12th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C) 2013

 12^th. Sunday of Year (C)

(Zechariah 12:10-11; 13:1; Galatians 3:26-29; Luke 9:18-24)

The events mentioned in today’s Gospel reading are but vaguely introduced by St. Luke who simply says:

            Once, when Jesus was praying ...

What could possibly be more vague than that if one is looking for some locality in which to situate and better understand the subsequent events!   But that is the point, Luke does not particularly want to inform us where Jesus was at that time; he wishes above all to draw our attention to the fact of Jesus’ prayer which is most important for Luke who regularly takes care to highlight its divine potential and to outline the sublimely mysterious aura associated with it.  And in that he was absolutely correct because such prayer was the very essence of Jesus’ life and mission here on earth:

My doctrine is not Mine but His who sent Me.  I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him....... The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.  (John 7:16; 8:26, 29)  

In our first reading taken from the prophet Zechariah the Lord God said:

I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and petition;

and that prophecy received its ultimate fulfilment with the coming of God’s Son on earth -- born of Mary of the house of David -- to live among God’s People, to serve God’s redeeming purpose.  And it could well have been that the prayer of Jesus at this very moment picked out by St. Luke was indeed prayer for a spirit  of grace and petition to be given God’s People and, most especially, to be bestowed on the  twelve Apostles with Him on this occasion; for, turning to them He said:

‘Who do the crowds say that I am?’  They said in reply, ‘John the Baptist; others Elijah; still others, One of the ancient prophets has arisen.’  He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’  Peter said in reply, ‘The Christ of God.’

The divine potential and power of Jesus’ prayer, having been thereby demonstrated by those words of Peter, was openly acknowledged and proclaimed by Jesus when -- according to St. Matthew’s account – He said that Peter’s answer was indeed a most gracious gift from His Father:

Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah!  For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father in heaven.  (Matthew 16:17)

Knowing, or rather, believing now that Jesus was the Christ of God, Peter and the disciples were feeling a confidence and trust similar to that of which St. Paul speaks in his letter to the Romans (8:31):

            If God is for us, who can be against us?  

For, as it would seem from scholars’ endeavours to ‘calibrate’ Jesus’ life on earth,  the Twelve disciples had recently witnessed and experienced most wonderful manifestations of their Lord’s power and of the authenticity of His mission.  They themselves had been sent out by Him to proclaim the kingdom of God with power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases; and the success of their mission had set all the people talking about Jesus, and had even drawn Herod Antipas’ attention: Who is this about whom I hear such things?  Indeed, so interested or concerned had Herod become that he even tried to meet Jesus.  The Apostles, again, had recently seen Jesus multiply bread (5 loaves and 2 fish) to feed more than 5,000 persons; He had walked on water before their very eyes and  had performed miraculous healings for many individuals; and then, they had witnessed yet another miraculous feeding of a multitude, this time some 4,000 people being nourished and sustained at His bidding.  Peter’s words confessing Jesus as the Christ of God expressed the exuberant feelings of all of the Apostles, He was the Christ, the Messiah!

The disciples having thus been both enlightened and confirmed in their faith in Him, Jesus was next able to proceed immediately -- but not without a vigorous admonition (He rebuked!) -- to tell them what was soon to happen to Him:

He rebuked them and directed them not to tell this to anyone.  He said, “The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.”

Once again, with such words, He mysteriously fulfilled what the prophet had foretold:

They shall mourn for him as one mourns for an only son, and they shall grieve over him as one grieves over a first-born.

Had the apostles, however, rightly understood the exact meaning and significance of what Peter had been inspired to say?  

            You are the Christ of God!

The only other words that give us the same meaning are also to be found in St. Luke, in his account of the presentation of the Infant Jesus in the Temple by Mary.  There St. Luke (2:26) says of Simeon, the priest who took the Child in his arms:

It had been revealed to him that he would not see death before he had seen the LORD’S CHRIST. 

The Christ, the Messiah, were expressions frequently used when speaking of the hopes of the devout in Jewish society who were longing for the advent of God’s salvation; ‘the Christ’, ‘the Son of God’, are other expressions readily to hand in our New Testament scriptures; but the expressions, ‘The Christ of God’ and its equivalent, ‘The Lord’s Christ’, stand alone and as one in their perfect clarity.   Jesus, Who at the inauguration of His Public Ministry had had to rebuff the Devil’s temptations on this issue, was most desirous now that His apostles should be able to recognize and believe in Him as the Christ of God, the Saviour sent by God, and not allow themselves to be led astray by any subsequent endeavours of Satan to derail His work that would continue through their proclamation of His Gospel.   They had to know Him truly, and unshakeably believe in Him, not simply as the Christ  – subject to human misinterpretation -- but as:

            The Christ of God!  The Lord’s Christ!

How truly wonderful it is that here we can recognize the most beautiful harmony evidenced by Jesus’ ardent prayer for a spirit of grace and petition on behalf of His apostles, by His Father’s words of inspiration bestowed on Peter, and by the promise of the Holy Spirit given to Simeon of old!!

That the apostles might be enabled and prepared to proclaim, not the Messiah of popular expectation, but the Christ of salvation, Jesus sought to impress upon their minds and fix in their memories – He rebuked them – the truth and the hope they would have to demonstrate and promote in the face of excesses of both exuberance and depression:

The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.

Then, to show clearly that He was warning against, and warding off, all popular conceptions of the Christ, the Saviour, to come:

He said to ALL (those around), ‘If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me.  For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.’

People of God, St. Luke wants to help us recognize the sublime secret of Jesus … communion with, prayer to and trust in, His Father is always an occasion of supreme blessing ... and we, His present-day disciples, must appreciate that without in like manner ourselves turning confidently to the Father, without such prayer and communion with Him, we can never come to a personal knowledge of Jesus our Lord, nor ever be able to truly embrace and further His will to save us and all mankind.   And, as we consider Jesus’ experience on the Cross and are struck by His great silence, we are led to a realization that prayer to His Father was the ultimate medium for Jesus’ self-expression and self-fulfilment, and that it was the root of His Being during those hours of total torment.  Consequently, our personal conformity to and enduring union with Him can surely find its due measure of fullness and authenticity only to the extent in which we are willing to embrace our own measure of sufferings in His way:

I consider everything as a loss because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. … knowing Him …. and sharing His sufferings by being conformed to His death,  if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.  (Philippians 3:8-11)

           

11th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C 2013

11^th. Sunday, Year C

(2 Samuel 12: 7-10, 13; Galatians 2: 16, 19-21; Luke 7: 36-50.)

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, we have a very difficult passage from St. Paul in our second reading today:

We know that a person is not justified by works of the Law but through faith in Jesus Christ; through the Law I died to the Law that I might live for God.

What does Paul mean when he says, through the Law I died to the Law?  How did he, through the Law die to the Law?

Much has been written over many years by scholars of varying persuasions and abilities, and so I cannot pretend to offer a solution to the many difficulties they find in those words; but for all that, I will offer a suggestion that is both relative to the passage and, I trust, helpful for our understanding and appreciation of our Gospel today.

St. Paul was a great lover and proponent of the Law as understood by the Pharisees before he encountered the Risen Lord Jesus in a vision on his way to Damascus to persecute the Church of God out of zeal for the traditions of his ancestors in Judaism (cf. Galatians 1: 13s.).  He never lost his love for the Law, but after that encounter with the risen Lord Jesus he came to understand it much better as God’s instrument for the preparation of His People for the salvation He was offering them in and through the Lord Jesus, the long promised and ardently expected Messiah

.

If it had not been for the Law, I would not have known sin. We know that the Law is spiritual; but I am of the flesh ... I do the very thing I hate. ... I delight in the Law of God in my inmost self, with my mind I am a slave to the Law of God, but with my flesh I am a slave to the law of sin. Wretched man that I am!  Who will rescue me from this body of death?   Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!  (Romans 7: 7, 14- 15, 22, 24-25)

All, both Jews and Greeks, are under the power of sin, as it is written, there is no one who is righteous, not even one; there is no one who has understanding, there is no one who seeks God.  All have turned aside, together they have become worthless; all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.   (Romans 3: 9-12, 23.)

We asked how did Paul through the Law die to the Law?  It is clear now that Paul’s knowledge of the Law taught him what was required of him as a convinced Israelite and subject of the Law, while Paul’s deep self-awareness and great insight into our human condition also made it most abundantly clear to him that none did, and none could, keep the Law in all its fullness and integrity. 

All who rely on the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the things written in the book of the Law.’ (Galatians 3:10)

Why then the Law?  It was added because of transgressions, until the Offspring would come to whom the promise had been made. The Law was our disciplinarian until Christ came so that we might be justified by faith.  (Gal. 3:19, 24)

As we now look into the Gospel reading we will see that Simon, the Pharisee, had little of Paul’s self-knowledge or commitment to the Law: the proprieties expected when receiving guests were either ignored in Jesus’ case or else had been forgotten by, or were, perhaps, even unknown to, Simon; and how easily his solicitude for the reputation of his house caused him to start criticising, in his heart, the young Rabbi whom he had admiringly and respectfully invited to share his table:

If this man were a prophet, He would know who and what sort of woman this is who is touching Him!  

Of course it was extremely embarrassing for Simon reclining at table with Jesus, as indeed it must have been for the others sharing hospitality, when a woman, publicly known for her sins, entered his house – not only uninvited but  also most certainly unwelcome – and, standing behind Jesus weeping profusely, began to:

Bathe His feet with her tears, wipe them with her hair, kiss them, and anoint them with ointment.

Nevertheless, how quickly his professed reverence for one he called ‘Teacher’ evaporated in the face of this threat to his own self-esteem and presumed public standing:  If this man were a prophet ... !!    Jesus, however, loved Simon and came to his help for, before Simon could actually say anything at all:

            Jesus said to him IN REPLY, ‘Simon, I have something to say to you ....’

Simon, as we have said, had little in common with Paul, but the sinful woman – as regards her response to Jesus – resembled Paul very much in his profound appreciation of, and total self-abandonment to, Jesus.

Paul gave himself to Jesus -- in response to a personal vision and ‘mystical’ encounter with the Risen Lord -- most humbly, lovingly, and unreservedly, on the basis of his profound understanding and appreciation of God’s revelation in the Scriptures entrusted to Israel’s custody for fulfilment: how penetratingly he recognized his need of the redeeming grace of Jesus, his Lord and Saviour!  The woman, most certainly had encountered and heard Jesus previously, perhaps only once, possibly a few times, because she came to Him as one loathing herself for love of His Goodness.

Paul learned his self-distrust from the Scriptures and from his vision of the Risen Lord; the woman embraced her self-loathing, it would seem, simply from encountering and learning from the man, Jesus of Nazareth, as He walked and talked in the course of His public ministry.  In her respect we can fruitfully recall some teaching of St. Thomas Aquinas who used to say that a unlettered peasant could know God better than he himself, intuitively, that is, by the heart; because knowledge of God does not end in, is not fulfilled in, concepts but reality.  A theologian weighed down with concepts, though they be correct, can remain cut off from the Reality, while an ‘ignorant’ person can reach that Reality better, thanks to the transparency of more elementary concepts.   

Does not the Psalmist express himself in very similar words?

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me.  Behold, You delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. (Psalm 51:5-6)

The woman loved the Lord and suffered deeply from the open scorn and contempt she received when she tried to draw near to Him; and Paul’s very vocation as a Christian was to suffer – more than any other apostle – for his love of the Lord:

The Lord said to Ananias, ‘Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring My name before Gentiles and kings and before the People of Israel; I Myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of My name.  (Acts 9: 15s.)

For both of them, however, faith was the crown of their relationship with, and consummated their love for, Jesus:

Insofar as I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, Who has loved me and given Himself up for me.

Jesus turned to the woman and said to Simon, ‘I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven because she has shown great love; the one to whom little is forgiven loves little.  He said to the woman, ‘Your faith has saved you, go in peace.’

There are religious groups today, however, who gain followers or recruit supporters by offering them someone, something, to hate and/or violently oppose; offering the exaltation and satisfaction of humanly disordered emotions as the fulfilment of a pseudo-religious involvement and the earthly foretaste of a promised and equally pseudo heavenly reward.  The world around us also proclaims earthly emotional experience and satisfaction – never openly hateful, indeed, but not without deep-rooted intolerance -- as the only worthwhile and publicly acceptable ideal and reward ... love is all!!   Love, that is, which is to be felt and enjoyed, not to be evaluated and most certainly not to be constrained, by any other considerations other than the human, earthly satisfaction it affords the individuals concerned and the approval it gains them from others.  Catholicism, on the other hand, offers -- supremely and solely -- the Truth of Jesus which evokes a response of unique Love that can only be truly expressed through and fulfilled in Faith.

Jesus once used most solemn words that bring out in total clarity the deepest and most extensive problem and need in the Church today: lack of Faith in the face of the emotional attractions of religious extremism and self-approval and self-satisfaction of comfortable worldly conformity:

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

Dear Brothers and Sisters, we should treasure and try to develop our personal Faith in Jesus and commitment to His Church with heartfelt gratitude and serious endeavour, and pray devoutly for the growth of Faith in Mother Church and for God’s special blessing on all called to proclaim and propagate that Faith throughout the world.  Towards that end let us cast a final glance at King David in our first reading today, for he can make clear to us another most beautiful characteristic of faith.

Nathan said to David: ‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel: “Why have you spurned the Lord and done evil in His sight?  ... Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house because you have despised Me and taken the wife of Uriah to be your wife.”’  Then David said to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the Lord.’

There we can see the beauty of faith in David.  He had an ‘intuitive’ relationship with God like that of the sinful woman with regard to Jesus in our Gospel reading; he was weak at times indeed, but he did not seek to justify his behaviour before God’s judgement:  I have sinned against the Lord!  The extremists of today would say to any such words of judgement against them or their actions, ‘We were forced to, we had no choice but to, behave, respond, as we did’; whilst the world of human righteousness and political conformity would most probably not be able to understand any such words against their works or policies: ‘This world’s love guided us in all that we did or sought to do.’  Before God and the truth, David was totally simple, with no complications of pride, no refuge in self-justification.  His example is most worthy of our admiration and imitation. 

Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C 2013

10^th. Sunday (C)

(1 Kings 17:17-24; Galatians 1:11-19; Luke 7:11-17)

We have in today’s Gospel reading a very significant miracle performed by Jesus when He raised a young man from the dead.  What most impresses us today, perhaps, is not so much the objective fact of the miracle itself ... for we believe Jesus to have been – even here on earth -- the Son of God made man, One very capable of performing such an outstanding miracle ... but the human sympathy of Jesus which led Him to spontaneously involve Himself and perform so striking a miracle with such personal and tender compassion.   There are deep and most powerful human emotions involved here which secretly stir-up and evoke our own like involvement even today, for here was a woman of ancient times whose only son had just died, and who was, moreover, already a widow.  

Jesus was deeply affected by the personal situation of this distraught woman appearing before Him: a widow, her only son now also dead, walking alone though followed by a crowd of sympathizers; walking upright in body, though her head is bowed and her heart overwhelmed with grief, as tears blind her eyes.  She is getting on in years and, most probably, has little or no idea of her future livelihood and security, let alone any hope of love and companionship.  At the best, the crowd of sympathizers would suggest that she may find herself with some happy memories of friends and family; but will that enable her to face up to an empty and threatening future?

Was Jesus at that moment foreseeing and fore-suffering His own mother’s grief and loneliness on Calvary?  Possibly.

In the course of His public ministry Jesus was frequently compared, even mixed-up, with Elijah:

Jesus went on with His disciples to Caesarea Philippi.  And on the way He asked His disciples, ‘Who do people say that I am?’  And they told Him, ‘John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.’ 

Now it happened that He was praying alone, the disciples were with Him.  And He asked them, ‘Who do the crowds say that I am?’  And they answered, ‘John the Baptist.  But others say, Elijah ... Then He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’  Peter answered, ‘You are the Christ of God.’   (Mark 8:27)  (Luke 9:18-20)

Elijah was not only one of the prophets Jesus had heard of, but one whom He knew well – as would be shown at His Transfiguration when Elijah appeared with Moses speaking with Jesus – one who came readily to His mind at times: 

Jesus began to speak to the crowds: Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist All the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, and if your are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. (Matthew 11:7, 11-14)

Jesus would have been well aware of what we have just heard concerning Elijah’s miracle for the widow of Zarephath:

Elijah said to her, ‘Give me your son.’  Taking him from her lap, he carried the son to the upper room where he was staying and put him on his bed ... Then he stretched himself out upon the child three times, and called out to the Lord: ‘O Lord, my God, let the life breath return to the body of this child.’ 

Had Elijah stretched himself out upon the child not only three times, but also in the form of a cross: with the prophet’s outstretch arms and full length body covering those of the child so that the warmth of life might be transferred from the prophet to the child by God’s goodness and mercy?

Elijah then took the living child and, we are told, gave him to his mother.  Is that why we hear that Jesus gave to his mother the young man -- an adult – though apparently still on the bier being held by its bearers?

After Elijah restored the living child to his mother:

The woman replied to Elijah, ‘Now indeed I know that you are a man of God.  The word of the Lord comes truly from your mouth. 

The word of the Lord spoken by Elijah was a prophetic word.  Jesus’ words were salvific words, words bringing salvation for mankind; and such words, Jesus knew, could only come from His Cross-transfigured heart and soul, body and being, words of life from the One Who would conquer death. 

Was Jesus at that moment foreseeing and fore-suffering His own mother’s grief and loneliness on Calvary?  Quite possibly. 

Saint Paul wanted to make most clear to the Galatians this aspect of the Gospel message in our second reading when he declared that:

The Gospel preached by me is not of human origin.  For I did not receive it from a human being, nor was I taught it, but it came through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

And, of course, the Jesus He referred to is the Crucified and Risen Lord, for as he himself says in his second letter to the Corinthians:

The love of Christ controls us, and He died for all, that all those who live might no longer live for themselves but for Him Who for their sake died and was raised. From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh.  Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard Him thus no longer. (5:14-17)

This meeting with the widow of Nain, this raising of her son from his coffin, bier, of death, was, moreover, most intimate.  Immediately before and, in St. Luke’s narrative, straight after, this incident at Nain,  Jesus restored to health the servant of a Roman Centurion and also:

                       

Healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind He bestowed sight. (Luke 7:27

On both these occasions He spoke directly to the attendant crowds.  But not here at Nain.

When the Lord saw her He had compassion on her and said to her, ‘Do not weep.’

Words of most sincere sympathy, surely to be heard by her alone who so needed them.  Again, on approaching the dead man’s bier He simply touched the bier to stop the bearers and then addressed the young man himself saying:

            Young man, I say to you, ‘arise.’

And then, ‘Jesus gave him to his mother.’   All so tender and essentially intimate.

Was Jesus foreseeing His own mother and fore-suffering with her?  Quite probably.

Of course, the accompanying crowd could not fail to see and enthuse over what had happened, and they whole-heartedly cried out:

            A great prophet has arisen in our midst!

As did the widow of Zarephath when she said:

You are a man of God, the word of God comes truly from your mouth.

Here at Nain,  however, revelation is proceeding and there is something more; not that the people proclaiming realized just what they were saying, but was the Father perhaps once again witnessing to His Son, for: 

            All glorified God exclaiming, GOD has visited His people?

God indeed, God-made-man, was visiting His People in Jesus our Saviour Who would be stretched out on the Cross of Calvary for love of men, and Whose death and Resurrection would give life to all those touched by the words of His Gospel; because, although :

Preached by (Paul), (that Gospel) is not of human origin, but came through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

That revelatory report of Jesus -- the crucified and risen Lord -- has spread throughout the intervening ages indeed, and has reached us once more this day to refresh, inspire, and comfort us with the truth it brings and the beauty it contains for us.  Truth because it is a revelation of the Risen Lord Who was crucified for us; truth because Jesus is ever the Way, the Truth, and the Life.   And Beauty, because:

One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I may dwell in  the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord ... I believe I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living!  (Psalm 27: 4, 13) 

Truth guides and sustains, beauty inspires and comforts; so let us ever seek to embrace God’s Truth in all its Beauty as we hear and strive to understand, embrace and put into practice, the authentic Gospel proclaimed to us in Mother Church, the Immaculate Spouse of her Risen Lord and Suffering Saviour, Jesus Christ.