ashamed of My words before men’, those that is who never see any opportunities for them to personally witness to the Faith and Our Lord.

For all of us,  however, there is one ultimate and supreme ‘opportunity’, the moment of our death.  May we all make good use of that opportunity to give thanks to God the Father, bear loving witness to Jesus, the Son of Man and our dear Lord and Saviour, and invoke the Holy Spirit of love and truth for sincerity and peace in our final moments.

As we proceed in this Mass, therefore, let us beseech Our Lord that in Him we might share His death to the flesh and participate in His Risen Life by the Spirit. Let us receive the pledge of eternal life which He has left to us, His own must precious Body and Blood, with hearts truly humbled and contrite in the acknowledgement of our own sinfulness and poverty, and thereby sincerely opened up to, and ever more desirous of, the infusion of His most Holy Spirit into our lives, for His greater glory and our ever-greater proximity to, understanding of, and love for, the Father in Christ Jesus Our Lord. 

32nd Sunday Tear C 2019

 32^nd Sunday of Year (C)
(2^nd Maccabees 7:1-2, 9-14; 2^nd.Thessalonians 2:16 – 3:5; Luke 20:27-38)

Our readings this Sunday are very topical and timely because we hear much about ‘family’ these days, not so much as a Christian institution consisting originally of father, mother, and their rightly born or adopted children, but about 'family-type' relationships concerning one parent or two, capable of progeny or not, and one child, or several of possibly differing origins And with the secular government trying to loudly promote itself and help, so they say, children of whatever parentage, there is a danger that people may begin to think that parentage of itself is a merely natural event and state of life, and that the secular authority can rightly legislate about all such ‘family’ matters.

We who are Christians and Catholics, however, whilst we are grateful for any real help given to strengthen the institution of married life, confess and profess that marriage is a God-gifted institution, established by Him for a spiritual and heavenly purpose bringing personal and social benefits essential for human progress in true peace and right prosperity: God’s purpose for marriage calls for life-long, mutual and exclusive love, leading to personal -- not merely sexual -- fulfilment for the spouses, and stability, confidence, and growth for the family and indeed society as a whole; while ultimately preparing for the eternal happiness and heavenly blessedness of all who dedicated their married lives to Christ, and tried to live them in the power and promise of His Spirit.

The Second Vatican Council teaches us that God Himself is the author of marriage when it declares:  The intimate community of life and love which constitutes the married state has been established by the Creator and endowed by Him with its own proper laws.

Our Faith also tells us that human beings are created in the image and likeness of God Whose Love is the ultimate, absolute, and unfailing power which finds mankind good, very good, in all its powers and possibilities as the intention of His Creator’s thought;  and this divine love is intended to be recognized and embraced by mankind, thus enabling them, in turn, to bear fruit and find fulfilment in the work of presiding over creation:

            Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it.

Man and woman themselves were originally created for one another, they are divinely complementary, and Jesus showed that Christian marriage -- requiring a sacred-and-lovingly-unbreakable union of husband and wife -- eminently manifests this divine intention, when He authoritatively recalled that in the beginning the Creator’s plan had been:

            That they are no longer two, but one flesh.

Sin however, entered into the world and now, especially in our modern times of Western betrayal, everyone experiences evil all around, openly portrayed and promoted by the media, and also from within his or her own life-experience.  And yet, the order of creation persists, even though men and women now know life as seriously disturbed and disturbing.  To heal the wounds of sin, man and woman need anew and so very urgently the help of grace that God in His infinite mercy will never refuse them.  However, it is a grace originally won and supremely exemplified by Jesus Christ Who was willing to suffer Personally in order that His love might triumph in our sinful world, and without a like willingness to embrace suffering that His love might triumph in us and through us in our experience of life and living-together, men and women cannot achieve that inspiring union of their lives for which God created them in the beginning.

Jesus had a great respect for the institution of marriage as we see from the fact that, on the threshold of His public ministry He performed His first miracle – at His mother’s request – during a wedding feast.  In the course of that ministry, Jesus taught unequivocally the original meaning of the union of man and woman as the Creator willed it from the beginning: the matrimonial union is indissoluble: God Himself has determined it:

            What God has joined together, let no man put asunder.

No matter what the trendy press may print, no matter what public figures may do, no matter how much off-course human rights activists may agitate against it, marriage is a Christian institution for man and woman only and exclusively, and it cannot be terminated or broken by any civil authority. 

From these two principles we should begin to see something of the seriousness of marriage and the dignity both of the marriage bond itself and of the man and woman who together enter into that bond.

Let us now, in the light of Jesus’ teaching in the Church, have a short glance at today’s readings.  Let us begin with the Gospel reading.  You can see how the stiff-necked people whose hearts were hard, and who had forced Moses to wrongly allow them to divorce, came to regard matrimony; for the attitude of the Sadducees with their story of the seven brothers who died and the one wife who survived them all, shows neither reverence for what is holy, nor awareness of what is spiritual.  For them marriage was carnal and functional, nothing more.

However, Jesus’ answer to the Sadducees gives us guidance with regard to another and more modern error.  Marriage is not an end in itself nor is it eternal.  Marriage is, however, a pre-eminent means God has established and uses for the sanctification of people; and those who live their married life aright are thereby helped to become worthy, as Jesus said: of a place in the other world as children of the resurrection and sons of God.

But, an overly sentimental and predominantly emotional view of married love can very easily lead the partners to expect too much from it, and demand too much from each other, thus they can, quite tragically, become unforgiving in their attitude to each other.

Finally, let us have a short look at the first reading, for here is an example and a teaching which is certainly much needed today.   What a wonderful woman was shown us in that reading: she did indeed live the role marriage had brought her, that of a mother.  She taught her sons, she disciplined her sons, by the very love she had for them.  Let me just recall for you how she disciplined, by love, her youngest son:

In derision of the cruel tyrant, she leaned over close to her son and said in their native language: “Son, have pity on me, who carried you in my womb for nine months, nursed you for three years, brought you up, educated and supported you to your present age. I beg you, child, to look at the heavens and the earth and see all that is in them; then you will know that God did not make them out of existing things; and in the same way the human race came into existence.   Do not be afraid of this executioner, but be worthy of your brothers and accept death, so that in the time of mercy I may receive you again with them.”  

You who are mothers should recognize that YOU have, from God, the key to your children’s hearts, and that you and your husband have also God-given authority over and for your children.  Use those gifts with humility, prayer, and confidence.  Do not let your children do whatever they may want, but guide them, comfort, and discipline them, with love; realize that your children are gifts to you from God and bring them up as children of His whom He has entrusted to you; do not leave them to guide themselves, or follow the example of those who have neither faith nor morals.

Parent and child are meant to thank God eternally for each other: mothers, you teach your children,  to respect their father; fathers, teach your children to love their mother.  Parents both, don’t fail in your responsibility before God, because you are meant to be the first and surest teachers and exemplars about God for your children ... don’t lose that heavenly glory which will, most surely, be yours by loving and respecting each other, and together, serving, calmly loving and trusting God, in all the joys and vicissitudes of life.

May I close on a note of surprise and sorrow now seeing how little parents, religious parents, parents following the teachings of Moses, Mohammed, and Jesus, do not witness together – along with other religious people -- for the common well-being of their children against state incursions on their teaching.  As a Catholic, I can say that our Bishops are meant to guide and lead us in the ways of Jesus, but parents can also act of themselves if need be, and the question of the Christian well-being of our children is most certainly of human as well as religious concern.  All believers in the sovereignty of God in our lives should be able co-operate together when necessary for that sovereignty in the formation of their children’s lives.

31st Sunday Year C 2019

31^st. Sunday Year (C)
(Wisdom 11:22 – 12:2; 2 Thessalonians 1:11 – 2:2; Luke 19:1-10)

St. Luke has been picking out for us incidents from Jesus' journey to Jerusalem where He was to be crucified.  He has told us of the ten lepers cleansed by Jesus; of the Pharisee and the Publican, praying side by side in the Temple; of the Rich Young Man who wanted to be perfect; and now he tells us of Zacchaeus endeavouring to catch a glimpse of Jesus passing through Jericho.

Notice that there is something unexpected, from the Jewish point of view, in all of these accounts: first of all, of the ten lepers healed, only one -- a hated Samaritan -- returned to Jesus, giving thanks to God; the prayer of the despised publican in the Temple was more acceptable to God than that of the publicly esteemed and respected Pharisee. St. Luke obviously wants to insist that no one is so far fallen that Jesus cannot raise them: why, he even ends his gospel on the same note, being the only evangelist to tell us of the good thief who, having asked Jesus on the Cross to remember him in His Kingdom, received that unique promise: ‘Today you will be with Me in Paradise.’

No one is excluded, none is too far gone, and so no one should give up or despair.  On the other hand, no one can presume anything.  The nine Jewish lepers, the Pharisee praying in the Temple, the Rich Young Ruler whom Jesus loved, all of these compared badly with others who might have been considered non-starters  Absolutely no one can ever be sure of salvation; none, not even the last or the least, is out of Jesus’ saving reach; all of us have to seek for ever greater proximity to, closeness with, Jesus throughout the whole of our life.    With that in mind let us now take a closer look at our Gospel reading.

Jesus was not intending to stop, let alone stay, in Jericho; as He walked along purposefully, He was being followed by a crowd of people hoping to see a miracle or something notable, not particularly wanting to hear Jesus' teaching. 

Zacchaeus, who was small in stature, had climbed up into a sycamore tree to see (Jesus) Who was about to pass that way.

This man, Zacchaeus, was a prominent citizen: no ordinary tax collector, He was a Tax Commissioner with much responsibility and authority in what was an important centre for the Romans, since Jericho was a frontier city through which passed vital roads much used by camel trains carrying exotic wares over desert expanses from Syria and further East on their way westwards towards Rome, and which also facilitated a large local trade in costly balsams.  This very considerable civic official, however, exposed himself to both ridicule and contempt by his vain attempts to glimpse Jesus in the crowd, and then subsequently, by hastening through the crowd to get ahead of Jesus in order to clamber up a tree so as to be able to see Him clearly passing by on the road below.

Picture the hustling, struggling, figure of Zacchaeus: he wasn't hanging around in the crowd hoping vaguely for something to happen; he was deeply interested in the Person of Jesus and was making every effort to catch a glimpse of Him. This aspect of effort and haste is reflected by Jesus' words to him:

Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.

And haste he made, tumbling down (he was no climber!), to receive Jesus most joyfully!

Can't you see the picture of a true disciple, the model for a true Christian, being traced before our eyes?   Zacchaeus hurrying, striving, to see Jesus; and then hastening again to receive Him ever so gladly into his house; and finally, in total spontaneity, giving up all that might hinder his companionship with Jesus:

Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor, and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.

Surely St. Paul words in our second reading today can be applied to Zacchaeus:

May our God count you worthy of this calling, that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in Him.

However, to arrive at the full meaning of this Gospel passage for us today we must just look at the words Jesus chose when first addressing Zacchaeus:

            Make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house." 

I want to draw your attention to those two words "I must".  Jesus "must" stay at Zacchaeus' house.  What does that mean?  Jesus does not say "I will", nor does He say "I would like to"; instead He puts it in such a way as to imply that it was not simply His choice but something pre-ordained for Him by His Father.

Listen to the other two occasions in St. Luke's Gospel, and the only other occasion in St. John's, where Jesus uses the phrase, "I must":

When it was day Jesus departed and went into a deserted place; and the crowd sought Him and came to Him, and tried to keep Him from leaving them.  But He said to them, "I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent."  And He was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee.         (Luke 4:42-5:1)

Other sheep I have which are not of this fold, them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock with one shepherd. (John 10:16)

On that very day some Pharisees came, saying to Him, "Get out and depart from here, for Herod wants to kill You."  And He said to them, "Go tell that fox, 'Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.'  Nevertheless, I must journey today, tomorrow, and the day following; for it cannot be that a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem. (Luke 13:31-33)

So, it was preordained that Jesus should preach first of all in the synagogues of Judea, because He had been sent to the lost sheep of Israel; after that had been done it was preordained that He should bring other sheep in, not of the fold of Israel, because that was required for the fullness of redemption that He had been sent to achieve.  Finally, it was preordained that His work had to be completed in Jerusalem on the Cross:

         

Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, “Jesus the Nazorean, the King of the Jews.”  Now many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. (John 19:19–22)

Now, how could Jesus' staying at the house of Zacchaeus be of such importance that it too could be said to be preordained?  To find our answer let us now look at the word "house" used by Jesus when speaking to Zacchaeus.  Obviously, it was another way of saying: "Zacchaeus, I must stay with you" because Jesus when leaving said:

            Today salvation has come to this house!

Salvation had indeed come to Zacchaeus not to the building which was his house.  In that way "house" can -- in certain circumstances -- mean, the person, his mind, heart and soul.  We find this confirmed in a parable told by Jesus' (Luke 11:24):

When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, "I will return to my house from which I came.

In the OT God dwelt among His Chosen People and His presence was shown by the pillar of cloud which hovered first of all over the tent of meeting in the desert and then filled Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem.   In the New Testament times, however, God not only dwells, makes His home, among His People, He also dwells within His People, in their minds and hearts, in their souls, by His Spirit.  Now Moses had said to the Lord, when Israel was experiencing difficulties in the desert:

If Your Presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here.  Is it not by Your going with us, that we … may be distinguished from all the other people who are upon the face of the earth?" (Exodus 33:15-16)

God's presence with them was the distinguishing feature of Israel: not the literal keeping of the Law, not circumcision, not Sabbath observance, for necessary though these observances were, ultimately it was God's presence among them which distinguished Israel from the pagan nations around them.

Now, it is the same today in Mother Church, because it is God's presence -- by His Spirit -- which alone preserves, protects, guides and sanctifies Mother Church today: and that presence of God's Gift, through Jesus, of His Spirit, must not only dwell among His People, in the tabernacles of our Churches for example, but also, and supremely, that presence of God's Spirit must abide within her children, in their minds and hearts, in their souls.

This meeting of Jesus with Zacchaeus is so essential because Zacchaeus is being shown as the figure of the disciple of Jesus.  Jesus must stay at the house of Zacchaeus, because Jesus must make his home in the hearts of His faithful people.  The "house of Zacchaeus" means much more than a building, it means his heart, his soul, his mind, as we find again in these words of Jesus (Mt. 6:6):

When you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

There, the mind and heart of a man at prayer, the secret depths of his soul, are pictured as an inner room of his house.

So, Jesus must stay at the house of Zacchaeus, because He must enter and abide in the soul, the mind and heart, of His true disciples.  He must do this because it is essential for His work of salvation: salvation is not to be gained by law-keeping alone, even though those laws be religious laws.  Salvation can only be gained by becoming, in Jesus and by the Spirit, a true child of God: worshipping the Father, knowing, loving and trusting Him, with one’s whole mind, heart, soul, and strength.   Zacchaeus was personally chosen to show the power of Jesus and of God's grace, because Zacchaeus had practically everything against him becoming a disciple: he was a lapsed Jew, apparently lost spiritually, and absorbed in a world where he was powerful, influential, and very rich.  Everyone would have said that he was completely chained by worldly desires and expectations.  Jesus changed that by His call:

            Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house." 

But, People of God, notice why Zacchaeus is being portrayed as a model disciple.  First of all, because Jesus' supreme power is to be seen: forming a spiritual failure, one addicted to worldly success, into a true disciple.  Secondly, because Zacchaeus, for his part, co-operated with the grace and calling of Jesus.  He first of all struggled in the crowd to see Jesus, and then left the crowd behind and made himself look ridiculous by running ahead in his fine official clothes and climbing a tree in order to glimpse Jesus passing by.  He then, to the disgust of the Jews and no doubt the amazement of his influential friends, gladly welcomed Jesus into his house and whole-heartedly gave his riches away in order to respond to Jesus.

People of God, can you see yourself in Zacchaeus searching for Jesus, striving to see Him, responding wholeheartedly to Him?  I hope that you truly can, because the great failing in Mother Church as we know her today, is that many Catholics, even some apparently devout ones, want to live in a way that Moses, even in OT times, knew to be impossible for us, and unacceptable before God.  Salvation is not a reward for politically correct words and publicly acceptable deeds; merely statistical fulfilment of our obligations with regard to Mass attendance and reception of the Sacraments is equally fruitless; only the presence of the Spirit of Jesus guiding our minds, ruling our hearts, and consecrating our lives can save us.  Jesus’ Spirit of love and of truth must be able to move and guide us constantly – though it be imperceptibly so at times – along the way of Jesus throughout our lives: appreciating His truth more deeply, loving His Person, yes, and His Church,  more warmly and sincerely, and with unwearying patience and humility listening for, and waiting to obey, His call though it come at an hour we might not expect.  Even in Mother Church we cannot be content to remain in the crowd, doing what others seem to be doing and nothing more.  Each of us is personally called to follow the example of Zacchaeus: searching continually to see Jesus more clearly, to welcome Him into our hearts more joyfully, and to be ever more willing and glad to get rid of all that would hinder us from responding to His plans for us.  It is so easy and comfortable to remain in the crowd and to rely, as did the Jews, on the old formalities: doing what we have always done, thinking as we have always thought, whilst enjoying what is going on in the world around us.  That I say is comfortable, but it is also very harmful.  Therefore, today, Mother Church invites us to hear Jesus calling us as He did Zacchaeus:

Make haste and come down, (come out of the crowd), for today I must stay at your house.

30th Sunday Year C 2019

30th. Sunday Year (C)
(Ecclesiasticus 35:12-14, 16-19; 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18; Luke 18:9-14)

Pride,  that is, self-esteem ready to reject divinely-imposed, and therefore according to Eve’s mind, distasteful obedience, and ambition giving unjustified credence to the words of the serpent who is the Father of Lies -- was at the root of the Eve’s original sin before being compounded by that of Adam, too easily swayed by his wife’s example and persuasion.  And so, the very first lesson given by the Serpent and so gladly learnt by Eve and ineptly adopted by Adam, was to distrust God; then, under the Liar’s aegis, they tried to grasp for themselves what they could not trust God to give them: likeness to God, as the serpent had promised Eve, “you will be like gods”.

We can say therefore, that lack of trust in God is the first and most truly serious manifestation of human pride: whether it be shown outwardly in aggressive ambition and self-assertion, or by self-esteem turned inwards, burrowing down to ever-deeper levels of the human psyche and stirring up the muddy waters of solicitude and anxiety about self, about ME.  Pride is a fault-line in the human nature that we have received from Adam and Eve: men and women of all ages and all climes – be they important or non-entities, strong or weak, knowledgeable or ignorant, rich and successful or apparent failures – are susceptible to it and, should they yield themselves to its power, can be led to such a degree of self-assertion or self-love that might sour all vestiges of love for fellow-man in their life and alienate them irrevocably from the healing hand of God.

Our heavenly Father, however, is infinite in holiness, power, and goodness, and He wants to give us a share in His eternal life, beatitude, and glory.  To achieve that end the Father sent His only-begotten Son to become One of us -- living and dying with us and for us, before rising as our heavenly Saviour -- through Whom the Father also endows us with His Holy Spirit to work with and within us throughout time, so that all peoples might come to the glorious destiny He has planned for them.   Before such majestic goodness and compassion, human self-love is clearly shown in the horror of its sinfulness: for our arrogant pride will neither admit nor accept God’s supreme Lordship, whilst our anxious self-love cannot believe, and will not trust, in His infinite goodness.  

Let us now observe how the Pharisee prays to so wonderful a God and Father:

God, I thank You that I am not like other men -- extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector.  I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.

Notice that after addressing God first, he then – immediately -- turns his gaze aside from God to concentrate his whole attention on HIMSELF: he mentions others but only to compare them most unfavourably with himself.

This Pharisee, obviously, is not praying to God so much as extolling his own spiritual excellence, by reciting his own ‘officially good’ deeds and showing his spiritual discernment by expressing his disdain for those around him.  The few words he directs to God are merely ritualistic and conventional, the ‘politically correct’ language of a man of God such as he believes himself to be.  You might say that his prayer has the right ‘material’ but develops the wrong ‘themes’; it is not a prayer thanking God P/personally for guiding, gifting, and enabling him to ‘fast twice a week’ and ‘give tithes of all he possesses’, such an approach might, indeed, have led him to have a certain understanding of and sympathy for the tax-collector standing next to him along with those other nicely parcelled-up and distinguished groups of sinners. Finally, notice how Jesus so very accurately and succinctly describes this man’s prayer:

            The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself.

We should notice, however, that the Pharisee’s prayer betrays knowledge of God’s will which he intends to obey: he himself is not an extortioner, not an adulterer, and he tries to be and thinks he is, ‘just’ before God.

On the other hand, when speaking of the tax-collector at prayer, Jesus mentions only his humble gestures and words of self-accusation:

            God, be merciful to me a sinner!

There, God is supremely important, and He is recognized as being merciful, Someone totally other than the suppliant now praying, who knows himself to be a sinner.  His prayer betrays no knowledge of God like that of the religious Israelite and learned Pharisee; and as for himself, a professional tax-collector for the Roman occupiers, he is – generally speaking -- just a selfish, stuck-in-the-mud, too-wealthy, sinner.  NEVERTHELESS, at this short time of prayer he is alone, before and -- unknown to himself – with God; and therefore, his prayer is a truly personal awareness, however vaguely felt and acknowledged, of his own sinfulness and God’s majestic holiness and ‘otherness’. 

Unknown to him, centuries earlier, the Psalmist (Ps. 91:14) had written words perfectly applicable to the tax-collector’s prayer:

I will set him on high, because he has known My Name (that is, because he has known Who I am -- the all-holy God – and what I am -- infinitely merciful).

That the tax collector knew – existentially -- something of the reality of God’s Name, was shown by his present faith (unusual, since he wittingly obeyed no commands of God), and his uncharacteristic humility (since he was no regular Temple or synagogue worshipper) before God; and therefore Jesus, Who alone knew His Father in the fullness of His glory and goodness, went on to say:

I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other.

As for the Pharisee whose pride allowed him little more than a notional appreciation of God’s Name and glory, and who enjoyed comparing himself most favourably with others,  Jesus went on to say :

Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

People of God, whoever sets out for a distant destination must always keep their eyes fixed on some fixed object that establishes the right direction: looking at one’s feet, it would be impossible to arrive at the desired destination.   

So too in the spiritual life, we have always to fix our mind and heart, our intention and our desire, on Jesus.  Of course, it might be objected that he who does not look where he is putting his feet is asking for trouble; and there are some who would allow themselves to be convinced by such an argument and would feel encouraged to continue either worrying about themselves or else congratulating themselves for their imagined prudence.  The great falsehood hidden in such attitudes is, of course, that it is not we who are going heavenward of ourselves, but rather God Who is guiding us: we attain His planned destination for us only if we follow the lead He gives us.  As St. Paul said in our second reading:

The Lord will rescue me from every evil threat and bring me safe to His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever.  Amen!

Jesus wished to impress this upon His disciples when He warned them of pressures to come that would, if they did not take care, lead them to worry overmuch about themselves:

You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles.  But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak, for it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father Who speaks in you.   (Matthew 10:18-21)

We all know that the apostle Paul suffered more than any of the apostles for Jesus, and the hearing of only a few of his sufferings and trials fills us with admiration for his steadfast proclamation of the Good News:

From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep.           (2 Corinthians 11:24-25)

How did he survive such punishments and sufferings and still have the courage and strength to continue his witnessing to Christ?  Listen to him:

By the grace of God I am what I am; but I laboured more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. (1 Cor. 15:10)

Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, Who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant. (2 Corinthians 3:5-6)

My dear people, it is not only necessary for our eternal salvation, but it is also so much happier and so much more fulfilling for us here on earth, to keep our mind and heart centred on Him Who is calling us onward and upward,  to learn to delight in Him, to trust and thank Him at all times and in all things.  There is no one happier than one who is grateful, there is none stronger than he who trusts in God.

Trust in God is absolutely essential for a Catholic and Christian life, for there can be no true love where trust is lacking.  Trust in God is not, indeed, part of our fallen human nature, but it is a readily available gift from God, a gift we can ask for, a gift we are exhorted to work with.  We need to pray constantly for greater trust in God, for a more instinctive and childlike reliance on Him, and we should also seek to back-up such prayers by resolute endeavours to turn aside from ourselves, through personal discipline of mind and heart.  As trust grows it brings with it such a deep peace and quiet joy that one wonders how one could have been so foolish as to have relied on, or worried about, self so much before; moreover, with a deepening awareness of, and trust in, God one can more sincerely sympathize with others in their faults and failings, and also appreciate more surely and fully what reasons we have to be grateful to God for His great mercy and goodness to us in Jesus.  People of God, for any human being, such unshakeable trust and gratitude constitute a fulfilment beyond anything this side of heaven. 

29th Sunday Year C 2019

29^th. Sunday of Year (C)

(Exodus 17:8-13; 2 Timothy 3:14 – 4:2; Luke 18:1-8)

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Our readings today speak to us about both prayer and warfare, and that can seem to us incongruous or even contradictory. Traditionally, however, Christians have always understood life here on earth as a time of spiritual combat under the banner of Jesus: a battle against the devil and our own ignorance and weakness.

The first reading spoke most clearly about prayer as a weapon in that combat; and since most weapons need ammunition, we then heard St. Paul, in the second reading, speaking of Holy Scripture as our arsenal; while, in the Gospel reading, it was Jesus Himself Who finally and fully assured us of the ultimate superiority of our weaponry.

It should be noticed, however, that Jesus spoke about prayer in a surprisingly ambiguous manner, setting -- perhaps intentionally – a somewhat ludicrous scenario for today’s parable.

Try and picture it for yourself: on the one hand there is an unscrupulous judge, an officially-licensed criminal we might say today.  Then, on the other hand there is this widow, a woman of whom we know nothing else, except that she could nag!  The pseudo-judge had his finger in many pies no doubt and he was not interested in little matters concerning unimportant people, he wanted money or, if money was not all that plentiful in his catchment area, so to speak, he wanted the things that are associated with money, that is, gifts, influence, and prestige.  Most assuredly, he had no time for small fry.

However, wherever this legal thug/thief went, he found himself being followed by this woman whom he regarded, no doubt, as a troublesome hag, whose voice was constantly ringing in his ears as she cried out again and again:

            Render a just decision for me against my adversary!

Can you imagine what a good comedy director could make of such a story?  A criminal justiciar, an unscrupulous magistrate, beginning to tear his hair out because of the fact that wherever he went he heard that same shrill voice repeating that same cry-cum-demand, ‘Give justice for me against my adversary!’

Why did Jesus use a parable which could easily been regarded as a parody?  Could it, indeed, be the case that He wanted His disciples to smile a little at the thought of anyone being able to seriously conceive a doubt about God’s unfailing attentiveness to our prayers or question His willingness and power to answer them?  Jesus had just previously been talking most seriously to His disciples about His Second Coming, foreshadowed, as He said, by the dire memory of Noah’s destroying flood and the fire and brimstone at Lot’s departure from Sodom.   Here, however, in this immediately subsequent parable He can be understood to be saying, “Give serious matters serious attention by all means; but, as for doubts about the usefulness of prayer to God, treat such imaginations as they deserve: they are laughable for anyone who knows God, as, indeed, you should know Him by now.”

However, Jesus did add a more serious and more consoling final observation:

He (God) will see to it that justice is done speedily for His chosen ones who call out to Him day and night. 

In those words, Jesus spoke as One who knew God, indeed, as the One who knew His Father and reverenced Him totally: “He does hear and will answer your prayers speedily.  As soon as your true prayer begins He will be answering; and though that answer may take years to come to fulfilment, it will always, and throughout, be found to have been as complete as the circumstances in which you found yourself or had placed yourself would allow.    However -- and this is why I speak this parable to you at this moment -- the ultimate question will not be one about God, but about mankind; for:

            When the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?

There Jesus hinted at the large numbers of nominal Christians and Catholics who allow doubts about God – ‘does He hear my prayers?’ – not only to surface in their heart but also to then hang around in the nooks and crannies of their mind, unaware that it is they themselves who are thereby beginning to lose hold of their end of the bond of faith with God, by taking their worldly fears, their pseudo-spiritual anxieties, too seriously.

And so, People of God, be in no doubt that the life of a Christian on earth is a time for combat, spiritual combat.   As St. Paul told Timothy in our second reading, perseverance is essential:

Remain faithful to what you have learned and believed because you know from whom you learned it.

It was in Mother Church that we were first taught about the importance and the efficacy of prayer to God, and it is Mother Church who gives us, and helps us to understand, the arsenal of the Scriptures, as St. Paul again said:

From infancy you have known the sacred Scriptures, which are able to give you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.  All Scripture is inspired by God, and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Joy in the Lord is a supremely important part of the armour of a Christian; and so, let us all learn from Jesus and never allow any foolish doubts about God hearing our prayers to linger on and hang around at the back of our mind.   Most certainly, with such thoughts still troubling your imagination, your prayer may not be the best of which you are capable; but, despite all that, prayer that is sincerely made will, unquestionably, be acceptable to God, and will, most certainly, be heard and answered by your Father in heaven.  So, let us all once more hear and resolve to follow the teaching of St. Paul, that most faithful through-thick-and-thin disciple of Jesus, who tells us from his own life experience as the Apostle of the Gentiles:

I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  (Romans 8:38-9:1)

But, more even than all that, we have the supreme example of Our Blessed Lord Himself praying during His agony in the Garden of Gethsemane.  He implored His Father, He wept, and prayed to exhaustion, and yet not one of the evangelists or other apostolic writers tells us that Jesus heard anything from His Father in answer to His prayer: so far as we know from Scripture, He received no audible – so desirable, humanly speaking -- reply.  Why?   Jesus had evidently willed that the Apostles should hear His Own prayer, why not His Father’s answer??

Jesus Himself tells us what His Father’s will and silence meant to Him (John 12: 50):

            I know that His command is eternal life.

Jesus, on earth, loved His Father above all, and as an essential aspect of His earthly mission and human saving-experience, He sacrificed His own will, His own Self, to do His Father’s will for mankind’s salvation: as He Himself said, He came on earth not to do His own will but the will of His Father Who sent Him.  He knew -- with His whole mind, heart, and existential being -- that His Father’s deliberate will was, is, and ever will be, a supreme expression of His merciful love towards weak and sinful human beings aspiring to heavenly fulfilment in Jesus by the Spirit.   Jesus was sent as Saviour for mankind: He saved us by His suffering as One of us, He redeemed us by His obedience as the only-begotten Son of His heavenly Father.