33rd Sunday of Year C 2013

33^rd. Sunday of Year (C)

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

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

            That will be your opportunity to bear witness.  

That is, the whole wretched process of misunderstanding, rejection, hatred, persecution, and arrest etc., would not be simply the result of some blind chance, nor even, ultimately, the outcome of human perverseness or opposition … no, the dark 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.

Moreover, corresponding to the life or death atmosphere of the situation in which they find themselves will be the measure of God’s grace given to the disciples: as the waters of destruction -- the swelling tide of hatred and the threatening waves of violence -- appear on every hand and mount up against them, when, that is, the time for their witness, their opportunity, is at hand, they will be lifted up on the wings of God’s word and wisdom, for they will not be simply helped to defend the Good News of their proclamation, but Jesus Himself will both defend them and, through them, demonstrate the Gospel’s divine 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.

Therefore the disciples must be able 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 way entirely of His own choosing however, and one which may be imperceptible to they themselves at the time -- the necessary eloquence to utter His wisdom, despite their personal inadequacy and possible feelings of natural anxiety.

 

This belief and appreciation, that Christ is ever with His Church and, through His Spirit, guiding her unfailingly -- that His Spirit seeks to guide all living members of the Body of Christ and may, indeed, be guiding us personally, here and now, for God’s purposes -- that is an essential part of Christian self-awareness in Mother Church, but it is not something to be presumed, imitated, or ‘put on’.

In the realm of classical instrumental music, extemporisations on and development of a given theme can be of the highest inspiration and technical excellence; and for a classical singer it is also supremely desirable to be able to sing the author’s words and the composer’s music (not some personal version thereof) ‘from the heart’, that is, without the direct supervision of mental scrutiny.  Of course that ‘heart’ needs to have been previously formed in accordance with the requirements of careful attention to vocal technique, sensitivity of emotional expression, and a close observance of life; that is, it has to be a seriously and surely ‘disciplined’ heart.   For the concert performance, however, all that is best presumed, in order that the performance itself might be a ‘living event and experience’ thanks to the unmistakable, though intangible, beauty and truth of ‘artless’ (!) spontaneity.

Now, the witness of Christians to Christ is something of that nature.  It is not, ultimately, a matter of expressing -- emotionally and/or intellectually -- a merely human appreciation of, or response to, Jesus; it is a matter of bearing authentic and more-than-natural witness to Jesus the Christ, and to the Church’s proclamation of His Gospel.  And this calling, this invitation, to bear such witness, is not for anybody to snatch for themselves (so to speak, ‘out of the blue’), it is promised, in our Gospel reading, to those disciples only who have been with Jesus throughout His public ministry and who are prepared to suffer with Him, for Him.  That means for us today, that one can only hope to rely on, trust in, commit oneself to, the guidance of the Holy Spirit of God, on the basis of a true and wholehearted conversion to Christ -- a life of faith not to be measured in years but in sincerity and commitment, lived with Him and under His discipline -- and at the call and instigation of circumstances not of our own choosing.

In the Old Testament we are told that the Lord had wanted Moses to go and speak to the People of Israel enslaved in Egypt and to Pharaoh 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 – obviously from previous experience – of his inability to express himself with ease and fluency, and was afraid, above all, that he might ‘make a fool of himself’ before the mighty ruler of ancient Egypt, prove to be an embarrassment for the People of Israel, and fail the Lord Himself most miserably.

Then 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.)

Likewise, in today’s Gospel reading we heard that only when the disciples’ situation became most desperate, betrayed by relatives and friends and arraigned as helpless captives before:

            Kings and governors, (and) hated by all men on account of My name,

were they to hope for and trust in the ‘Gift’ of God’s saving intervention and inspiring help.

In a similar fashion, only when we have experienced and humbly accepted our own measure of helplessness and personal nothingness, only when we are – as  best we know -- dead to self-glory and seeking but God’s will, can we humbly hope for and confidently trust in God’s supplying grace.

This personal awareness and acceptance of one’s own nothingness is not something to be acquired ‘a priori’, that is, from merely intellectual considerations; it has to be real and must normally be learnt from experience which, though found painful, has been humbly and gratefully accepted from God’s hand.  Moreover, and most obviously, we cannot hope that God’s grace -- His most Holy Spirit -- will be with us to support and guide us, if we seek to specify the time and choose the occasion for His intervention! 

Throughout the Christian life there is a most delicate balance between a God-graced mistrust of self and a like confidence in God … if either one developes without the other, unilaterally, there will result inevitable and deep distortion, dangerous error and disillusionment.

The true, exemplary, source of a life-sustaining-and-promoting balance is to be found in Christ, the God-man alone: He assumed our lowliness in order that He might bestow on us a share in His own divine prerogatives.  Let us ask Him therefore, as we proceed with this Mass, that in Him and together with Him we might come to share His death to the flesh and to participate in His risen life by the Spirit.  Let us receive the pledge of eternal life which He has left to us, His own most 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.

33rd Sunday of Year C 2013

33^rd. Sunday (Year C)

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

The prophet Malachi heard the Lord declare:

The day is coming, blazing like an oven, when all the proud and all evildoers will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire, leaving them neither root nor branch.  But for you who fear My name, there will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays.

Though terrible events be taking place all around them, the People of God will not be afraid, neither will they allow themselves to be disturbed in any way, because, ‘fearing the name of the Lord’ in spirit and in truth will lead them to fear naught else.

Malachi’s picture of a people thus set apart from all others agrees with St. Peter's description of the true disciples of Jesus:

You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, (the Lord’s) own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light. (1 Peter 2:9)

Catholics and Christians -- say the prophet Malachi and the Apostle Peter -- are indeed, as we hear in the canon of the Mass, ‘a chosen generation, a people set apart’.

In what respect are they set apart from others?  Surely, not because they are aloof from, or indifferent to, others, for charity is the essence of the great commandment that rules their way of life, while the Lord they worship and follow Himself gives the supreme teaching and example of fraternal love.  Nor are individual Christians to set themselves apart by flamboyance or exuberance; indeed, St. Paul told us that Christians ought to be quiet in their life-style:

We command and exhort (you) in the Lord Jesus Christ to work in a quiet fashion and eat (your) own bread. 

So we realize that Christians are to be "different" from others, above all, by their strength of character: fearing the name of the Lord, they will fear no other, naught else; always trying, in the power of the Spirit and by their moral discipline, to bear witness to the love of Christ in all circumstances and with, and before, all people.

If we now turn our attention to Jesus Himself we can see Him forming the character of His disciples along those lines:

As some spoke of the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and donations, (Jesus) said, “These things which you see -- the days will come in which not one stone shall be left upon another that shall not be thrown down." 

Here He would seem to be weaning them from such false supports as national pride, or a vain-glorious enthusiasm which could be sparked off by external stimulants such as the magnificent Temple recently built by King Herod in Jerusalem; for He then went on to give them yet more serious counsel for storms that would soon engulf and threaten to destroy them personally:

Take heed that you not be deceived. For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am He,' and, 'The time has drawn near.'   Do not go after them!

‘Take heed not to be deceived’ even though many others be misled; ‘do not go after’ the crowd, to join in the inebriation and excitement of communal emotion.  There Jesus is clearly seeking to form in His disciples a characteristic attitude that will distinguish them in the future: never fearing to be left alone with the Lord, always choosing to walk with Him rather than chase after the crowd.   

That was not to be all, however, for Jesus went on to warn of yet greater trials:

When you hear of wars and commotions, do not be terrified; for these things must come to pass first, but the end will not come immediately.

Mature Christians must be able to stand resolute amidst widespread anxiety and contagious panic: having sufficient spiritual courage and moral discipline to wait for and confidently trust in the Lord though everything else -- be it the very heavens themselves -- might seem to be falling apart:

There will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven. 

Fear is instilled above all by imminent and urgent threat to self: to one's life, one's reputation, one's family; and only the supernatural Christian fear of the Lord can overcome the effect that such natural and fundamental fears can easily trigger off.  Here we should appreciate, People of God, that Christian fear of the Lord is no ordinary gift from God, but such a sign of His blessing that, according to the prophet Isaiah ( 11:1-3), the Messiah Himself would take special delight in it:

There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots.  The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.  His delight is in the fear of the Lord. 

Fear of the Lord, therefore, is indeed a supernatural gift from God which we ourselves are called upon to co-operate with and develop as part of our character; but, much more than that, it is a supreme sign of God’s love and favour, meant to be our special delight and ultimate defence against anything this world can throw up against us or the devil devise to ensnare us.

And that is just the final situation which Jesus puts before His disciples now:

They will seize and persecute you, they will hand you over to the synagogues and to prisons, and they will have you led before kings and governors because of My name.

Then, indeed, fear of the Lord and trust in His mercy and power must be seen to be the disciple’s great delight and sure shield.  Jesus insists they then look neither to men, nor rely on themselves; but, rather, turn to Him and: 

Settle it in your hearts not to meditate beforehand on what you will answer; for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist. 

People of God, recognize what Jesus is looking for in His disciples, appreciate the sort of character He wishes us to have; and with these things in mind, recall the command Paul gave his Thessalonian converts when he was with them:

When we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either. 

Notice those words, “we used to give you”: this order – it was more than advice -- was not given, mentioned, just once or twice in passing, it was his usual and repeated teaching.   Moreover, we should not forget that Paul was the apostle who suffered most for Christ, one who was also supremely conformed to, one with, Christ in his mind and heart, as the following texts show:

From now on let no one trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus. (Galatians 6:17)

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)

In our modern Church many have an idea of holiness that is not only sugar-coated but also largely conformed to worldly standards, set up for worldly acceptance.  True holiness, however, is not worldly, but Christian and personal, being God’s gift, by the Spirit, to the committed disciple of Jesus. Therefore we should appreciate that Paul’s teaching, though it does indeed reflect his own character and his personal appreciation of Christ, nevertheless, since Paul was specifically chosen and endowed by God for his role as teacher of the nations, and was, moreover -- as we have remarked -- supremely one with Christ, we should in no way presume to suspect, let alone criticise, the intentions which inspired his mind and heart to write those words:

If anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either. 

St. Paul was following the example and purpose of Jesus Himself by preparing and promoting in his converts, as best he could, that moral discipline and spiritual strength essential for disciples who would, inevitably, have to carry the Cross with their Lord for God's glory and mankind's salvation; and such strength is never acquired through indulgence, nor is mere encouragement or comforting exhortation usually sufficient to promote it.

It would seem that, in the original Christian community in Thessalonica, there were some who considered -- as many are inclined to think today -- that perhaps the Apostle was being too hard in this matter; and so, they had continued to indulge those Paul wished to cure.  Paul was disappointed to learn:

That some of you are (still) living in idleness, mere busybodies, not doing any work.

Had his original command been obeyed the matter might not have needed any further attention.  It did not turn out like that, however, because some of the community were spiritually weak and continued to indulge their own emotions and pander to those who were being led astray by idleness and curiosity.  Paul did not openly and directly reprove those mistakenly indulgent people -- after all it was weakness in them, not malice -- and so he just re-iterated what he had originally said but this time addressed it exclusively to those who were the greater sinners, those busybodies who were doing no work:

Such people we instruct and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to work quietly and to eat their own food.

Today we find similar weaknesses, similar desires for quick, sugar-coated, easily seen and popularly appreciated, holiness still preventing the wholesome teaching of the Scriptures and Mother Church from finding practical acceptance: how many parents, for example, today, ‘don’t like’ to correct, let alone discipline, their children; with the result that the children suffer many and more serious difficulties and dangers resulting from their emotional indiscipline and moral weakness.  Likewise, how often are present disciplines and Scripture’s warnings of eternal punishment in the Gospel watered down for public approval rather than proclaimed with apostolic integrity.  The result is that, even among Catholics, discipline is gradually downgraded, while sin -- even depravity at times -- is passively passed-over or regularly excused for ‘medical, psychological’ reasons, all because it doesn’t ‘seem nice’ to speak of, people don’t like to hear of, God punishing sin; punishing it, above all, with eternal punishment: 

         

If anyone sees his brother sinning, if the sin is not deadly, he should pray to God and he will give him life. This is only for those whose sin is not deadly. There is such a thing as deadly sin, about which I do not say that you should pray. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that is not deadly.

If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed than with two hands to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire.  ….  Where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched. (1 John 5:16–17; Mark 9:43, 48.)

In today’s world, Jesus’ final words in the Gospel reading have special significance for those called to be witnesses to Him.  They are not soft words to coax, for He wants all who are called and aspire to become His disciples in truth, to be strong enough, in Him, to glorify the Father by the Spirit; and to this end He chooses to help us with clear words that give inspiration and offer strength: 

You will even be handed over by parents and brothers, relatives and friends; and some of you will be put to death.   You will be hated by all for My name's sake, but not a hair on your head will be lost.  By your perseverance you will secure your lives.

                                       

32nd Sunday of the Year 2013

 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 today are very topical and timely because we hear so much about the family at this time; and with the government trying to help -- so they say -- the family, there is a danger that some people may be led to think that the secular power has also some moral authority over essential aspects of Christian marriage.  

We who are Catholics, however, whilst we are grateful for any real help given to support and strengthen the institution of Christian marriage, do not admit that governmental authority can in any way determine its nature as established by  God, or change the rules whereby the sacramental grace of Christian matrimony leads both to the sanctification and personal fulfilment of the spouses and the human and spiritual good of their children, whilst contributing in a unique measure towards the stability and growth of society as a whole.

The last 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.

God is love, absolute and eternal, loving all that He has made; supremely, however, loving mankind created uniquely in His own image and likeness, and therefore created, above all, to love: God Himself supremely, and our neighbour as ourselves.

This love which God blesses is intended to help mankind:

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

Man and woman were created for each another, and Jesus shows that marriage signifies a fulfilling and unbreakable union of man and woman by recalling that the plan of the Creator had been in the beginning:

            that they (be) no longer two, but one flesh.

However, corruption, death, and disharmony entered into the world through human sin, and now everyone has experience of that evil: stirring within our very own hearts and minds, and active all around us, being perpetrated in secret or openly displayed, for power or for pleasure, but always and above all, for SELF.

And yet, the divinely willed order of creation persists in its essential integrity, even though notably disturbed.  And, to face up to, overcome, and heal those wounds of sin, man and woman need the help of God’s gift of sacramental grace, for without such help, they cannot suitably and fruitfully achieve that union of their lives for which God created them in the beginning.

All you who are thirsty, come to the water!  You who have no money, come, receive grain and eat; Come, without paying and without cost, drink wine and milk!   Come to me heedfully, listen, I will renew with you the everlasting covenant, the benefits assured to David.   (Isaiah 55:1-3)

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; and in the course of that ministry, He taught unequivocally the original significance of the marital union of man and woman as willed by their Creator from the beginning: 

            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, Christian marriage is for man and woman only and exclusively, and it cannot be terminated or broken by any merely 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, trusting wholeheartedly in each other, enter together into that covenant before the Father in heaven, in the name of Jesus the Risen Lord, and in the power of the most Holy Spirit of love and truth; and that seriousness and dignity cannot be either impugned or decried by popular clamour since Our Blessed Lord Himself never tried to promote His teaching by accommodating it to the desires or expectations of people around Him:

Great crowds were traveling with Him, and He turned and addressed them, “If any one comes to Me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.  Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.” (Luke 14:25–27)

Let us now, therefore, 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: it is, indeed, one of the supreme means God has established for the preservation and sanctification of human beings, created -- as we have said -- to love; and those who live their married love-life aright here on earth 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.

However, an overly worldly and sentimental view of married love can – occasionally and most sadly -- lead the partners to expect too much from their marriage; and, consequently, demanding too much of each other, they can become unforgiving in their mutual relations.

Finally today, 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 is shown us in that reading: she did indeed live the role marriage had brought her, that of a mother!  She taught her sons, and she disciplined her sons, by the love she had for them; let me just recall for you how she disciplined, by love, her youngest son:

As the youngest brother was still alive, the king appealed to him, not with mere words, but with promises on oath, to make him rich and happy if he would abandon his ancestral customs. When the youth paid no attention to him at all, the king appealed to the mother, urging her to advise her boy to save his life.  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.”  She had scarcely finished speaking when the youth said: “What are you waiting for? I will not obey the king’s command. I obey the command of the law given to our forefathers through Moses.  At that, the king became enraged and treated him even worse than the others, since he bitterly resented the boy’s contempt. Thus he too died undefiled, putting all his trust in the Lord. The mother was last to die, after her sons. (2 Maccabees 7:24ss.)

Learning from that sublime example, you who are mothers should recognize that you have, from God, a most special 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 confidence and prayer: do not let your children do what they want but guide them, discipline them, with love; and, realizing that your children are gifts from God, bring them up as children of God who have been entrusted to you.  Do not let them, supposedly, guide themselves; do not leave them to turn to and follow the example of their most vocal peers who know nothing of the possible restraints of faith or morals, or of those most decisive companions and leaders who have no awareness of any qualms of conscience.  Parents and children are meant to thank God eternally for each other; however, above all perhaps, mother and child should be eternally grateful for those early years of infancy and childhood when they are so uniquely close and instinctively responsive to each other.   Mothers, don’t disappoint the goodness of God Who  gave you your child; don’t fail the child so sensitive to your influence and subject to -- needy of -- your supporting love; do not lose the glory which can unite you with Mary, the most beautiful mother of us all.

What have we got here today?  A priest, one who is celibate, talking about marriage?  Yes, indeed!!  Note, however, that I do not speak about, or on the basis of, sexual experience; but only about the Catholic proclamation of God’s creative and redeeming truth, the ultimate right understanding of, and supremely solid basis for, all human living and loving.  Of this, may I add, I have been made humanly appreciative, thanks to my personal indebtedness to a wonderful mother.