Are the People who Suffer Worse Sinners?

Why do bad things sometimes happen to good people? If people suffer and become victims of a crime, or experience a natural tragedy, does this mean God is punishing them for their sins? Does it mean that God does not love them?

I think most of us would not think this way, for example, about the Ukrainian people who are suffering through an armed invasion of their homeland. Yet astoundingly there have been a few eccentric voices in the modern Ukrainian “war news” cycle, who have tried to blame the victims.

In the case of the two tragedies Jesus mentions in our Gospel, Jesus asks, are the people who suffered like this, worse sinners than all the other people who did not suffer these tragedies.

Did God judge them because of their excessive sin? Is God giving back to people what they deserved? Unfortunately, there are people even in our modern world, who still think suffering is a just desert for sins. The victims must have done something bad to deserve this.

While some personal sins can be the direct cause of our suffering, this would not normally be the case if someone is the victim of a crime, or suffers in some natural disaster, or tragic mishap.

Are people who suffer worse sinners than us? What does our faith teach us? The reality is we are all sinners. As St. Paul reminds us, “For there is no distinction; all have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God (Romans 3:22b-23). The just punishment for each one of us is not merely suffering and death, but eternal death. We deserve the just punishment of eternal separation from God.

Apart from God’s mercy, we all deserve punishment for our sins. None of us wants to face God’s justice in this way. We should not desire God’s strict justice, but his mercy. As our psalm refrain reminds us, “The Lord is kind and merciful.” In mercy, Jesus says two times in response, “By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!” (Luke 13:3, 5).

Jesus answers with an emphatic, no! By no means are people who suffer worse sinners than those who do not. Then Jesus adds a very important word “but.” Religious people who blame the victim, and show no mercy, are liable to a much greater punishment. Jesus says, “But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!” (Luke 13:3, 5).

The first step in our own conversion is to cooperate with the Holy Spirit and to become aware of our own sinfulness, so that we can repent. We must begin in humility and become aware of our brokenness. We must become childlike and docile to the prompting of the Holy Spirit (Luke 10:21).

Ironically the closer we come to God, the more aware of our brokenness we become. St. John reminds us in his first letter, “If we say, ‘We are without sin,’ we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). If a person thinks they have arrived at perfection, and they look down on others in sinful contempt, they are deceived! The truth is not in them!

St. John Paul II has reminded us; Jesus' primary mission in his earthly life was to reveal the love and mercy of the Father to a broken humanity. To offer them hope, and to call them to repentance. Jesus did this both in his words and in his actions.

The most profound revelation of this truth was Jesus’ sacrifice of love on the cross. Jesus came to suffer and die for our sins and to join himself to our human sufferings to bring meaning to our sufferings. God’s mercy is available to everyone, but it requires our cooperation to bear the fruit of mercy in our life.

The idea that sinners are cut off from receiving God’s mercy is completely false. In fact, Jesus’ priority was not towards the righteous, but to reach out to sinners. Jesus reminds, “I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners” (Luke 5:32, cf. Rom 5:8). Because of God’s mercy, God rejects no one for being a sinner. However, God does require our response or our cooperation with his offer of grace.

On the other hand, to reject this mercy is a fearful thing. A mixed up person might believe they must first make themselves acceptable to God, through their own effort. In effect, to earn their own salvation.

Jesus does call us to become aware of our sins, and to confess our sins with contrition, then to repent and follow him. While requiring this response, grace is a gift from God.

This is completely different from thinking that I can earn my way to God through my own good works. As if we could create a ladder constructed by our unaided good works that would reach up to heaven.

St. Paul reminds us, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from you; it is the gift of God; it is not from works, so no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Apart from God’s grace and mercy, we cannot be saved. We do not earn our way to heaven by our good works (CCC 2092). Our good works are instead the fruit of our conversion and of a changed life moved interiorly by the Spirit. Each of us should see fruit in our life. If we cannot point to this fruition our life, there is a problem. Yet when we see fruit in our life, is the result and not the means of our salvation.

The completely wrong-headed notion that we can save ourselves by good works, is at the very heart of what Jesus confronts in our Gospel. Those who think they are saving themselves by their own works become self-righteous. They look down on others as sinners, often in hypocrisy. Because they have become proud of their own good works, they focus on the rules, and they want justice, but are unwilling to offer mercy to others.

Jesus' strongest condemnations in the Gospels are against those who fail to show mercy, and against their hypocrisy (Luke 6:39-45). Jesus says, “Be merciful, just as [also] your Father is merciful. Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven” (Luke 6:36–37).

In Matthew’s Gospel Jesus makes an even stronger statement. Echoing the words of the Our Father prayer, “Forgive us our transgressions as we forgive those who transgress against us,” Jesus warns, “But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions” (Matthew 6:15).

We end with Jesus’ parable of the Barren Fig Tree. This parable is a call to examine our hearts. First, we should note that the “gardener” is patient and merciful. Even though the fig tree is currently barren, he holds out hope. Yet, this mercy has a time limit. If the fig tree continues to fail to cooperate, it will eventually be “cut down” (13:9).

During this season of Lent, Jesus asks us to be truly honest and vulnerable. Is our life bearing the fruit of Jesus’ mercy and love? Is our tree barren or fruitful? Do we understand that we are not saving ourselves by our own good works, but instead that we are all sinners, utterly dependent on God’s mercy?

Have we surrendered our life to Jesus, and made him the center of our life? This is the meaning of being Jesus' disciple and the essence of our ongoing conversion. If we have done this, what can we give him in thanks for this great gift of his love?

 

THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT YEAR C

First Reading: Exodus 3:1–8a, 13–15; Psalm 103:1–4, 6–8, 11; Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 10:1–6, 10–1; Gospel: Luke 13:1–9

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Transforming Glory

In our modern world one of the perennial questions is, “If God is a loving and all-powerful God why does he allow me to suffer?” I wonder, have you ever thought like this? I know I have.

One author has comment on our modern outlook noting, we have too much to live with, too little to live for. For many people the dream we live for is to gather as many toys as possible so that we can entertain ourselves and live in comfort. In the pursuit of this dream, many people give themselves permission to take any road they choose, and nothing has value unless it leads to our comfort in this life.

The very idea of suffering is an affront to this dream. We cry out “Why me? God if you really love me, you would not permit me to suffer like this.”

Yet, we are dreaming in color. The cold hard truth is that eventually we all suffer. Suffering in this life is unavoidable. The most foundational lesson in Jesus’ discipleship is not to avoid suffering but to find meaning in our suffering and to join our sufferings to Christ.

It is important to realize that Jesus’ central mission on earth was to suffer, and we are his disciples. Disciples imitate their masters. Notice St. Paul’s words about discipleship in our second reading. “Join with others in being imitators of me, brothers and sisters, and observe those who thus conduct themselves according to the model you have in us” (Philippians 3:17). As the Apostle Paul says elsewhere, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1).

Disciples seek to become, in every little way, like the master. We must seek to imitate Jesus. In the previous chapter Jesus tells his disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23).

In this Sunday’s Gospel, we accompany Jesus and his inner circle of apostles on a final lesson of discipleship leading up to Jesus ultimate act of sacrifice. Immediately after the transfiguration, St. Luke tells us Jesus “set his face to go to Jerusalem” where he would suffer and die on the cross.

The transfiguration marks the end of Jesus earthly ministry in Galilee, and the transition to the road to his passion. At this all-important and difficult moment, the first thing Jesus models is prayer.

I do not know about you, but I often give in to grumbling about my sufferings. Even in little things. I might complain I have a sore throat; that my knees hurt, that I had a bad sleep last night, or that a person treated me unjustly. My first thought is not to follow my master and “go up on a mountain to pray” (9:28).

Luke tells us that as Jesus was praying, he became transfigured, “his face changed in appearance and his clothing became dazzling white” (9:29). Luke uses some unusual words, which mean that Jesus’ clothing became bright gleaming white and began to flash or gleam like lightning, or to become radiant.

Even as modern reader, this is amazing, but we may not catch the significance of all the details for a Jewish reader in Jesus’ day. There is a significant parallel between Jesus experiences here at the transfiguration, and Moses, for someone familiar with the Book of Exodus.

The 'horns' of Moses
depict this radiance.

Obviously, Moses appears to Jesus and talks with him, but there are many other parallels to the Exodus narrative. Moses went up on a mountain to pray, and he took three companions with him, Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu (Exodus 24:1). When Moses came down from the mountain “the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God” (Exodus 34:29).

Moses and Elijah appear to Jesus and “spoke of his exodus or departure from this life.”

Light and cloud, lightning and smoke are motifs from Exodus signifying the presence of God. When the people of Israel journeyed in the desert they were accompanied by a column of fire during the night, and by a column of cloud during the day (Exodus 13:21–22). Peter, John, and James saw Jesus’ glory, and a cloud came and overshadowed them. These are the same signs of God’s presence we see in Exodus where the “the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle” (Exodus 40:34).

Near the end of his life in Deuteronomy, Moses promises a prophet like him would arise, “A prophet like me will the LORD, your God, raise up for you from among your own kindred; that is the one to whom you shall listen.” (Deuteronomy 18:15).

Yet, Jesus is more than a second Moses. In the words of the Archangel Gabriel at the beginning of the Gospel, Jesus is “the Son of the Most High” (Luke 1:32), and a few verses later the “the Son of God” (Luke 1:34). The “voice from heaven” at Jesus Baptism declares, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased” (Lk 3:22). In our Gospel today, the voice from the cloud declares, “This is my chosen Son; listen to him.”

Luke emphasizes the uniqueness of Jesus as the chosen Son and the words “listen to him” likely echo Moses’ promise of a prophet like him, “the one to whom you shall listen.” (Deuteronomy 18:15).

If we keep in mind both the uniqueness of Jesus as God’s Son, and his role as a rabbi or master leading disciples, then we might ask; “What is Jesus modelling for us through this event?” Surely, we are not to believe that each one of use will experience a mountain top transfiguration in imitation of Jesus.

Here is it interesting to see what later disciples of Jesus understood by this event. In Second Corinthians, St. Paul compares the brightness of Moses face with Jesus. The brightness of Moses face was fading and temporary. In the new dispensation of righteousness or the age of the Spirit, Christ has taken the veil away and given us a permanent and greater splendor (2 Corinthians 3). In Christ Jesus, the Spirit enters each one of us and transforms us from within.

St. Paul notes,

“All of us, gazing with unveiled face on the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as from the Lord who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

For each one of us the goal of our prayer should be intimacy with God, and by experiencing his love within us to be progressively (from glory to glory) transformed into his, image by the Spirit.

As St. Paul notes, “He will change our lowly body to conform with his glorified body by the power that enables him also to bring all things into subjection to himself” (Philippians 3:21). In speaking of our resurrected heavenly bodies, St. Paul observes the differences between us, “The brightness of the sun is one kind, the brightness of the moon another, and the brightness of the stars another. For star differs from star in brightness” (1 Corinthians 15:41). As Jesus notes, “Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (Matthew 13:43).

While the church teaches that the faithful will all share in this quality of glory, it will not be in the same degree. We will not be equal or identical in heaven, but some will shine brighter than others because of differing degree of holiness. We are equal in attaining eternal life, but not with the same reward. (St. Augustine, Sermon 37.6, St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae I, q. 12.6, DS 1305, Council of Trent: Decree on the Sacraments, Can. 31, DS 1581).

Jesus gives us this example of prayer in the face of profound suffering to remind us that our vision must look beyond the horizon of this life. We must draw close to him and be filled with the Spirit. Like him, the Spirit cries out in our hearts, “Abba Father” and reminds us that we are his children, his chosen ones. We must not confuse this human experience of glory with the uniqueness of Jesus as the very Son of God, but we share in this inheritance, we are adopted heirs to this same family. So then, in the quietness of our prayers, let us gaze with unveiled faces on the glory of his Son and so be transformed from within by his love from glory to glory.

Endurance in the Face of Temptation

This week’s Gospel about the Temptation of Jesus in the desert reminds us of the issue of temptations in our life.

We all have different backgrounds and personalities so likely no two of us are tempted in exactly the same way. One person may find it hard to tell the truth in a difficult situation or when trapped between loyalty to two different friends. Another person may find it hard not to have his or her curiosity filled up by the latest unproven rumor about someone in the office. Others may struggle to control or regulate their emotions or appetites. No two of us are alike but we are all tempted to do sinful things from time to time. Temptation itself is not a sin. If we resist temptation, we actually gain graces.

I am not sure about you, but I often fail to resist temptation. Giving in to a sinful temptation never makes me feel good about myself. I always wish that I were stronger. Sometimes I look back and ask myself, “Why did you do that?”

I wonder if you have ever felt like this? Is there some strategy we can follow to build our resistance to temptation?

When we read the Temptation of Jesus in the Gospel, we notice the devil as a source of temptation. Maybe we should blame the devil for all our temptations?
The truth is that we are actually tempted from three sources in our lives. Traditionally we have described them as the world, the flesh and the devil. While not in this traditional order, the devil presents Jesus with these same three temptations. The devil tempts Jesus with grasping the power and glory the world. Jesus is tempted by the flesh to turn stones into loaves of bread, and to worship Satan and put God to a sinful test.

Christian tradition has seen these same three sources of temptation in other passages of scripture (Ephesians 2:1–3a, 1 John 2:16).

And you he made alive, when you were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience. Among these we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of body and mind … (Ephesians 2:1–3).

St. Paul mentions the course of this world, the prince of the power of the air (or the Devil) and the passions of our flesh.

Realizing that there are three sources of temptation, enables each one of us to take responsibility in a more personal way, since the flesh or our own human desires of body and mind come from within us.

In another passage St. Paul talks about temptation itself, using the same word as in our Gospel,

“No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your strength, but with the temptation will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).

The Apostle Paul does not mean we all face identical temptations, but that being tempted in general is the common lot of all fallen human persons.

Perhaps we should note that some translations confuse the meaning of this verse by translating “no trials have overtaken you” (NABRE). We need to be clear that nowhere in Scripture does God promise we will necessarily deliver us from all suffering. This verse promises instead that God will make a way of escape for us from sinful temptations.

If this is true, why do we still fail?

If we look to the example of Jesus in our Gospel, we observe that first of all Jesus was “filled with the Spirit” and “led by the Spirit” before encountering his temptations. St. Paul reminds us that the Holy Spirit is our strength and the source of our power against temptations. He writes,

“I say, then: live by the Spirit and you will certainly not gratify the desire of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16).

The promise of strength and endurance in the face of temptations comes not only from our own strength. We do need to struggle ourselves! In order to escape and resist temptation, the Holy Spirit assists by giving us supernatural grace. This is what St. Paul means by being made alive, and to walk in the Spirit.

As we are encouraged to do during this season of Lent, Jesus also undertakes the discipline of fasting. He even resists his normal healthy bodily appetites for a time, allowing himself to be hungry. In Jesus' case, this fast is of epic or perhaps we should say biblical proportions. St. Luke tells us Jesus “ate nothing” for forty days. Then in what is the most understated verse in the whole of Scripture tells us, when the forty days were over “he was hungry” (Luke 4:2).

Jesus models something else as well. For each one of the temptations he faces, Jesus answers the Devil by quoting from the Bible. We have no indication that Jesus carried scrolls of Scripture texts with him into the desert. To prepare his life for the mission God had called him to; Jesus had spent time being docile to his Father by reading and learning Scripture. He had immersed himself in Scripture to the point that he knew it by heart. This was no casual reading, but an effort to immerse himself in the heart of the Father. As Jesus tells us elsewhere in the Gospels, As the Father says and does, so the Son says and does. Jesus is modeling being a disciple of the Father’s love and mercy, a disciple who desires to be like the Father in every way.

This is the same vision he passes on to us. In St. John’s Gospel Jesus says, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” (John 8:31–32).

As we enter this Lenten season, let us first offer a prayer to be filled with the Spirit. Let us be willing to resist our bodily desires by means of fasting and small mortifications. 

Finally, let us renew our focus on our relationship with God. We may need to create some silence, and to discipline ourselves in prayer. Perhaps we might ask ourselves, if I truly desire to be the child of God and his disciple, have I spent time reading his word with a docile heart, seeking to become like him in every aspect of my life?

"When fully trained, every disciple will be like his teacher.”

I would like to ask you to imagine with me the following scene. A man goes to Confession and tells the priest, “Father, I have not been to Confession for twenty years.” The priest is very pleased to see him return, and greets him very warmly. Then with some help from the priest, he comes to the part of Confession where he confesses his sins. The man says, “I know it has been twenty years, but I can’t think of any sins to confess.” 

There is a long pause and then, the priest gives the man absolution, and as part of his penance asks him to pick up a copy of an Examination of Conscience found outside the Confessional and asks the man to think and pray about what he learns from this experience.

Now perhaps this man is some kind of natural saint who has intuitively learned to follow his better nature. I don’t know about you, but for me this is extremely unlikely. It is much more likely that his conscience has simply fallen asleep. He may actually be waking up at this point and he needs a double espresso from the Holy Spirit!

I wonder have you ever gone to Confession and struggled to think of what sins you are going to confess. It is very likely that this is not because you are sinless, but because you have allowed yourself to live on the surface and in the moment and have not entered into yourself very deeply.

At first glance, Jesus words in our gospel appears to be a kind of word salad filled with various metaphors. When we read a passage like this, we often find ourselves triggered by a particular verse that strikes us. Jesus asks, “Can a blind person guide a blind person?

Clearly, an effective leader cannot have their eyes closed, or be unable to see. The next verse is actually the key verse to this passage; Jesus refers to the notion of discipleship.

We are so used to hearing this word ‘disciple,’ that many of us have forgotten what it means. Jesus says, “No disciple is superior to the teacher; but when fully trained, every disciple will be like his teacher.”

Unlike our modern world, discipleship is not the same as ‘education.’ Discipleship was an apprenticeship in the life and teachings of the master. Discipleship primarily focused the imitation of the master to the point of actually becoming the other person in every little way.

Many years ago, I worked as an assistant in a large commercial cafeteria. When I was assisting the baker, I would literally add 20 pounds of flour and gallons of milk, but after we began mixing the dough, the baker would put his hand in the dough and determine whether we need to adjust the recipe with more liquid or more flour. This is not something you learn from a book. As Jesus notes, “when fully trained, every disciple will be like his teacher.” Discipleship was most of all an apprenticeship in the life of the master.

Jesus moves on to a new metaphor to explain how this might work. If we tried to picture this in our mind, this is would literally be a cartoon. Jesus asks, “Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own?”

This is a highly exaggerated metaphor. Jesus contrasts a speck, a word meaning a small flake of wood with a wooden beam, or the main load bearing beam of a building. Only in a kind of cartoon image could we imagine someone with this kind of wooden beam stilling out of his or her eye!

This person has failed to become a disciple or apprentice to the life of mercy and love that Jesus has been modelling.

Jesus says, “You hypocrite!” We experience shocked offence when we see obvious hypocrisy. “Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own?

Jesus asks us to begin with a humble self-examination of our hearts. Next, we must remove our own faults, only then can we see clearly to help someone else.

Our modern world often wants to make our faith something personal and private. Many people believe that faith is completely personal, and something that no one else should interfere with. In the name of being inclusive we should never judge another person. Each one of us has the right to follow our own feelings in matters of faith. Interfering with these feelings in another person’s life is judging that person.

Is this Jesus point in this passage?

While Jesus did warn about not judging others earlier (Luke 6:37), he does not use this word here. Instead, Jesus says that leaders should first take care of you own problems, then care for others.

St Paul makes a similar point in Galatians, 

Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Look to yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. (Galatians 6:1–2)

Keeping in mind the five previous chapters of Luke’s Gospel and the notion of discipleship, we can outline a five step process in Jesus’ teachings

1. Jesus calls us to be his disciple, and to imitate his life and teachings. Jesus ministry centers on modelling mercy and love to others.
2. We must begin in humility with an openness to the words and life of Jesus,
3. We must first examine our own hearts: We must pray to have an awareness of our own serious mistakes (“the beam in my eye” not “splinters”);
4. We must surrender to Jesus and be converted with the readiness to follow him, and thus to become a different person (removal of the “log”);
5. Only then, can we be a renewed disciple fully modelling Jesus mercy and love.

Only after initial conversion and the full apprenticeship of discipleship can I become like Jesus (v. 40b) and become a master or leader for others and help correct their little faults. (“splinter,” v. 42b)

How do we know this process has occurred?

In the next metaphor, Jesus talks about trees and fruit. He notes, “Every tree is known by its own fruit.” We cannot merely depend on our education, or the fact that we have riding along on the Catholic bus through the various sacraments. The final steps in the journey must involve a profound cooperation on our part. Like the earliest disciples, we must drop our nets and follow Jesus as his disciples. When we do this, our life will change and bear fruit. If we do not see fruit, there is a problem.

By literally walking with Jesus and experiencing his life and teachings, we awaken our conscience with the help of the Holy Spirit. Our heart needs to be fully awake in him.

This is a fundamental choice on our part. We need to say “yes” to Jesus. This is an act of our will. We need to surrender our life to him, and make him the center of our life. We may need to repeat this act many times in order to be continuously converted to his will.

Jesus final metaphor is a kind of litmus test, or scorecard. Are we really a fully initiated disciple of Jesus? Jesus observes that, “from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks.” The most profound demonstration of our holiness, and our conformity to the discipleship of Jesus, is how we control our tongue. We might be attempted to jump ahead and focus here, but unless we have taken the previous steps, we will likely fail.

Our journey begins not by following the rules, but by literally following the person of Jesus!
We must be changed by him from the inside out!



EIGHTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR C

Sirach 27:4–7; Psalm 92:2–3, 13–16; 1 Corinthians 15:54–58; Luke 6:39–45

Mercy Triumphs Over Judgment

As we read the words of this Sunday’s Gospel, many of us will experience sense of puzzlement, or even a sense that what Jesus is asking of us asked is fundamentally not fair. If we keep strict justice in mind, when hearing Jesus say, “But to you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. … we say, “Wait a minute. Really?” Where is the justice in these statements?

One of the divine attributes of God is certainly justice, but justice is not God’s central attribute. Years ago, St. John Paul II wrote and encyclical on the topic of Mercy (Dives et Misericordia, 1980). 

Without taking away from the importance of justice, St. John Paul II points out that Jesus unique mission on earth was to make the Father present as love and mercy (DM 3). Jesus centered his ministry on being a model of merciful love for others. We see this modeled in Jesus words, but even more in his actions. The call to mercy is in fact one of the essential elements of the Gospel message and the essential way of life for his disciples (DM 3).

Even in the Old Testament, where we often see God’s justice contrasted with his mercy, the perfection of God’s love is always greater than justice. St. John Paul II points out love is primary and fundamental and it conditions justice. Justice serves love.

This highlights the primacy and superiority of love over justice. In fact, the superiority of love is hallmark of the whole of revelation. The way in which we actually experience God’s love, however, is through mercy. (DM 4). The concrete expression of love in our lives is mercy.

St. John Paul II observes that the very idea of this mercy often creates certain prejudices in our hearts. This is because Jesus calls us to go beyond the precise norms of justice and our heart immediately tells us that this is not fair.

In our Gospel, Jesus calls us to a higher standard than mere justice,

Bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other one as well, and from the person who takes your cloak, do not withhold even your tunic. Give to everyone who asks of you, and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back

Our heart stumbles over Jesus’ call, because in focuses on the externals and on the apparent inequality of justice between the one offering it and the one receiving it. Our heart intuitively tells us that mercy does seem fair (DM 5).

Yet, Jesus calls us in this Gospel to transform our love into mercy. Without this mercy, we miss the essential element of relationship. When we fail to show mercy, we often fail to recognize the hand of God moving in hearts of others. We find our highest calling not in the things of this life, but in eternity with God. In the light of eternity, how important is a tunic? If we choose not to retaliate, and this leads to a new relationship with our enemy, we may become a model of merciful love that reveals the heart of the Father to our brother.

A profound example of this mercy is the parable of the prodigal son. The father in this parable sees the good achieved in the heart of the prodigal son. This allows the father to look beyond mere justice, and to forget the evil, which the son has committed against him (DM 6). The father recognizes the reality of conversion in the prodigal’s heart. St. John Paul II notes, “Conversion is the most concrete expression of the working of love and of the presence of mercy in the human world” (DM 13). With eternity in mind, our goal should always be conversion.

Like the older brother in this parable, our heart may still say this is not fair! Clearly, our faith does not demand that we never pursue justice. We acknowledge such goods as the rule of just laws and legitimate self-defense. Our faith calls us to advocate for those who are poor and defenseless. We have not abandoned justice.

Yet at other times, Jesus calls us to show mercy. More than this, the presence of God in our life should lead us to become models of mercy and to make mercy the central focus of our life in Christ.

We can ask ourselves; in the light of eternity, what does Jesus ask me to do in this concrete situation? What action will most likely lead to this person’s eventual conversion? We can also think about the mercy and love we have received from God through the loving sacrifice that Jesus has made on our behalf. Do we really understand the depth and breadth of the love and mercy that we personally have received from God? In a certain sense, we are all prodigals.

As St. Paul reminds us, “All have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Yet even so, this will not stop the mercy of God towards us. St. Paul continues, “But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). St. John reminds us God’s mercy flows from his love, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life” (John 3:16).

At the same time Jesus’ message of love and mercy also contains a solemn warning for those who harden their hearts against mercy. In the Our Father prayer we say, “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.” (Matthew 6:12). Just in case we miss the implications of the word “as” in this verse Jesus immediately reminds us, “But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions” (Matthew 6:15). St. James warns us: “For judgment will be without mercy to anyone who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment” (James 2:13).

Yet as the psalmist reminded us, “The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in mercy” (Psalm 103:8). Let us each open our hearts to his love and may his mercy flow through our lives to the world.

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SEVENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME--YEAR C: 1 Samuel 26:2, 7–9, 12–13, 22–23; Psalm 103:1–4, 8, 10, 12–1, 1 Corinthians 15:45–49, Gospel: Luke 6:27–38

Joined to Christ in Suffering

Perhaps some of you have at some point have worked out in a gym, or been to physio and have heard the common training advice, “No pain, no gain.” This expression highlights the truth that in order to build muscle mass, and improve cardio endurance we need to exercise our muscles until they feel the fatigue and pain of this effort. If you have experienced physiotherapy you know therapists are not afraid to make you hurt sometimes, for your own good.

On the other hand, we also notice the opposite trend in our culture. We have become more and more focused on comfort and avoiding all suffering.

We want to buy our salads and carrots ready to eat from the fridge. Many of us have a coffee machine that dispenses a single cup of coffee on demand. The TV dinner of my era has turned into an entire aisle of instant meals at the supermarket.

Recently a marriage and family therapist and author has suggest that this has idea of comfort seeking has filtered over into the modern notion of marriage. We want our partner to be everything for us. We want them to meet all our needs for comfort, friendship and pleasure. They are our soulmate, the one who will meet all our needs. This is of course highly unrealistic, and can lead to serious problems in our relationship. We are in sense seeking heaven on earth and operating out of a profound sense of entitlement.

I am not suggesting that all of this focus on convenience and comfort is necessarily sinful. Clearly, no one would say, “Bless me Father I have sinned, I bought ready to eat carrots!” I also enjoy these modern conveniences. Yet this trend towards maximizing comfort and avoiding suffering can create confusion about our faith.

Suffering is an unavoidable part of life, but we might want to distinguish between two kinds of suffering. We can enduring voluntary suffering such as penance, fasting and mortification. In a sense, all spiritual disciplines are a form of voluntary suffering. We also endure voluntary suffering when we engaging in sports training, or dieting, or when we discipline ourselves to work hard at various other endeavors.

Another type of suffering is involuntary. Often the cause of this type of suffering is evil in our world. We can endure physical evils such as disease and eventually the inevitable death we will all face. We can also suffer from moral evils when people do unjust and evil things to us and cause us to suffer. On a natural level, there is nothing good about suffering. God did not create evil, it is a result of sin and our collective misuse of God’s gifts. Our misguided use of freedom is the cause of evil in this world. Creation itself is afflicted with this evil because of the Fall.

Our first response to this evil should be to cry out God for deliverance and healing. Even Christ in his agony, first prayed for deliverance. As our Lord prayed in the garden, "Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me; still, not my will but yours be done" (Luke 22:42). 

Understandably, God does not ask us to resign ourselves passively to suffering. Yet, what if God does not answer our prayers and allows us to continue to suffer?

For many people suffering from an evil cause, creates difficult questions in their hearts. If God really loves me, then how could he allow me to suffer this way?

In our Gospel today, Jesus says some puzzling things that on the surface do not seem to make sense.

Lifting his eyes to his disciples, Jesus says blessed are the poor, and the hungry, and those who are now weeping, and those being persecuted. The word Jesus uses for ‘blessed” is makarios and it means fortunate, happy, privileged but also one who enjoys divine favor or being blessed. On a natural level, it is hard for me to understand how being poor, hungry, grieving and persecuted will make you blessed and happy.

Perhaps is it a kind of spiritual “No pain, no gain” principle. This is not the Gospel according to Planet Fitness. We can actually find this same advice in the Bible. We read in Hebrews, “At the time, all discipline seems a cause not for joy but for pain, yet later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who are trained by it” (Hebrew 12:11).

This advice should be no surprise, as many saints have told us that growth in the spiritual life requires discipline and effort on our part. This type of suffering is likely the voluntary kind of discipline that our spiritual life demands of all of us.

To understand the full breadth of suffering we need to think more deeply about the nature of suffering itself. Does suffering itself have any meaning?

Our faith teaches us that it is only in the mystery of the cross that suffering takes on meaning. The ultimate goal of Jesus life and his ministry on earth was to suffer. A number of years ago, St. John Paul II wrote a beautiful apostolic letter on suffering that is still worth reading. He notes that , “Love is … the richest source of the meaning of suffering” (SD 13).

The truth is that anyone who really wanted to get rid of suffering would also have to get rid of love, because love always demands an element of self-sacrifice. Essentially, there can be no love without suffering. For more on this theme, see the following article by Dr. Matthew Ramage, in Religions 2021.

If involuntary sufferings are evil, then can this suffering be used for good?

In a highly unusual verse, St. Paul notes,

“Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the church” (Colossians 1:24).

The idea of making up or filling up what is lacking in Christ’s suffering is puzzling. We believe as a matter of faith that Jesus died once for all to save us. This sacrifice is complete, and unrepeatable. What does St. Paul mean? How can we , "filling up what is lacking" in Christ's afflictions?

The answer to this question has to do with the notion of communion. Through Baptism and the Eucharist we are joined to Christ.

St. Paul notes, “For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ” (Galatians 3:27). The imagery of being “clothed” has to do with joining ourselves to Christ. Similarly, he notes, “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, …” (1 Corinthians 12:13). We are literally part of Christ’s Body. We are joined to Christ like the parts of the body are joined together. He is part of us, and we are part of him, in communion.

Regarding the Eucharist St. Paul notes, “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because the loaf of bread is one, we, though many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf” (1 Corinthians 10:16-17). The word translated “participation” can mean "fellowship" or even "communion." We are joined to Christ when we receive his Body and Blood in Holy Communion.

In relation to our suffering then, this communion with Christ moves in two directions. We are joined to the cross and to Christ’s redemptive sufferings, but he is at the same time joined to us in our sufferings.

St. John Paul II notes that while the sufferings of Christ are inexhaustible and infinite and cannot be added to, at the same time by being in communion with his Body, “Christ has in a sense opened his own redemptive suffering to all human suffering. . . . (SD 19).

This means that our suffering does have meaning. Our sufferings can be a share in the redemptive work of Christ on the Cross. In communion with Christ, we share in his redemptive suffering which pays the penalty for our sins. At the same time, our human sufferings are also shared or joined with Christ, and become a share in the redemptive work of Christ as part of his Body (SD 19).

No one would say this is an easy road to walk. Perhaps in the midst of profound pain and human suffering this might sound trite. Yet, we do believe we can sanctify others through our suffering and we can be sanctified ourselves by the presence of Christ in our sufferings. We accomplish this by being drawn ever closer to his love.

St. John Paul II notes that although Christ died once for all to save us (1 Peter 3:18, Hebrews 9:28) yet at the same time Christ sufferings are unceasingly completed because of our intimate communion with him (SD 24). It is perhaps difficult to understand this notion of being unceasingly completed, but this notion make the most sense of St. Paul’s words, “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the church” (Colossians 1:24).

Again, this is an intimate communion with his love. This means our sufferings can be ‘offered up’ as a sacrifice for others. We do this by adding our suffering to our prayer intentions for others. We can sanctify others through our suffering and we be sanctified by the presence of Christ in our sufferings. “Christ through his own salvific suffering is very much present in every human suffering” (SD 26).

If we understand this then our own suffering can be time special of grace that will transform our souls. St. John Paul II notes in suffering there is concealed a particular power that draws a person interiorly close to Christ, a special grace and time of conversion (SD 26).

As we think about this theme of suffering perhaps there are two things we can take away for this. In relation to involuntary sufferings, we need to understand that Christ is very close to us in our sufferings. We are part of his body and joined to him. He suffers with us and offers us his love. We can use this experience to offer up our suffering for others and to deepen our own conversion.

Having said this, this path can be very difficult! I am not a stranger to suffering in my own life, and this path can be very hard.

Regarding voluntary sufferings, we might want to recall that in the old calendar of the church this past Sunday was Septuagesima Sunday. The name comes from the Latin word for "seventieth" or seventy days before Easter. It was a kind of Pre-Lent or extended time of preparation for Lent. Perhaps then we can use this as a reminder in order to take advantage of the season of Lent. To live the season of Lent well, we need to do some planning.

What can we do to gain the most benefit from the season of Lent and allow this discipline to draw us closer to our Lord?

 

What can we do to prepare ourselves for Lent?

One suggestion might be to use an Examination of Conscience to carefully prepare for Confession and then use this experience and our deeper interior reflections and to choose Lenten penances that will help us to grow in our faith. The church also recommends frequent Confession.

I offer the following reflections for this process based on the three traditional practices of lent: prayer, fasting, and alms giving. These practices are not a check list of equal activities for our soul, however, we should focus on those things that change our heart and draw us closer to our Lord.

Prayer and the Interior Life

Ask the Holy Spirit to show you, your personal weaknesses. Be genuinely vulnerable with God. Begin with a prayer to the Holy Spirit.

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth.

O, God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations, Through Christ Our Lord, Amen.

What patterns have you observe in your Confessions?

Is there a sin or weakness that your often struggle with?

What could you struggle against that would help your to grow?

Could you try to build a virtue that opposes this sin?

How could you get closer to God in your relationship with him?

Could you spend more time in prayer and in the personal reading of Scripture?

Do you own a Bible that you regularly read? How much time do you spend prayerfully reading the Bible?

Are their distractions in your life that typically take up your time, and keep you from spending time with God? Facebook? Screen time, TV viewing?

Does your screen time sometimes lead to engage in sinful behavior?

Have you received any spiritual advice in the Confessional that you have not yet put into practice?

Is there a person in your life that you should be spending more time with?

Is there someone in your life who often leads you to do things you later regret?

Fasting

It is fine to pick some things that you will abstain from during Lent. It is important to remember that these are voluntary penances, and if we fail (all things equal) we have not committed a sin. It does not have to be something specific, but if there is something in your life that you think might be controlling you or that your use of is disordered, then it would be good to focus on this item specifically. For example, some people give up alcohol, or deserts, etc.

We might want to be careful that what we propose is doable and not too hard for us. In addition, we should not mortify others with our penance. This is our penance and not theirs. There are times when love is more important than our voluntary penance. We do not sin by temporarily stopping our penance out of love.

We can gain benefit from even little acts of detachment. Someone might give up eating ketchup or other condiment on their food or plan to eat more food that they do not like, but they know is good for them. The simple act of discipline in these areas can later strengthen our will against other temptations.

In the tradition of the Church, Sundays are never a day of fasting. See the following reflection: Are Sundays a part of Lent?

Alms

Here we focus on detachment. We can fast from spending money on luxury items, or from certain recreational activities that waste our time and save the money that this cost normally us.

We could also donate the money we save through our fasting to the poor, or simply donate to the food bank or volunteer our time, etc.




SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME --YEAR C

Is Jesus in your boat?

The theme of this Sunday’s readings is discerning our calling or vocation in life. This can be both something natural and something supernatural.

Parents often play a role in helping their children discern on a natural level. When done well this can be very helpful, but often I have seen this go very wrong. I often observe parents pushing their children to achieve the parent’s own dreams about the future, and they are sometimes not being sensitive to the talents and desires of the child. The child may end up feeling controlled, and not affirmed in who they really are.

Perhaps a side note to parents is the fact that children owe obedience to their parents while living at home but the Catechism notes that this shifts to respect and no longer obedience once they are adults (CCC 2217). If the parent’s advice is considerate, understanding and insightful, they may continue to have influence, but adult children are free to make their own choices about their vocation and future.

When thinking about our spiritual vocation, perhaps it would be helpful to distinguish first our common vocation in Christ from the special vocation that God has specifically given to each one of us. Every Christian without exception, by virtue of our common Baptism, is called to a life of holiness. The church has called this the universal call to holiness.

The church wants to make it clear that there are not two classes of Christians: ordinary lay Christians, and those who have a special higher calling to holiness. In the past, many people came to believe the error that only priests and religious received a special call to holiness.

On the contrary, holiness is our common vocation. As the fathers of the Second Vatican council remind us, “all the faithful of Christ of whatever rank or status, are called to the fullness of the Christian life and to the perfection of charity; by this holiness” (LG 40).

Each one of us is universally called to be holy. (Lumen Gentium, 39-42).

The graces we receive in baptism transform us so that we are conformed to the image of Christ. Baptism imparts to us a permanent and indelible change to our very nature. We become a new creation. St. Paul tell us,

So whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come. (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Yet, in order to experience God’s purpose in this gift of grace, we must cooperate with these graces and submit our hearts to him. As the Catechism reminds us, “Moved by grace, man turns toward God and away from sin, thus accepting forgiveness and righteousness from on high” (CCC 1989).

The essential elements of Christian initiation are; “proclamation of the Word, acceptance of the Gospel entailing conversion, profession of faith, Baptism itself, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and admission to Eucharistic communion” (CCC 1229). Our cooperation through personal faith and repentance are an essential part of the process. As the Catechism reminds us, “The first work of the grace of the Holy Spirit is ‘conversion’” (CCC 1989).

What is conversion? The US bishops have reminded us,

Conversion is the acceptance of a personal relationship with Christ, a sincere adherence to him, and a willingness to conform one's life to his. Conversion to Christ involves making a genuine commitment to him and a personal decision to follow him as his disciple. (National Directory for Catechesis, 2005, p, 46)

Conversion is both an initial decision to cooperate in following Jesus, and then an ongoing commitment to continue experiencing this conversion. This leads to a life of intentional discipleship. For the majority of Christians this enables us to live this life of discipleship in our secular careers, and in our daily life. For laypersons, this primarily takes place outside the walls of the church, and in the midst of the world and in our daily lives.

Our Gospel today has often been seen as a vocation narrative. It is both about the pattern of our common vocation to holiness and about a special vocation for Peter and the other apostles.

For practical reasons, because of the crowds, Jesus climbs into Peter’s boat and speaks to the crowds from the boat. When he is finished speaking, he asks Peter to “put out into the deep” and to “lower his nets.” Simon Peter protests a bit at first. Clearly, Jesus is not a professional fisherman. Yet Peter is docile to Jesus and says,“at your command I will lower the nets.”

A miracle takes place and he catches so many fish, Peter’s nets are breaking. He signals for help from his partners, James and John.

This miracle causes Peter to experience a profound encounter with Jesus. Peter falls to his knees and experiences deep conviction for his sins. Quoting St. John Paul II, the Catechism reminds us, the Holy Spirit acts like “a physician who probes the wound before treating it” By the Word of God and by his Spirit, God casts a living light on sin. The Catechism notes, “Conversion requires convincing of sin.”

This conviction is both an interior judgment of conscience and proof of the action of the Spirit in our inmost being, which results in a new grant of grace and love in our hearts. [John Paul II, DeV 31 § 2] (CCC 1848).

In terms of our cooperation, many saints have told us about the necessity of humility and detachment to begin this journey. Normally this takes place through encountering God in Scripture and in personal conversational prayer with God.

Jesus then gives Peter a special vocation, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men” (Luke 5:10). Peter’s response, and that of the other disciples, is a complete submission of heart and will to God. They literally dropped their nets and followed him. Luke tells us, “When they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed him” (Luke 5:10).

What can we take away from this for our lives? First, we should note that Peter allowed himself to be in the boat with Jesus. We cannot encounter Jesus ourselves, if we do not spend time with him in the Word and in prayer. We can ask ourselves, “Is Jesus in my boat?”

In a world filled with so many distractions, this takes effort on our part. If we begin as Peter did in docility, and humility, I am convinced that we will also have a profound encounter with Jesus of our own.

Many times, however, we are looking for a voice from heaven such as we saw in our first reading from Isaiah.

I heard a story this week about a local priest who was trying to discern something important. He went away on a weeklong silent retreat. During the retreat, he heard God say to him in the quiet of his heart, “I really love you!” Later he heard from God again, “I really, really love you!” Finally, near the end of the week God spoke to him again, “No, I really, really, really love you!” He never got the answer to the question he was discerning, but he completed the week with a sense of profound peace and a renewed knowledge that God was good and loved him very deeply.

The knowledge that God is good and that he loves each of us personally and deeply is the very core of our Christian life with him.

I would like to issue a challenge today. Every day we live, we are typically awake for about 960 minutes. We probably work half or more of that time. If we gave God just 15 minutes of our time, that would only be about 3% of our remaining time. I would like to challenge you to make an effort to put Jesus in your boat this week.

Imagine what would happen in our lives, and what would result in our parish community, if each one of us spent just 15 minutes a day reading the Bible and talking to Jesus in our prayer.


FIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME --YEAR C
Isaiah 6:1–2a, 3–8, Psalm 138:1–5, 7–8, 1 Corinthians 15:1–11, Luke 5:1–11

‘Cancel Culture’ in Nazareth

This week I engaged in a bit of time travel and went back to read some the dialogues from the 1970's television scripts of the show All in the Family. 

This Gospel made me think of the rise of the Cancel Culture where  groups engage in mass cancelings of public figures as a way of expressing disapproval. I was curious what might have triggered this strong response.

The character Archie Bunker was actually much, much worse than I remembered! Archie is racist, sexist, prejudice and demeaning to every protected group you could think of. To make things worse, he often quoted wacky interpretations of the Bible to defend these prejudices. Unfortunately, Archie Bunker is like many real people, and modern exit interviews of young adults and teens who leave the Church, often cite bad experiences with these same prejudices.

I do think that the character Archie was portrayed by the screenwriters as a kind of villain, whom the other characters tried to oppose, but I would have no difficulty showing that each one of these dialogues portrays behavior which is condemned as extremely sinful in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Fast forward to today: We are told that everyone needs be inclusive and must try not to offend anyone with our ideas.

Surprisingly in the modern world, the phrase, “That idea offends me” has become very powerful and actionable.

We might need to stop and be honest. Religious people are sometimes offensive and lacking in charity to their neighbor. Some of them may even sound like a 1970's televison script.

We know that Jesus is a friend of sinners who does not reject anyone (Matthew 11:19 and Luke 7:34). Yet is Jesus also meek and mild (as commonly misunderstood) and someone who is afraid confront anyone with the reality of sin?

Like all errors about Jesus, the modern notion is a half-truth. 

St. Paul reminds us, “But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). God does invite each one of us to come to him, as we are, in the midst of our sinfulness. It is also true that there is no sin that anyone can commit, which lacks God’s forgiveness. Perhaps some Catholics need to be reminded that you are always only one Confession away from coming home.

The subtle difference in our modern culture is that we want to see Jesus as creating a “judgment free zone.” This cultural phrase actually comes from a local fitness franchise! In order to be truly inclusive, we want to believe that Jesus will not judge anyone. Yet this is only true of the beginning of our journey. 

In the ancient world, the city of Corinth had a reputation as a kind of Las Vegas. When St. Paul writes to this church, he lists an entire paragraph of past sins that members of this community had committed and then says,

“That is what some of you used to be; but now you have had yourselves washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:11).

Once we have received God’s initial forgiveness, and obviously continued to walk in this forgiveness repeatedly, he does not leave us to be the same as we were in the beginning.

God calls us to personal holiness. The call to holiness may be a slow process and often involves many times of receiving his forgiveness. Jesus has not come, however, to create a “judgment free zone” which places no demands on changing who we are in Christ.

Let us not forget that each Sunday we confess, “He will come again to judge the living and the dead.”

In today’s Gospel, Jesus is not afraid to speak the truth even if it results in his rejection. He refuses to perform a miracle in Nazareth. He purposely angers the crowd with his words. Jesus points out that many times in the history of Israel, prophets experienced rejection for their message. Jesus tells them, “Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place.”

Jesus then gives two examples of miracles from the Old Testament, which involve the prophets Elijah and Elisha. These prophets performed miracles not for Israel, but for those outside of Israel. This truth is so offensive to the crowd; they actually try to kill Jesus.

In this Gospel, Jesus models being willing to risk offending someone with the truth. It also shows us that humility is the beginning of our journey to forgiveness.

In today’s world, we must be very careful that we do not sacrifice truth, in order to avoid offending others. Equally, we need to be careful that we do not lack charity.

I don't know about you, but I am someone who is usually willing to speak up for the truth, but at the same time, I do not like offending anyone. 

Yet our faith requires all of us to ask ourselves, am I willing to speak up for the truth? You cannot be a witness to the Gospel and be silent. Sorry but not using words won't cut it. And by the way, St. Francis never said this. 

The question for each of us is, are you willing to take this risk? When thinking about this it might be interesting to think about two different personalities that people might have. 

People Pleasers

Some people might be described as people pleasers and conflict avoiders. Let me be clear, in general these are very nice people. They make excellent friends.

People like this have a personality trait called agreeableness that makes it much easier for them to get along with others. They are generally more trusting, and they enjoy helping people. They are modest, and show empathy for others. When out of balance, however, people like this may sacrifice their own feelings and at times even the truth, in order to please others.

Assertive people

On the other hand, some of us have no trouble being assertive and speaking our mind. We never avoid conflict. Under the right circumstances, we admire these qualities. We might say a person is forthright, and a straight shooter. They might even be courageously vulnerable with others. This type of person people is often a leader. So again, being assertive and speaking our mind can be a strength. 

It is possible, however, to be assertive but also to be low in agreeableness. In this case the person tends to be skeptical, stubborn, and demanding. They may even insult and belittle others. In this case being “forthright” is out of balance. 

As St. Paul reminds us in today's reading, if we speak the truth but “do not have love” we are like a “resounding gong or a clashing cymbal” (13:1). Giving us all a review, he reminds us,

“Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, [love] is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered (1 Corinthians 13:4).

Whatever we say to others, needs to be rooted in love for our neighbor. Very often, the best in human behavior requires a balance between different traits. Our faith has highlighted this balance as finding the just mean in the life of human virtue (CCC 1809, 2469).

While our individual personality plays a strong role in how we act, God still holds us accountable for our present actions. We are required to evaluate our strengths and weaknesses and to choose the path of holiness. We must seek the help of the Holy Spirit to transform our weaknesses. If you are like me, an awareness of our weakness can make us discouraged, even at times a bit anxious and reluctant to act, unless we bring these faults to our Lord in prayer and allow him to be our strength.

As St. Paul reminds us, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness. I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me” (2 Corinthians 12:9). Often the secret to overcoming our faults is to live a kind of courageous vulnerability before the Lord in our weakness.

If we recognize that, at times we are skeptical and demanding, with God's help we need to learn to listen more, and to understand what the other person is thinking and feeling. We need to be patient and kind, and make sure that we speak the truth in love.

If our natural tendency is to please others, we need to be certain we are not depriving our friends and family of the truth. Even if we might at times fear they will become angry and reject us for speaking the truth. God will strengthen us in our weakness. Jesus calls us to proclaim the truth in love. He will be our strength.

Personal holiness is about finding the balance in friendship and communion with the Spirit of God. God is calling each one of us to be a witness to the truth, but always in union with him, speaking the truth in love.

We must each take our own personal weaknesses, and submit them to Christ. As we walk the path of personal holiness, we must be more and more conformed to his likeness (CCC 1811, 2516).

In order to make a difference in today world, we need to get closer to Jesus in our prayer and to be vulnerable with him. Each one of us can learn to literally be Jesus in the midst of our daily lives. This calling is definitely countercultural. 

Imagine the impact it would have if each one of us lived two realities at the same time, both unapologetically clinging to the truth, and dynamically modeling a community rooted in God's love for the world. 

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me"

The second half of our Gospel reading begins with a summary: “Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee.” The word “then” points back to the beginning of the chapter (4:1). We have already seen that Jesus is full of the Holy Spirit, and led by the Holy Spirit and even earlier that the Holy Spirit descends upon him at his Baptism

In today’s reading Jesus chooses to enter the synagogue on the Sabbath and read to from the Isaiah scroll where is says;

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because he has anointed me

to bring good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives

and recovery of sight to the blind,

to let the oppressed go free,

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

The present passage is the oldest known account of a synagogue service. We do not actually know what a synagogue service looked like at the time of Jesus. Reading back from later sources, it is likely that Luke describes only the central part of the service with the reading from the Prophets followed by a homily.

Regarding the ancient synagogue customs for reading, was Jesus the appointed reader? Was Isaiah 61 the expected reading? Again, Luke’s description leaves us guessing.

Luke tells us that after reading, Jesus rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant and sat down. Most teachers in the ancient world sat to teach.

This description of events sounds like the normal procedure for a synagogue reader, but Luke tells us “the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him.” (Luke 4:20). There was clearly an air of great expectation. Was it because of the choice of reading? Alternatively, perhaps the crowd had already heard about Jesus. Luke tells us that Jesus routinely, “taught in their synagogues and was praised by all” (4:14).

Jesus then gives a one-line homily. “Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing” (4:20). Now that is a short homily! What did the people in the synagogue make of this? How is Isaiah 61 “fulfilled in their hearing”?

There are several threads of Jewish expectation related to Isaiah 61. The spirit-filled messenger proclaims, “the year of the Lord’s favor.” This is a reference to the Year of Jubilee, which occurred every fifty years (Leviticus 25). During the Jubilee year, the fields were left fallow, persons returned to their ancestral homes, debts were forgiven and slaves set free. Notice that Jesus returns to his home in Nazareth in this passage.

While it is possible that this was literally a Year of Jubilee, there was also a common understanding of the Jubilee as a kind of prophetic promise of a future age of the Spirit when there would be a new age of salvation.

Connected to the coming age of the Spirit was a mysterious prophetic messenger, called the Suffering Servant.

Today when we hear the words poor, captives and oppressed we probably think about the practical social dimension of helping the less fortunate (soup kitchens, human rights, political freedom) and this is certainly Christian concern, but it is not the first thing Jesus does in Luke’s Gospel.

The poor Jesus refers to are, the “pious poor,” or the anawim of the Old Testament. The afflicted, or the “pious poor,” are always the ones who are the most responsive to God. In effect, they are the humble ones who respond to the good news of the Gospel.

As we continue to read Luke’s Gospel, the Holy Spirit brings release for those who are captive to sin and oppressed by the devil, and literally gives sight to the blind through divine healings.

Luke describes Jesus’ ministry as being in the power of the Holy Spirit and in the next four chapters, we see ‘power’ going out from Jesus to bring about literal healings.

Several chapters later in Luke, John the Baptist sends his disciples to Jesus to ask him, “Are you he who is to come. . .”? (Luke 7).

Jesus tells them,

Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the good news proclaimed to them (Luke 7:22).

Each of these actions is the fulfillment of Isaiah 61. To put this in modern terms, Isaiah 61 is Jesus’ mission statement, and he measurably puts it into effect. This passage is a summary of his vision, and since we are his disciples, it is our vision statement as well. Jesus personally ministered in the power of the Spirit, but later at Pentecost, Luke tells us that the Spirit was “poured out” on “all flesh.” The presence of the Spirit is a universal quality for all Christians.

What can we take away from this?

First we can learn that we must not separate or compartmentalize our ministry from life in the Spirit and the good news of the Gospel. Yes, Jesus is concerned for the blind, the deaf, the lepers, and he feeds the hungry. The foundation of all ministries, however, is the fact that Jesus Christ came to save us from our sins by dying and rising again. He offers us first a Jubilee gift of total forgiveness, and then while doing this, He is concerned for all our needs.

For each one of us, the only question is, are we willing to accept this gift of forgiveness? Luke tells us that Jesus came “to bring good news to the poor.” Again, it is the poor and the humble who open their hearts to Jesus. For each one of us, humility is the beginning of our life with God.

It is only through the Gospel that we experience release from the captivity to sin, and oppression by the devil. This takes place through the power of God. The same experience of the Spirit may also bring healing of both body and soul.

What about each one of us, right now? Do we need to be filled with the Spirit?

The Catechism says that the Holy Spirit is the soul of the Church. Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Eucharist (the Sacraments of initiation) are all about communion with Christ through the Holy Spirit. Yet the Bible cannot imagine this communion, if it is merely a doctrinal confession.

Imagine the strange example of someone who is not practicing marriage but is merely intellectually assenting to the idea of marriage. This person might say, “Yes, I confess and believe that I am married, but I can’t really point to any experience in my life that proves I am married.” I think that we all understand that without a shared common life of intimacy, we are not really talking about marriage at all.

In the book of Acts, when St. Paul meets a group of people who have had a defective Christian initiation, he asks them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” He was not looking for a confessional answer, such as “Well yes, I believe intellectually I must have received the Holy Spirit.”

This is not to doubt the presence of the Spirit in the Sacraments, even when we do not immediately sense anything, but Paul is expecting that every believer would have a definite personal awareness of the Spirit in their life.

The essence of this awareness is to be conscious of God’s divine sonship or being aware that you are a child of God and part of his family. As Paul tells us in two places, the Spirit cries out “Abba, Father” in our hearts (Galatians 4:6 and Romans 8:15). Each one of us should have a tangible loving awareness of God in our prayer. It is through the Holy Spirit that we experience this interior awareness of family intimacy. This experience need not be dramatic, but it needs to be real.

As St. John Paul II reminds us,

“…the definitive aim of catechesis is to put people not only in touch, but in communion, in intimacy, with Jesus Christ” (Catechesi tradendae, 5; cf. GDC 2020, 75). The Catechism tells us that faith is not merely an assent to a truth, but also to a spirit-filled relationship with a person.

In perfect union with the Holy Spirit, the person of Jesus is preaching the good news to each one of us. Jesus Christ calls each one of us to conversion. Because of this, we should shamelessly pursue this conversion at all costs and at every opportunity. Conversion should also be an ongoing, continuous process in our life.

The desired response is a total “yes” to God involving our whole life.

As Jesus said, “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him” (John 14:23).

Joy at the Wedding of Cana

In our Gospel today we have this wonderful description of a wedding in Palestine. Jesus, his mother, Mary, and some of his disciples are present at the wedding feast.

As we make sense of this story, John tells us emphatically the wedding took place “On the third day,” we are familiar with that expression because we remember that Jesus rose from the dead “on the third day.”(1 Corinthians 15:3–7, and the Creed) –using the same expression. 

I have been wondering if the Bible is the source of the California inspired New Math that baby boomers like to make fun of on Facebook, since in the Bible; “on the third day” essentially means “two days” as it did with Jesus' time in the tomb before the resurrection. In fact, Jesus was in the tomb for one whole day, and parts of two others. In keeping with Jewish custom, this was “three days.”

Previously in the story John narrates four consecutive days (1:19, 29, 35, 43), so this would make our “day” here, the sixth day narrated in the first week of Jesus’ ministry.

Since John’s Gospel begins with an obvious echo of the creation story in chapter 1, “In the beginning was the Word,” the sixth day would be an echo of the sixth day of the creation. This is the day that God created the first man and woman, Adam and Eve. This was widely understood as the first wedding found in Scripture.

When later in his earthly ministry, Jesus is asked about marriage, he points back to Genesis and says it was not so in the beginning (Matthew 19:8). Adam and Eve become the divine model for God’s intention in Marriage. In John’s telling here, Jesus attends a wedding on the sixth day, and this would highlight the Genesis parallel. It is the day that God instituted marriage. This point is extremely important because Jesus is about to take the divinely created human institution of Marriage, and elevate it to something new, a Sacrament for those who are baptized.

In order to understand our Gospel story today, we need to know a bit more about the customs of Marriage in these times. In ancient Palestinian culture, there was a profound duty to provide hospitality to guests at a wedding.

The Rabbis believed that to be considered legitimate, a wedding ceremony must include a Marriage feast. The Rabbis required this feast to be celebrated with dancing and joy. It was most important to feast on the night of the wedding itself, but ideally, the feast lasted for seven days. The bride and groom would remain for the full period of the feast, abstaining from work and sharing in the joy of the family. 

John tells us that disaster struck at the wedding, as “the wine ran short.” Wine was an essential part of the joy that was expected to occur at a wedding.  Running out of wine would be an enormous social embarrassment to the family. In the eyes of the rabbis, the wedding might even be considered illegitimate without it.

Understanding this, Mary approached Jesus and said, “They have no wine.” Jesus' reply to Mary may catch us off guard because it sounds rude, “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.” Jesus is not rude at all. The word ‘woman’ in Aramaic would have sounded like old fashioned spikey English, “My Lady, how does your concern affect me?”

Then Jesus adds, “My hour has not yet come.” In John’s telling of the Gospel story, he recounts three years of Jesus' earthly ministry. John does not tell us a little bit about each year, instead, time gradually slows down in his Gospel until we are looking at the final “hour” when Jesus is fully revealed in his passion and death. Jesus is saying it is not yet time to reveal his “hour.” The hour of his passion, death and resurrection. 

John portrays Mary as a model disciple perhaps the model disciple. Mary says to the servers, “Do whatever he tells you.”  While these words are a crucial prompt for Jesus in our story, they also model the ideal behavior of a disciple of Jesus. The fathers of the Second Vatican Council called this the “obedience of faith” (Romans 13:26; 2 Corinthians 10:5-6). According to the council fathers, this type of faith is “an obedience by which man commits his whole self freely to God, offering the full submission of intellect and will to God who reveals,” (Dei Verbum 5).

I cannot resist giving a small piece of advice for marriage. Modern psychological research has shown that husbands who allow themselves to be influenced by their wives have happier marriages. Perhaps husbands should not say, “Do whatever she tells you,” -- but certainly being open and to listen to each other is essential to a happy Marriage. 

As a model disciple, Mary invites us to be open and listen to our Lord, and to respond by doing whatever he tells us.

Mary is undeterred by the difficulties they are facing, and models trust. She asks Jesus for assistance, and in faith believes that these difficulties will be overcome. This is very much like prayer.

John tells us there were “six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings, each holding twenty to thirty gallons” (John 2:6). These were not used for drinking but for ceremonial washing.

Jesus tells the servants to “filled them to the brim” and then to “draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter” (John 2:8). The headwaiter is astonished because the wine he tastes, is now kalos oinos the very best wine. He comments, “Everyone serves good wine first, and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one; but you have kept the good wine until now” (John 2:10).

The many gallons of water filled to the brim have become the best wine. Wine is a symbol of joy and of the Spirit. Jesus replaces the rituals for purification in the Old Covenant with life in the Spirit. Perhaps it is better to say the Old Covenant is filled with the Spirit, and is renewed. The New Covenant will overflow with an abundance of joy in the best wine of the Spirit. 

This has profound implications for Christian Marriage. Jesus has now elevated the divinely given human good of marriage into a sacrament. For baptized Christians, joined to Christ by the Spirit, three people become one in Holy Matrimony. The groom, the bride and Jesus, are joined through the Spirit.

The graces of this sacrament help Christian couples to be a living icon of God’s love in the midst of the world.

God’s love for us is always true and eternal, so our married love is permanent, faithful, and open to new life. These are the promises that a Christian couple exchange in the Marriage ritual.

Marriage itself also becomes a profound image of our relationship with God. In Christ, we are now the bride of Christ and with firm hope; we look forward to the wedding feast of the Lamb in eternity. Just as marriage is a covenant or exchange of promises that binds the couple together, each one of us called to make a commitment to an everlasting relationship with God. Marriage is a God-given model or pattern for this relationship.

God desires us to think deeply about our relationship with him and to come to a decision that we are ready to give everything to him. He requires the obedience of faith from each one of us. Mary’s words highlight this obedience for us. “Do whatever he tells you.”

Just as a couple grows in relationship and trust with each other and eventually makes a lifelong commitment in Marriage, so God wants us to fall in love with him, and to freely give ourselves to him. 

As we meditate today on the joyful commitment made by a bride and groom in Marriage, let us each examine our hearts. Where are you in your relationship with God? Are you still dating Jesus? Are you in a serious relationship? Have you decided to give him your life and share everything with him? 

Today let us drink with joy the wine that Jesus offers us.