FIRST READING: Ecclesiastes 1:2; 2:22-23. Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. Sometimes a man who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave all to be enjoyed by a man who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil. What has a man from all the toil and strain with which he toils beneath the sun? For all his days are full of pain, and his work is a vexation; even in the night his mind does not rest. This also is vanity.

EXPLANATION: The author of this book, like the author of the Book of Job, poses to himself and to his readers the insoluble problem of life on this earth for man. He calls himself the son of David and king in Jerusalem. It was a literary device of that time to take the name of some distinguished, well-known historical figure. In this case it was the name of a man renowned for his wisdom, that of Solomon, the son of David.

However, even if he claimed to have all the wisdom of Solomon, which he had not, he could find no answer to his problem. He is looking for a solution in the wrong place, on this earth, where it is not found. The Jews had no revelation, or almost none, concerning a future life. They hoped that they would live on after their earthly death in some way or other. They had, however, no clear idea of how this would be. This author believes in the true God, although the way that God deals with men in this life dismays him. God, he says, does not have to justify his actions. Man has simply to take things as they come. Whereas Job is trying to understand why the innocent should suffer in this life, Ecclesiastes finds a problem even in happiness. What good is it, it is only a deception, for it cannot last.

says . . . Preacher: This Hebrew word means one who addresses the congregation or “qahal,” which in Greek is translated Ekklesia. Hence the origin of the name given the author by Greeks and Latins, Ecclesiastes, that is, Churchman.

all . . . vanity: The theme of his book. All things in this life, the pleasures as well as the sufferings, are empty and purposeless. They have no real explanation.

a man . . . leave all: To prove how useless and vain the things of this life are, he cites the example of a man who worked intelligently and skillfully and produced wealth, things of value. He has to die and leave them to somebody who did nothing to produce them. This is surely folly.

What has a man . . . toil: After all the toil and worry and strain he spent producing these goods, he has to leave them all!

all his days . . . pain: Life on earth is a succession of trials and troubles, labor and lamentation, folly and frustration.

even . . . night his mind does not rest: Man’s day is so full of labor and trouble that he cannot get to sleep at night. If he does, it is a fitful, restless sleep.

APPLICATION: While we sympathize with this poor man who could see nothing but emptiness, folly and vanity for man in this life, let us thank God that we have been given the full revelation through Christ. This is a revelation which the Jews lacked. We know that our purpose on earth is not to gather the wealth of this world or to enjoy all its pleasures and its power—all of which we have to leave behind us when death calls us. We know that we are put here for a short period of time during which, if we use our days properly, we can earn for ourselves a new life in which we shall have forever everything we need.

What a consolation, what a source of strength and encouragement this knowledge is for us! Our Christian faith puts a silver lining in the darkest clouds of life. We accept these darkest clouds of sufferings, disappointments and sorrows, because we know that God has a purpose for us in them—they are his means of making us worthy of the real life that is to come later. We accept the moments of happiness and joy with the same spirit. They are little tokens of the greater happiness and joy which will be ours in a few years time. The true, sincere Christian accepts the cross and the crown, the crumb and the feast, the aches and pains as well as the joy of good health, the funeral as well as the wedding, for he knows that all are part of God’s plan for man’s real welfare and eternal happiness.

We can appreciate our good fortune if we look around us. We need not look far to see some of our fellow men who, like the author Ecclesiastes, have no true explanation for the problems of life. They try not to think of these problems, but try as they may, they cannot keep them always in the background. They get themselves immersed in the affairs of this world. They strive to collect its wealth. They chase after earthly pleasures. They seek for power and political influence. They may succeed in getting little bits of some of these consolations. But never will they receive enough, never all together because one generally excludes the other. Worst of all, they know they have no solid grip on these slippery things of earth. They know that soon, all too soon, they must leave all these, their idols, and be taken by neighbors in a wooden box, to a plot of ground in which they will be buried deep, lest their corrupting flesh pollute the locality.

While we sincere Christians can thank God for making known to us the purpose and the value of our few years on this earth, we would not appreciate this gift of God if we did not feel the urge, and see the obligations we have, of doing all in our power to give this knowledge to our fellow men, our brothers, who also are God’s sons. The millionaire who is godless, if not anti-God, is in dire need of our help. The hobo who has no religion is in more need of prayer and a word of advice than of a dime. The communist who is striving in vain to make this earth a heaven for all men, needs to be told in what direction heaven lies.

All these are our brothers. We must help them to attain the one thing that matters. We may not be able to do much, but we must do what we can. God expects it of us. He has given us this knowledge of the true meaning and purpose of life in order that we may share it with all men.

Vanity of vanities! This world and all it holds is nothing but sheer folly and emptiness if seen by itself alone. But, if seen in the light of God’s revelation, it is a gift of God to man, a most useful and necessary gift. It is the bridge that spans the gulf between earthly and eternal life.

SECOND READING: Colossians 3:1-5, 9-11. If you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old nature with its practices and have put on the new nature, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free man, but Christ is all, and in all.

EXPLANATION: In last Sunday’s lesson from this same Epistle, St. Paul reminded his converts that through baptism they had died with Christ and had risen again with him. They were now new creatures. Today he urges them to keep their eyes on the Christ with whom they have been raised up to a new spiritual level or status. They must no longer be mixed up in the sinful things of this earth. They died to all this when they died with Christ in baptism.

raised up . . . with Christ: As he had already explained (see text of Sunday) to them.

your minds . . . above: The Colossians are now raised above their ordinary earthly natures. Their home is in heaven with Christ. They must, therefore, keep their eyes always fixed on that higher kingdom where

Christ . . . seated at the right hand of God: Christ, the Son of God who took to himself our human nature, is now in the highest place in heaven after God the Father. He is at God’s (the Father’s) right hand, a human way of saying the principal place of honor. He is there in his glorified human body as well as in his divinity.

put . . . earthly: Their whole attention must always be directed to being joined with Christ in heaven one day. This does not mean that they must take no interest in the things of this world. They must provide for their earthly needs. But in providing for these needs, they must never forget their real purpose in life.

you have . . . nature: As Christians they have died and risen with Christ. They have not yet the glorified bodies which they will get after their earthly death. They will have them, however, if they stay dead to the sinful things of this world. When Christ comes in glory to judge the living and the dead, they will be with him in their glory also.

put to death . . . impurity . . . idolatry: Practical Apostle that he was, he now warns them to shun the sins which, as pagans, they commonly committed. They were especially prone to impure sins, and some of their pagan idols were supposed to encourage such sins. Sacred prostitution was practiced at the shrines of many of the pagan gods, and so, for Gentile converts, to return to impure sins was in a sense to return to idolatry.

Do not lie to one another: Another vice common in the pagan world. For Christians, who possessed the truth of revelation and who were all brothers, members of the one body of Christ, this sin, this abuse of the gift of speech, was a serious offence.

put . . . nature: Paul is continually stressing the radical change Christianity has brought about in the converts. They are no longer what they were before conversion. They are raised to a new status; they are new men. Therefore, they must put away their old habits and ways of acting.

renewed in knowledge: They must learn more about God every day, and about their relationship with him.

image of its creator: Adam, the first man (Paul accepted the Genesis story of creation in its literal sense), was made into the image of God but was still an earthly man. The Christian is made according to a real image of God a spiritual man—because he is intimately united to Christ, who is the Son of God. That is, he is made one with Christ.

Greek and Jew: In the Christian religion all men are sons of God, brothers of Christ and true brothers of one another. There is no distinction of race or nationality here. Human nature is the one and only common bond.

Christ is all, and in all: They are all in Christ, and Christ is in each and every one of them. Nothing else matters but being a Christian. The old distinctions of race, nationality or class have no place in the Christian life. Christ alone matters.

APPLICATION: We all know what a true Christian demands of us. Today St. Paul is reminding us of it again. He tells us that in baptism we have become new men. Christ has taken us, united us with himself, and raised us to the new status of sons of God. We must therefore act like sons of God, not like sons of mere earthly men. The difficulty is that, even though we have become sons of God who will one day inherit heaven, we still have to contend with our earthly selves together with all their affinities and attractions to things earthly. We have died with Christ and risen with him, but we have not yet been given risen, glorified bodies. We have been given our citizenship papers, and an official passport to enter into our new country. But we are still in our country of origin, and have to make a long, arduous voyage before we take up residence in the new one.

Some Christians waver in their resolution and at times they give up this struggle against natural inclinations which, however, go against baptismal promises and hopes. What adds to each one’s natural weakness is the fact that we are living in an age and a society in which the majority of our fellow men have long since given up even the name of Christian. If they do not openly preach from the housetops that death and the grave are the end of man’s hopes, that man’s only purpose is to get all that is possible from this earthly life, and that they no longer believe in a higher purpose for man, they certainly show by the way they live that this is their only religion.

It is indeed difficult for even a sincere, dedicated Christian to live up to his faith and his hope in such surroundings. Yet, let us not forget that St. Paul was not demanding the impossible of his Gentile converts when he commanded them to put to death, to oppose effectively, all that was earthly in their make-up. Difficult as the practice of real Christianity is in today’s western society, it was much more difficult in the Greek and Roman world of St. Paul’s day. The Colossians were surrounded by their pagan fellow-countrymen, who laughed and jeered at the folly of the converts. To them it seemed that they had foolishly given up the pleasures of this life for the sake of some fairy castle in the sky.

But the converts persevered. Not only did they retain their faith, but they gradually won over the jeers and the scoffers. We can and we will do likewise, with the help of God’s grace, if we persevere in our loyalty to Christ and to the faith he has given us. We encounter temptations both from within ourselves and from without. We have to struggle against our own weaknesses and against the difficulties which the opponents of Christianity, and all things spiritual, place in our way. It is difficult to live a pure life in the permissive society which encourages all the lower instincts in man. It is difficult to be just when injustice is rife and profitable all around us. It is difficult to be truthful when unscrupulous neighbors use lying as the key to power.

Yes, it is difficult to be a true Christian, but neither Christ himself nor any of his Apostles ever told us the Christian life was easy. It never was and never will be. And yet the man who grasps its meaning, the Christian who is convinced that it is not this life but the next that really matters, can make light of these difficulties. He will take up his cross daily, as he has been told to do. He will follow Christ, knowing full well that the reward awaiting him is worth ten thousand times any hardships in this life that he is called on to endure in order to obtain it.

The true Christian is one “who has put aside his old self with its past deeds” and “who is growing daily in the knowledge and in the likeness of the image of his Creator”.

GOSPEL: Luke 12:13-21. One of the multitude said to Jesus, “Teacher, bid my brother divide the inheritance with me.” But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or divider over you?” And he said to them, “Take heed, and beware of all covetousness; for a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man brought forth plentifully; and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns, and build larger ones; and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you; and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is he who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

EXPLANATION: This episode in our Lord’s public life is narrated by Luke only. Jesus was surrounded by a large crowd to whom he was giving his message of salvation. Some men in the crowd asked him to arbitrate in a family dispute over property. This Jesus refused to do, for very good reasons, no doubt. This interest in property gave him the occasion to teach his hearers, and all of us, in a very effective parable, the relative value of this world’s goods.

Teacher, bid my brother: Teacher, “Rabbi” in Aramaic, was a title of respect. He was accepted as a Rabbi, a teacher of religion, by the masses.

divide . . . inheritance: It is possible that this man may have lost his right to his share in the inheritance.

me a judge: Christ refuses to interfere in this family dispute and excuses himself because this was not his mission or vocation. As the following words would seem to indicate, however, it was not justice only that was in question, but greed for earthly goods.

take heed . . . covetousness . . . possessions: He then explains this statement in the parable.

a rich man . . . plentifully: A certain man was already rich. He had many earthly possessions, and now had an added store: he had a good harvest.

What shall I do?: He had so much property that his stores were too small to hold it all.

build larger ones: He decided to build larger stores which would house it.

I will say to . . . soul: When he has stored it all safely he will see that he has enough for years to come so he will tell himself

take your ease . . . merry: He foresees himself as a happy man enjoying the good things of this life for years to come.

But . . . fool . . . of you: God steps in to upset all his earthly plans. He calls him “fool”, a term reserved to those who deny that there is a God (Ps. 13:1) in the Old Testament. This very night you shall die. He was indeed a fool because he left God out of his plans completely, and also because he was planning a very happy earthly future for himself which never materialized.

whose will they be?: The wealth, which he had spent all his days accumulating, will now go to someone else.

This night . . . God: Our Lord himself applies the parable: this will be the fate of all those who think only of amassing temporal wealth, to the total neglect of their spiritual welfare. Death always comes far too soon for people whose whole heart is centered in this world. Far sooner than they think, they will have to leave the riches they have been piling up. Worse than that, they will face the future life empty-handed. They have stored up nothing spiritual for themselves. All their time was given to earthly pursuits.

APPLICATION: The lesson of this parable is obvious to all, and it is perhaps as difficult to put into practice as it is obvious. To be in this world and not of it, to collect the necessary goods of this world by honest labor and yet remain detached from them, to possess but not be possessed by worldly riches, is an ideal to which our weak human nature responds very reluctantly.

A large percentage of Christians, however, do respond to the challenge manfully and loyally. They earn and use the goods of this world, while at the same time they keep God’s laws and earn wealth for heaven. Some there are who renounce even the right, which is theirs, to possess the necessary things of this world, by taking on themselves the vows of religion. Thus they set themselves free to devote their whole time and energy to the service of God and neighbor. Others, and they are of necessity the more numerous, have to own the world’s goods in order to provide for themselves and their dependents, but, while so doing, they never let their temporal possessions come between them and their God. To do this is not easy, but God’s helping grace is always available to the willing heart.

There is still a third group—those who resemble the foolish man described in the parable. Like him they are so enmeshed and ensnared in their desire to collect good things for their earthly life, that they forget that at any moment they may have to leave this earth and all they possess in it. They may not have large barns or grain bins bursting at the seams with the fruits of their fields or their market dealings, but they have allowed their possessions, large or small, to become the prison houses of their hearts and thoughts. In their mad rush for earthly treasure they give themselves no time to stop and think of the really important thing in life, namely, that soon they must leave this world and all it holds dear to them. But it is not the departure from this world that is to be feared. Rather, it is the arrival at another for which they have made no preparation. That other world of which they have often heard, but which they shrugged off as something fit for the weak-minded, will not open before them in all its awe-inspiring immensity. They will have a momentary glimpse of the eternal beauty and happiness that they lost for a “mess of pottage,” before they enter the unending valley of sorrow which they elected for themselves when, during their period of trial, they chose earthly baubles instead of God.

This has been the fate of foolish men and women in the past. It will, also, be the fate of many more in the future. It could be my fate, too, unless I remain ever on the alert to keep myself free from the snare of worldly wealth. I must remember that it is not the quantity of this world’s goods which I possess that will be my undoing, but the quality of the hold which they have on me. There are and will be millionaires in heaven, while many in the lower income brackets will find themselves excluded.

No man will be excluded from heaven because he lawfully possessed some of this world’s wealth. But a man will exclude himself from eternal happiness if he lets this world’s wealth possess him to the exclusion of God.

The fate of the rich man in the parable need not, and should not, be mine. I have still time to stop building larger grain bins and barns, and to turn my attention instead to collecting some treasure for heaven.-c287

FIRST READING: Genesis 18:20-32. The Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry which has come to me; and if not, I will know.”

So the men turned from there, and went towards Sodom; but Abraham still stood before the Lord. Then Abraham drew near, and said, “Wilt thou indeed destroy the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; wilt thou then destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it? Far be it from thee to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from thee! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” And the Lord said, “If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.” Abraham answered, “Behold, I have taken upon myself to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes. Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking? Wilt thou destroy the whole city for lack of five?” And he said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.” Again he spoke to him, and said, “Suppose forty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of forty I will not do it.” Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak. Suppose thirty are found there.” He answered, “I will not do it, if I find thirty there.” He said, “Behold, I have taken upon myself to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it.” Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again but this once. Suppose ten are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.”

EXPLANATION: This is the continuation of last Sunday’s reading from the book of Genesis. Last week we were told that the Lord, accompanied by two angels, appeared to Abraham, and promised him a son within a year. This week, as Abraham was seeing the Lord and his angels off, the Lord speaks to Abraham about the wickedness of the two towns, Sodom and Gomorrah. These two towns, which were situated near the southern end of the Dead Sea, had become infamous because of their unnatural sexual sins.

I will go down: Anthromorphism, or describing God acting as if he were a man. God, who knew all things, did not need to go down to find out.

Abraham . . . Lord: The angels went their way and the Lord remained with Abraham, who used the opportunity to plead for the innocent in the two cities if God intended to burn them to the ground because of their wickedness.

destroy . . . wicked: Abraham started by asking God if he would spare the cities if ten innocent people were to be found in them. Evidently, ten innocent people were not to be found there, and later the two cities with all their inhabitants were reduced to ashes (see Gen. 19:23).

APPLICATION: The first lesson we can learn from this episode is the power of intercessory prayer. We can pray for others and God will hear and answer our prayers. Abraham has left us a wonderful example of love of neighbor. He did not wish to see the people of those cities suddenly sent to their death. He pleaded for them and he used God’s own justice as a lever to move him from his resolve. How could the just God condemn the innocent with the wicked? If only ten just men had been found in them, the cities and their inhabitants would have been saved, saved by Abraham’s intercession.

How often do we pray for our neighbors when they are in temporal or spiritual danger or difficulties? Most of us can answer truthfully and admit that we do not do so half as often as we should. We entreat God when we ourselves are in need, but God will be much more ready to answer us in our need if we have proved true brothers to our fellow man by pleading for them when they need the divine assistance.

We can learn another valuable lesson, also, from this story. The presence of a group of pious people in our midst, people who are close to God, is a guarantee that we shall be protected from the divine vengeance which we may have thoroughly deserved. There are Catholics who question the purpose of enclosed communities of women or men who devote all their time to prayer and the liturgy. Why don’t they teach or nurse, or earn their bread in some way? Why should the people have to support them? These were the very sentiments expressed by the Reformers when they knocked down the convents in England and banished the sisters. Some Catholics are still of this opinion today.

They forget, however, that the prayers of these devout lovers of God have often saved them from the temporal punishments that they deserve. The contemplatives are the spiritual lightning-conductors in our parishes and towns. They sacrifice their personal freedom and enclose themselves for life behind their convent walls in order to intercede for all sinners, for all of us.

Instead of criticizing them and questioning their sanity, we should thank God for them and pray that they will never be short of vocations—new members in their communities who will continue their good work. The parish or the town that has a community of enclosed religious has a divine blessing in its midst. It has a powerhouse of prayer which will spread the light of God’s grace amongst the citizens of that town and parish, and will turn away the just wrath of God from those who, by their sins, deserve it. “For the sake of those ten innocent people,” said the Lord to Abraham, “I will not destroy the cities.”

Imitate Abraham’s true, unselfish love of neighbor by always remembering your needy neighbor in your prayers. Help to protect your city and your fellow citizens by a special prayer today for an increase in the number of just men living in it.

SECOND READING: Colossians 2:12-14. You were buried with Christ in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, who were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, having cancelled the bond which stood against us with its legal demands; this he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

EXPLANATION: In the early Church the Sacrament of Baptism was conferred by immersion. The person being baptized was immersed for a moment in the bath or receptacle full of water, and then raised from the water. This form of baptism symbolized the death and burial with Christ of the catechumen (the person ready for baptism). This was immediately followed by his resurrection with Christ to a new life, a life in and with Christ, a life which would lead to eternal glory.

In baptism . . . raised: Paul tells his converts that the actions they went through in their baptism were not empty symbols, but actual fact. Through accepting baptism they had put their natural selves, their merely human selves, to death. They had come out of the saving waters as new beings, joined to the glorified risen Christ. Therefore, they had been raised to the status of sons of God.

through faith: They accepted baptism and wanted to be joined to Christ because they believed and were convinced that the power of God had raised Christ from the dead in a glorified body. The full glory of his divinity (of which he had “emptied himself ” during his sojourn on earth amongst us), was then restored to him. The catechumens were well instructed in the faith of the gospel, in the truth of the Incarnation and all it meant for the human race.

dead . . . uncircumcised: The Gentiles before their conversion had offended God in many ways: by idolatry, an insult to the true God, and by the many sins occasioned by their own human weaknesses. The convert Jews had a knowledge of the true God and were dedicated to his service by the rite of circumcision. Circumcision of itself was not enough, but the Gentiles did not have even this much.

alive . . . with him: Raised up from their dead past, which they had buried in the bath of baptism, they were now “new creatures.” They were now members of Christ’s body, sons of God, heirs to an eternal life.

forgiven . . . trespasses: The death and resurrection of Christ, the climax of his salvific actions on our behalf, reconciled mankind with God. It wiped away, in each one’s baptism, all his past sins, and earned him the possibility of getting pardon for any future sins in the Sacrament of Penance.

the bond . . . against us: The sins of Gentiles and Jews had built up a debt which they could never of themselves have paid. Christ, however, took this, our debt, on himself. He paid it to the last penny in our name. Thus our debt, our bond, was cancelled.

nailing it to the cross: He took our debts on himself when he took our human nature. He identified himself with us, and when he accepted the death of the cross, he nailed our debts with himself to that same cross. He had no sin of his own for which to make atonement to God. It was our sins, the sins of the whole human race, which he atoned for on the cross.

APPLICATION: How can we ever thank God for all he has done for us! Eternity itself will not be long enough for us to sing him our full hymn of gratitude. He created us and gave us wonderful gifts. We abused his gifts, and went so far as to use the very gifts he gave us to insult him. He had planned to make us heirs to heaven, but we were more interested in this fleeting world. We lost interest in his plans for our good. Nevertheless, he did not lose interest in us. He sent his divine Son on earth to take our human nature and thus gather the whole human race into himself, thereby making us sons of his heavenly Father.

If the Incarnation had not taken place we could never reach heaven. Mere man could never of himself become a citizen of that kingdom to which his nature gave him no claim. An alien, coming to live in a country not his by birth, needs a special act, a gratuitous act on the part of that country, to become its citizen. Similarly man, a native of earth, needed a special gratuitous act on the part of God to make him a citizen of heaven.

This is what the Incarnation did for us. The Son of God deigned to share our humanity with us. We are thus enabled to share his divinity with him. We have been given the citizenship of heaven. The conferring of that citizenship on us takes place in baptism as arranged by Christ. In baptism we die with Christ. That means that we cast off the man of flesh, the mere mortal man of this earth, and rise from the baptismal waters, clothed with divinity, because Christ has made us one with him, who is God and Man.

Of course, we are not yet in heaven. But we have a heavenly passport: we have the right to get there, and what is more we have been given in abundance the means of getting there. Christ saw to that. He knew our weaknesses. He provided us with his Church to which he gave and gives, his sacraments. He also gives, through the Holy Spirit, the divine assistance which will ensure for us a safe journey.

How truly fortunate we followers of Christ are! We have a passport, a ticket from him. We have sufficient means to pay for all our needs on the journey homewards. Let us thank God from our hearts this morning, for his infinite kindness to us. Let us turn our thoughts for a moment to our unfortunate fellow men, who are also brothers of Christ and heirs to heaven. They are also brothers of ours. They either do not know God and all that he has done for them, or, worse still, they know him but despise him and his gifts. Thus, they are seriously risking their own future happiness. God wants them all in heaven. Christ died for all. The heavenly citizenship is there for all, though it cannot be forced on any man.

We can do much to help these brothers of ours. To do so will be the best way we can show our appreciation of God’s goodness to us, the best way to prove our gratitude. Prayer is a way of helping that is open to all, young and old, rich and poor. Every day of our lives, we should beg God to put a knowledge of his infinite love into the hearts of those who do not have it. When we need some temporal favor for ourselves, the best way we can pray for it is to forget our little needs and to pray instead for this most essential need of the neighbor who does not know God, and is jeopardizing his future—his eternal future. God will, in his own way and his own time, answer that prayer of true charity. Our temporal needs will not be forgotten either.

Most of us can help by cooperating financially and otherwise with those who are giving their lives to spreading the knowledge of God and his goodness among the pagans, old and new. We have many of the latter right in our midst. Each one of us can find a way to get this knowledge to those nearest him. For those living in their own pagan countries, we can, besides praying, help to support the generous men and women who have gone to these lands and are doing God’s work, and our work there for us.

Finally, if each one of us would give the good example of a Christian life, Christ would soon have more followers. We would show that our Christian life is lived by one who appreciates it; by one who realizes that he is on the way to heaven and that he will not allow earthly attractions or earthly trials to impede his journey.

All I can do is one man’s part. However, I am ready to do that much. I hope that many others will follow suit. God grant that it may be so.

GOSPEL: Luke 11:1-13. Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he ceased, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.”

And he said to them, “When you pray, say: ‘Father, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread; and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive every one who is indebted to us; and lead us not into temptation.”‘

And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything’? I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him whatever he needs. And I tell you, ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For every one who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

EXPLANATION: The disciples had often seen Jesus praying alone. They were anxious to learn some special prayers from him, as John the Baptist had evidently taught his disciples some special prayers. As Jews, the disciples knew the ordinary morning and evening prayers. Prayers before eating were usually said by the Jews too, and the disciples also would know them. Our Lord’s answer to this request was the prayer we all know as the “Our Father.” Luke’s version of it differs in some details from that of Matthew. The substance is the same in both. As this prayer hardly needs explanation, we shall go on to the parable which Jesus added to show the efficacy of prayer.

lend me three loaves: The parable is very true to life. It could happen anywhere, any night. A friend comes from afar late at night. There was no bread in the house. Fresh bread was usually baked each morning, so he goes to a neighbor whom he knows to have some and asks him to lend him three loaves.

do not . . . me: The neighbor was reluctant to get out of bed and probably wake the children at such a late hour. He was not reluctant to give the bread.

because of his importunity: The man outside was not going to be put off by one simple refusal. He kept on knocking until the neighbor had to get up and do as he was asked. If he did not, the children would have been awakened in any case by the repeated knockings.

I tell you: Learn from this parable to persevere in your prayer. If God does not answer your first request, your perseverance will prove to him how deserving your case is and he will answer.

ask . . . seek . . . knock: Our Lord uses three expressions to stress the need for perseverance in prayer. It is not that God is lazy or slow or unwilling to help us. He wants us to prove our sincerity and our filial trust in him. He is our Father.

what father . . . will give a serpent: The answer of our Father in heaven will always be what is for our good. A human father would not give his son a poisonous snake when his son asked for a fish,

or . . . an egg . . . a scorpion: That is, endanger his son’s life when he should nourish it.

If you . . . the heavenly Father: If sinful, earthly fathers are generous enough to give their children all they need, how much more generous will the heavenly Father be to you his children. His store is unlimited. His love is infinite.

Holy Spirit . . . who ask him: St. Matthew has “good things,” instead of the Holy Spirit, but Luke is mentioning the greatest gift the Father can give, the Holy Spirit, to sanctify them and aid them on the road to heaven. He who gives the greater gift will give the lesser also.

APPLICATION: The disciples asked to be taught how to pray to God. Jesus told them how. He gave them a formula which contains the essence of all prayer. God is addressed as our Father. He really is, since he made his Son our brother. We praise and honor him and wish that all will honor him. Then we ask for our daily, temporal needs, and especially for our spiritual needs. We ask forgiveness of all our offences, while we likewise promise to forgive our brothers if they offend us.

Jesus then went on to stress the necessity of perseverance in our prayers. We must honor God daily and pray that all will honor him. We must also keep on asking for our temporal and spiritual needs. This is the meaning of the parable. The Father may delay the granting of our request because he wants us to continue to trust in him. This very perseverance in our prayer is bringing us closer and making us dearer to God. This is a greater blessing for us than the favor for which we were asking.

As regards requests for help in our spiritual life, we can rest assured that, if God delays his answer, the reason is that he has some more important spiritual gift for us. Our perseverance in prayer will bring it to us. Many great saints often wondered why God did not answer their fervent prayers and remove some temptation, or some lack of virtue which they felt was impeding their progress. They found out later that it was because God was slow in granting their requests that they actually progressed in sanctity.

As far as temporal favors are concerned, we do not always know what is best for us. God does. Of this we can be sure: if our requests for temporal favors are sincere and persevering, we are sure to get an answer. Christ himself says so. The answer, however, may not always be what we asked. If not, it will be something better, something we do not even know we need. God knows it and gives it to us, instead of the less essential gift we were asking for.

Looking back over our lives, many of us can see now how fortunate we were that some of the favors we sought so fervently from God in our youth were not given us. He gave us instead some gift which we had not even thought of, but which changed the course of our lives and saved us from the tribulations, spiritual and temporal, which the gift we were so anxiously seeking would have caused us if God had granted it. There are thousands of men and women in heaven today who would not be there had God granted them the temporal favors they thought they needed so badly. One of our joys in heaven, among the lesser ones perhaps, will be in discovering how cleverly our heavenly Father helped us to get there by refusing certain of our requests, and by giving us others for which we had not asked.

Not only, therefore, may we, but we must, ask our heavenly Father for our spiritual and temporal needs. This we are told to do by Christ. We must continue to ask. He has put us in this world in order to earn heaven. Our life here is of its very nature a journey. All journeys entail some, and often many, hardships. For one on his way home, the journey’s hardships are bearable. For some they may at times border on the unbearable, but such people can turn to their heavenly Father. He has a personal knowledge of, and interest in, each individual’s progress. Ask him to remove the cross, for the time being at least. Loving Father that he is, he will do just that, or he will strengthen the shoulder that has to bear it.

Remember our Lord’s advice to us: “Ask and you shall receive, seek and you will find, knock and it shall be opened to you.”-c280

FIRST READING: Genesis 18:1-10. The Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day. He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men stood in front of him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the earth, and said, “My Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant. Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourself under the tree, while I fetch a morsel of bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on—since you have come to your servant.” So they said, “Do as you have said.” And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes.” And Abraham ran to the herd, and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to the servant, who hastened to prepare it. Then he took curds, and milk, and the calf which he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree while they ate.

They said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “She is in the tent.” The Lord said, “I will surely return to you in the spring, and Sarah your wife shall have a son.”

EXPLANATION: Abraham had been told by God to leave his home, his kindred and his native country, and come to a land which God would give as a homeland to his descendants. He was to become the father of a great race. From this race could come a blessing for all nations, the Messiah, as he was later called (Gen. 12:1-9). Although Abraham’s wife, Sarah, was barren and no longer young, he trusted in God’s word and came to the land of Canaan. Some twenty years later Abraham was still waiting for God to fulfil his promise. He was still without an heir, but nevertheless he did not lose his trust in God. The incident described in today’s reading occurred about this time, when Abraham had pitched his tent near Hebron in a place called the Oak of Mamre.

The Lord appeared to Abraham: This is narrated as casually as if it were an everyday occurrence. God appeared in human form, accompanied by two angels who were also in human form. Most likely, Abraham did not know who his visitors were. The writer of Genesis says that the chief visitor was God. But Abraham treated the strangers with all the courtesy of oriental hospitality.

wash your feet: A very necessary refreshment for people travelling barefoot over the hot sands of the desert which surrounds Hebron.

fetch . . . bread: He then got Sarah to bake some fresh rolls, and one of the servants to kill and roast a “choice” steer.

stood by them: He himself served the meal to the “three men.”

Where is Sarah your wife?: The first indication that they were no ordinary visitors. As strangers, how did they know his wife’s name or if he had a Wife?

Sarah . . . have a son: One of the visitors promised that he would return in a years time and that by then Sarah would at last have given birth to the promised son.

APPLICATION: This incident which happened to the Father and Founder of the Jewish race, the Chosen People, nearly four thousand years ago, would seem at first sight to have little if any interest for us Christians of the twentieth century. Yet it has. That is why it is read in our liturgy today. Whether things happened exactly as described, or whether the inspired writer later used his poetic imagination to drive home to his readers, and to all of us, some very important lessons, matters but little. The basic fact of the narrative is that Abraham, after years of faithful trust in God, was finally given a definite guarantee that God’s promise to him would be fulfilled within a year.

The fulfillment of that promise has more meaning and importance for us than it had even for Abraham. It was the beginning of God’s preparation for sending the Messiah, his divine Son in human nature, to raise us men above our natural capacities and make us heirs of an eternal life. We call Abraham “our father in faith” in the Mass and rightly so. We owe it, after God, to his faith and trust in God, that the way was prepared, according to God’s eternal plan, for the coming of Christ amongst us. This resulted in the supernatural change in man and in his relationship with God.

How slowly, how patiently, but how effectively and successfully, God works when dealing with weak, worldly and often stubborn man. The whole story of salvation is an example of divine, infinite patience and almost incredible tolerance in the face of human ingratitude, infidelity and, frequently, utter unworthiness. Yet, he carried out his plan and opened heaven for us unworthy and ungrateful men.

That was all before Christ came on earth. Has man been much more grateful, much more obedient, much more reverent towards God, even since he sent his Son to raise us up to the dignity of sonship with himself? There have been noble exceptions, thank God. Down through the two thousand years of Christianity, men and women have given their lives totally and exclusively to the task of thanking God for all he has done for mankind. But the vast majority of all generations have taken God’s gifts as they take the weather. They grumble when it rains. They are thankless when the sun shines.

Human nature has changed very little. Thanks be to God, he does not change either. He is still tolerant. He is still patient. He is still forgiving and more anxious to get us to heaven than even we ourselves are. We have much to learn from Abraham’s faith. When God seems to be slow in answering our urgent request, when he seems to forget the pressing spiritual needs we have put before him, when he seems to be kinder to his enemies than to us his children, it is well for us to think of Abraham’s years of patient trust and absolute confidence in God’s promise. God has his reasons which we cannot see or understand. Of this we can be certain though: he makes no mistakes. Our prayers and our requests are and will always be answered in God’s time and in God’s way. That means, at the right time and in the manner best for us. We are the very worst judges in our own cases. Leave it to the all-wise judge.

It is worth noting also in today’s lesson that Abraham was given his final, definite guarantee after he had proved himself a true, kind, generous neighbor to complete strangers. Perhaps if we all forget self a little more, and think, instead, of our needy neighbor, then God would come more quickly to our own aid. There is a strong stubborn and selfish strain in every man. Overcoming that selfishness is one of the principal obligations of a Christian. We have all failed miserably in this duty in the past. We have all failed often. But we must keep on trying. There are occasions every day for practicing brotherly love, which is the true mark of Christianity, not only on our doorsteps but within the walls of our own homes. These are the means God is sending us to help us to earn eternal life. Unless we use them we shall live and die as selfish, self-centered individuals. There is no place in heaven for the self-centered, selfish man.

Heaven is the home of the great and loving family, where each is for all and where all are for God.

SECOND READING: Colossians 1:24-28. I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the Church, of which I became a minister according to the divine office which was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now made manifest to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we proclaim, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man mature in Christ.

EXPLANATION: St. Paul, imprisoned for preaching the faith, devotes his time to writing to the Gentile converts whom he and his helpers had brought to the knowledge of the Gospel. He has no thought for himself or his suffering. In fact, he is glad to be allowed to suffer for this great cause. His one desire is to give his converts as deep an understanding as possible of the good news which they received when they were given the Christian faith. Last Sunday he stressed the divinity and primacy of Christ. Today he emphasizes the real meaning of Christianity, God’s mystery, God’s plan from all eternity to raise mankind, all men, to the status of sons of God, through Christ’s Incarnation.

sufferings . . . sake: He counts it a joy to be able to suffer the hardships of imprisonment. He says he is accepting these sufferings gladly, for the Colossians. How it is for them he explains in the next verse.

I complete what is lacking: Paul says that his bodily sufferings supplement the sufferings of Christ in his body. Not that Christ did not do enough to elevate man and make him capable of the eternal life. But each individual must apply the merits of Christ to himself. He will do so, by doing his prescribed part, in order to benefit by what Christ has earned for him.

for . . . his body . . . the church: The Church, made up of all Christians, is called and is the body of Christ on earth. Each member has his part to play in order to make the whole body healthy and vigorous. When we are in the Church we are no longer just individuals. The weaker members can and must be helped by the stronger. As in the human body, if one leg is weak the other must work harder. If one eye is blind, the other has the work of two eyes to do. So it is in Christ’s body, the Church. Paul, the willing servant and lover of Christ, is glad because he can do something extra for the other members through his prison hardships.

Mystery hidden . . . generations: The salvific mission of Christ on earth is in question here. The Son of God became man in order that men and women could become God’s children and heirs to eternal life. This revelation of God’s infinite love for man was until then unknown (a mystery) to the Gentiles. It was not understood in its truest and fullest sense even by the Jews.

his saints: It is now revealed to them in the story and the gospel of Christ. They know therefore that they are called to holiness, called to be saints here and hereafter.

mystery . . . Christ in you: Ever since their baptism, Christ is in them and they are in Christ. They are now living a new life. They are vivified by Christ who lives in them.

hope of glory: They can look forward to an eternal life with God, because of their incorporation in Christ through baptism and the Christian faith.

we proclaim: This doctrine of the salvific mission of Christ to all men in the Incarnation is the faith that Paul has preached and is preaching.

every main . . . in Christ: His aim is to make each man, each member of Christ’s body, a mature, fully-formed member, each one reaching the state of perfection destined for him.

APPLICATION: What a startling and amazing piece of news the gospel must have been for the Gentiles! Up till then, they had heard of many gods—the productsof men’s hands and imaginings. These gods were powerless to help man. They were stone deaf to his prayers. Men may have had a desire to live for ever, but what a hopeless piece of wishful thinking it must have appeared to them as they saw even the richest and most powerful among them invariably end in the grave.

Now they hear of one all-wise, all-powerful, all-loving God, who made all things and cares for all things. That all-loving, all-powerful God, who gave such marvellous gifts to man, has still greater plans for the masterpiece of his creation. He intends that man should share his own eternal happiness with him, so man’s desire to live forever turns out to be something that can and will be fulfilled. Man’s created, finite nature could of itself have no claim on, or reason to expect, such an extraordinary privilege. But God planned from all eternity to unite the human with the divine. This he did through the Incarnation. The Son of God became man—humanity was united to the divinity in him. Human nature was thus enabled to share, in a finite way, in the divinity of God. Only God could do this, and only infinite love could move God to act in that way towards a mere creature.

Because God acted in such a manner, man’s lot on earth was radically changed. The troubles and hardships of this life mattered little now. The grave no longer meant the end of everything. It was, rather, the beginning of man’s true life. The moment of death, when they would meet Christ in his glorified human nature, united to his divinity, was something to be looked forward to, and not a thing to be dreaded. No wonder these first Gentile converts led exemplary Christian lives. They appreciated sincerely all that God and Christ had done for them. The best that they could do was not half enough to show their heartfelt gratitude.

“Familiarity breeds contempt,” the proverb says. After almost twenty centuries of Christianity, we have indeed grown familiar with it, and some, alas, have the rudeness to despise and ignore it. A true familiarity with God’s love for us, however, should rather increase our respect and our gratitude for the extraordinary gift of his divine love, Christ’s Incarnation—with all its consequences for us. It has made new creatures of us. It has raised us up above our ordinary selves. It has made us sons of God. We know there is an eternal life awaiting us when we finish with this earthly life. The marvellous powers of intellect and will which God gave us and which make us the highest of his creatures on earth will have their full scope and satisfaction in that eternal life. All human problems will be solved, and all human pain and sorrow will end. There will be no more tears nor cause for tears. Heaven will be a place of unending happiness and peace.

The conditions we must fulfill in order to merit this happy, everlasting abode are not impossible. With the aid of God’s grace, which is there for the asking, they are not even difficult. The trials of life, which we all have to face and bear, are made so much easier for us. We can see in them God’s mercies, sent to cleanse us and prepare us for what lies beyond.

What most of us need is a great bit of that fervor which animated the early Christians. If we meditated and pondered more often on the gift of Christ and what the Christian faith means to us, we would live our daily Christian life a little more fervently. Our love for God and for neighbor (the proof of love for God) would grow stronger. Not only would we make sure of our future happiness, but our good example would spur the careless Christians that we encounter to love and esteem the blessings which Christ and Christianity have made available to them.

GOSPEL: Luke 10:38-42. Jesus entered a village; and a woman named Martha received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she went to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things; one thing is needful. Mary has chosen the good portion, which shall not be taken away from her.”

EXPLANATION: The Martha and Mary mentioned here by St. Luke are the same two women of whom St. John speaks when describing the raising of Lazarus from the dead (Jn. 11:1-41). They were sisters of Lazarus. Their home was in Bethany near Jerusalem, and Jesus was a frequent visitor there. Lazarus is not mentioned by Luke, as the incident he describes concerns the sisters only. What a contrast there is between them!

Martha . . . him: She knew him, and it is clear from St. John that he was always welcome there.

Mary . . . at the Lord’s feet: Mary’s first thought was to learn all she could from his own lips about the message he was preaching. She knew of it already, but wanted to know more.

Martha . . . serving: On the other hand, Martha’s first thought was hospitality. She set about preparing a meal for Jesus and his disciples. Although Luke does not mention the disciples, it is most likely that they were with him. Otherwise, Martha could hardly find preparing a meal for one a difficult task for which help was needed.

Tell her . . . to help me: It was not that she feared having to overwork. In her anxiety to be hospitable she was desirous of getting the meal prepared for the visitors as quickly as possible.

Martha, Martha . . . many things: Our Lord repeats her name to emphasize his answer. He does not deny the importance of hospitality—one of the corporal works of mercy and a proof of love of neighbor—but there were things of greater importance. Perhaps Martha was preparing too lavish a repast when a plain meal would have been enough. For this she would not have needed the help of her sister and she too could have listened to his words.

one thing is needful: Many expositors interpret these words as meaning: a simple meal (one dish) is enough. They would be therefore a confirmation of the above suggestion: that Martha was preparing too lavish a meal. But these fit in better with what follows rather than with what he has already said.

Mary has chosen the good portion: To hear the word of God and to keep it is better than any other interest one can have. This is Mary’s intent and interest. Martha could have listened, too, while doing the other tasks. The one and only essential thing in this life is to reach our goal, our purpose, eternal life.

shall not . . . her: He defends Mary’s attitude and refuses Martha’s request for help, which he saw was not necessary in the circumstances.

APPLICATION: This story concerning Mary and Martha has often been used by spiritual writers to prove the superiority of the contemplative life over the active, pastoral form of life. That there is room and necessity for some members of Christ’s body, the Church, to dedicate their lives solely and entirely to meditation and prayer needs no proof. Each member of the body can and must help the other members. Most Christians cannot give much time to prayer, contemplation of God, and acts of thanksgiving for all he has done and is doing for them. There are members set apart for this very purpose. With their material needs provided for by the other members, they can act in the name of the whole body. They can represent all its members in their prayers and acts of thanksgiving. It is God himself who has thought of this form of religious life and who provides the vocations to keep it going.

The more correct lesson which the story of Martha and Mary seems to have is that we must not let the affairs of this life, innocent though they be in themselves, prevent us from attending primarily to the one affair that really matters, our future life. The emphasis, then, is on Martha rather than on Mary. In her over-excitement to prove herself a kind and true hostess, she bent all her energies to preparing an excellent meal. She had no time to listen to the Master’s words of divine wisdom. The work she was doing was excellent and faultless in itself. She need not and should not have excluded learning from Christ’s teaching while doing that good work.

Like Martha, many “good” Christians are “anxious and upset” about many earthly concerns. These concerns are necessary. This we know. A man must earn his daily bread; a wife must cook and wash and labor for her husband and family. This is what God himself expects us to do. What we need not and must not do, however, is to forget or exclude God in the process. Our daily tasks, whether in the office, workshop, or home, are prayers that are honoring God and thanking him for the many gifts of mind and body that he has given us, if we offer them to him and do them with this intention, they are indeed perfect prayers.

This is where so many fail. They spend days, months, maybe years, intent solely on their earthly tasks, without a thought for their future fate in the life that is to come. Yet a truly profitable Christian life is so easy for the vast majority of true Christians. A short morning prayer can be said while dressing. Thus we offer to God the day with all its joys and sorrows, all its trials and tests. It will mean that the day is registered to our account in the Book of Life. A few moments of thought for God and his goodness every now and then during the day will help immensely to keep our morning offering alive and active. A few moments on one’s knees beside the bed before retiring to rest, thanking God for the day he has given us, and asking pardon for the faults committed, is not too difficult for anyone.

A day such as this is a day spent in the service of God, such as will ensure a happy future when our last day comes. Mass and Holy Communion will round out each week for all practicing Christians. Besides, everyone ought to do some good reading. The knowledge gained from reading is a must today for anyone who really wants to help his fellow man, many of whom have lost their bearings and need a helping hand to put them back on the right road.

Yes, while active in the necessary affairs of this world, providing for the earthly necessities of ourselves and our dependents, we can at the same time, if we are sensible and sincere Christians, be storing up merits for ourselves. These merits will give us a pleasant surprise when the day of reckoning comes.-c273

FIRST READING: Deuteronomy 30:10-14. Moses said to the people, “You shall obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, you shall turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

“For this commandment which I command you this day is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will go up for us to heaven, and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us, and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ But the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.”

EXPLANATION: The Book of Deuteronomy is partly a repetition of the Mosaic Law, with many later additions to suit the conditions of the time. It was written about the sixth/fifth century. In today’s extrac,t Moses is introduced as exhorting the Babylonian exiles to be faithful to the law, which God had given them, when they returned to the Promised Land. They had been cast out from there because they had despised God and this very law which he had given them.

voice of the Lord: God had spoken to them on Sinai and during their wanderings in the desert. He had led them into the Promised Land which would be theirs if and while they kept his law.

you . . . turn: They had abandoned him and had suffered exile because of this. If and when they return once more to their God, and keep his commandments, he will prosper them once more.

with all your heart: This observance must not be a merely external one. It must come from inside, from firm conviction of mind.

not too . . . far off: The writer, putting the words into the mouth of Moses, tells them that this law is not something that they cannot understand. It is not some abstract, theoretical ruling that comes from “up in the sky” or from “across the sea.” It is something practical for their daily lives.

it is in your mouth . . . heart: They know it already and they know in their innermost beings that, if they are to remain God’s Chosen People, it is essential for their well-being.

so that . . . it: Knowing the Law and admiring it is of no value. It must be put into practice daily. Only by doing so will they be preserved as the People of God when he brings them back once more to the land he had given them.

APPLICATION: The history of Israel has a lot in common with the life-history of many, if not most, individual Christians. The Israelites served God while in need of his material help. Their first three centuries in the Promised Land, which he had given them and which he was helping them to occupy, were years of fairly loyal service. When, under David and Solomon, they acquired a political and economic standing among the nations, they gradually began to lose interest in their divine Protector. Under Solomon’s successor a schism came, a political and religious separation of the northern Tribes from Judah and Jerusalem where God’s Temple was situated. Gradually things went from bad to worse. The north was wiped out. Soon the south was overrun by the Babylonians. The city and Temple were destroyed. The people were taken as prisoners to Babylon. They had practically ignored God during the previous centuries of prosperity, and had even taken an interest in the false gods of the pagan nations.

Their years of exile made them think. They repented. They turned back to God and asked him to forgive them and give them another chance. He did, on condition that they would remain loyal this time. He would be their protector and would give them temporal rewards, provided that their loyalty came from their hearts, not from their lips only.

How many Christians thank God when everything is going well with them? How many do so when their health is the best, when their business is prospering? And worse still, there are Christians who not only do not think of God when all is going well with them, but who go out of their way to offend God by abusing the very gifts which he has given them. They break his commandments and they ignore their obligations. The world sniffles on them for a while. If their worldly prosperity lasts until their end comes, they have every likelihood of leaving this world without knowing God, and of being unknown to him when they meet him as their Judge.

Thank God, however, for this is God’s kindness to weak man. Very few, even of the healthiest and the wealthiest, go through life without reminders of their need for God, even in this world. He sends his warnings to earthbound man through illnesses and business failures, or grave disappointments. This he does in order to awaken man to the realization that he has not here a lasting city. The Christian, unless he has put himself beyond the reach of God’s mercy, and this is a possibility but an exceptional occurrence, will then turn to God once more. He will cry for help, as the Jewish exiles in Babylon did. God is still merciful and will remove the temporary cross or give the necessary strength to bear it. God will and does expect thanks in return, however, and as today’s lesson puts it, the thanks he expects is that his law be kept in future.

What we have said of God sending his messengers of mercy to awaken sinners, must by no means be taken to indicate that all sickness and sufferings are due to sins and injustices on the part of the suffering individual. Many of God’s saints had their share of heavy crosses. This was not in order to awaken them from their sins, but to make them into greater saints. Many good-living Christians, too, get more than their share of life’s troubles. If they remain close to God they will weather these storms and end up closer to God.

What we all need is to keep the God of love always before our minds. Let us also remember the commandments he gave us for our own good. By doing so the saint will become more saintly and the sinner will grow gradually less sinful. Remember, always, that God can do without you, but you cannot do without God.

SECOND READING: Colossians 1:15-20. Christ Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation; for in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the Church; he is the beginning, the first-born from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fulness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

EXPLANATION: In the preceding verses (1-14), Paul has been praising the Colossians for the strength of their faith which is bearing fruit daily, ever since they received God’s gracious gift of conversion. He says that he is ever praying for them, that God will give them a full insight into his will and purpose in bringing them into the realm of light. This is the kingdom of his dear Son “in whom our release is secured and our sins forgiven.” He now goes on to describe the Incarnate Christ in words which leave no doubt as to the true divinity of Christ, as well as the reality of his human nature. By means of this human nature the Son of God reconciled all creation with the Creator. His absolute pre-eminence in all creation and in the Church is stressed.

Christ Jesus: The individual who lived, died and was raised from the dead in Palestine, was at the same time

the image of the invisible God: Christ, as the following verses show, is God, an exact reproduction, as a copy of a seal reproduces its original. In his Incarnation he made the original, God the Father, visible to man. “The Word (became flesh and) dwelt amongst us” (Jn. 1:14).

first-born of all creation: It was in Christ, his Son and perfect image, that the Father first saw all creation and planned accordingly. Man’s sonship with God was therefore, through the Incarnation, seen as existing before creation began.

In him . . . created: The Greek word Aden” can mean causality or locality, that is, everything was created by him (the cause) or everything created in him (locality), as the center of unity and harmony of all created thing. The latter meaning is the more probable, as verse 16 refers to Christ as the instrumental cause.

thrones . . . dominion’s: Paul mentions angelic or heavenly creatures as being created in and by Christ, for the Essenes and some others thought that the angels had a somewhat independent key role in man’s salvation. They are creatures only, Christ’s creatures.

through him . . . for him: All created things find their purpose and fulfillment in Christ. Christ is the active and final cause of all of them. The lower creatures fulfill their purpose when they serve man, and man’s purpose in life is fulfilled, in turn, when he is raised to sonship with God. This happens through his being united to Christ, and it guarantees his eternal heritage. Christ is before all else. In his divinity he was there before time began; and his humanity is first in rank or importance because, in the Incarnation, it is directly assumed by the Son of God and united to his Person.

all things . . . together: As Creator he continues to sustain all creation and keep it in existence.

head of the body, the Church: The apt description of the Church as the body of Christ—his continuation on earth—is due to St. Paul and appears in other epistles of his. Christ is the head, that is, the Authority that rules it, and also the source of its vitality.

first-born . . . the dead: Christ’s resurrection from the tomb in a glorified body was the first such event in man’s history on earth. His resurrection was the beginning and the guarantee of the glorious resurrection of all men who will profit by his Incarnation.

For him . . . fullness . . . dwell: It was God’s will and plan that not only would the fullness of the divinity be in Christ, but also that all creation would be in him through his humanity. He is the sole intermediary between the Creator and his creatures.

to reconcile . . . things: Man is reconciled with God, not through man’s initiative, of which he is incapable himself, but through God’s infinite love, which found in the Incarnation the way to raise man to the higher status of Son of God and heir. He had no claim to such as a mere creature. Once man is in union with God, the lower creatures have their purpose fulfilled on this earth. They serve man; man treats them as God’s gifts to him.

or in heaven: Again he stresses that all reconciliation of creatures with God comes through Christ alone, not through any celestial powers who owe their own existence to Christ. They also benefit from the Incarnation.

peace . . . the blood of his cross: By his perfect obedience to his Father, which in the circumstances meant accepting the death of the cross, Christ, the suffering servant foretold in Isaiah, made peace with God for all mankind because he was the representative of all men. His blood, shed on the cross, was the blood which ratified the “new and eternal covenant” between God and all mankind.

APPLICATION: Philosophers, thinking men of all ages and races, who had not the blessing of revelation, have puzzled their brains searching for the meaning and purpose of man’s life on earth. It cannot be riches, for no man ever seems to have had enough, and there are not enough riches in the world to make even ten percent of men moderately rich. It cannot be pleasure, for life on earth is too short to enjoy a fraction of the pleasures that would satisfy men. It isn’t power, for only a few can have it, and their hold on it is tenuous and too short-lived.

Through his divine revelation. God has given us the answer to the problem that baffled millions. We are not to look for man’s purpose in life here on this earth. We were created by God for a future life in which we would share in his eternal, everlasting happiness. In that life, and only in that, will all the rational desires and all the rational powers which man possesses be completely fulfilled.

This is the consoling truth, the foundation-stone of our Christian religion, that St. Paul puts before us for our consideration and our consolation today. He tells us God created us as intelligent beings, capable of seeing truth and beauty and of enjoying happiness. He did so with the image of his Incarnate Son before his mind. Through the assumption of our human nature by his divine Son, we would be made brothers and sisters of Christ, children of God, and heirs to his own eternal kingdom.

This was an act of sheer love of which only the infinite God could be capable. We shall need all eternity to get even a vague grasp of what such infinite love means, but in the meantime all we can and must do is to say “thank you God, for the infinite love you have shown us.” When the appointed time had come, the Son of God came on earth, took our human nature, went about telling people of God’s great love for them and what they should do to profit by this love. In all of this, although he was God, Christ hid his divinity under the veil of his humanity. He put up with insults, abuse, hard-heartedness, disbelief and, finally, permitted his enemies to crucify him. The world’s only benefactor died as a malefactor, hanging between two crucified thieves on Mount Calvary, beside Jerusalem.

But his enemies’ victory was short-lived. The Father raised him from the tomb, revealed the divinity that had been hidden, and gave him a glorified body fit for heaven. He was “the first-born of the dead.” This phrase means that Christ was the first of millions of human beings to be raised like him from the dead, given glorified bodies and transferred to heaven to enjoy an eternal happiness for which God created them. It is the one and only answer to the philosopher’s problem: “What is man’s purpose in life?”

Let us say a heartfelt “thank you” to God today. Let us also thank his divine Son, our beloved Christ, who planned and executed such an act of benevolence for our sakes, unworthy though we are of such love. Even the holiest amongst us are unworthy. We know where we are going and we have all the means necessary to get us there. It is no harm to remember that thinking pagans found the trivial things of life of no real value to man. As Christians, should we allow them to come between us and the eternal life in which our human nature will find its eternal fulfillment, as well as the one and only real explanation of its existence?

GOSPEL: Luke 10:25-37. A lawyer stood up to put Jesus to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind: and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered right; do this, and you will live.”

But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was; and when he saw him, he had compassion, and went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; then he set him on his own beast and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ Which of these three, do you think, proved neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed mercy on him.” And Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

EXPLANATION: The Scribes were men who had made a life-study of the Law of Moses. For that reason they were also called lawyers. With the Pharisees they were very much opposed to Jesus and his message. They frequently put questions to him, hoping to trick him into some answer that might turn the people or the Roman authorities against him. Evidently this particular lawyer was not ignorant of the answer when he asked the question. He hoped to compromise Jesus by forcing a response from him.

Teacher . . . life: He gives Jesus the title of respect, “Rabbi,” Teacher. The Pharisees believed in the resurrection and eternal life in heaven, for all those who kept the Old Law strictly.

What is written in the law?: “You know the law and you must know the answer.” He had the correct answer, as Jesus told him.

who is my neighbor?: He still pretends to need enlightenment. To justify his asking the first question, he now says his difficulty is to know who his neighbor is who is mentioned in the law.

from Jerusalem to Jericho: Our Lord answers this question with a story, or a parable, about an injured man on the roadside who in his need was ignored by his own fellow Jews. He was helped, however, by one who, in politics and religion, was an archenemy, a Samaritan. This story of the Good Samaritan, as it is called, needs no further explanation.

The one who . . . him: The lawyer had no hesitation in deciding who proved to be the real neighbor, the one who in this case fulfilled the commandment. The priest and levite who should have given good example did the opposite. The hated Samaritan, who knew little if anything of the law, and who certainly had no love for Jews, proved that he had real love of neighbor in his heart. An injured man was in need of help; that was all that mattered.

go and do likewise: Jesus tells the lawyer to go and act always like the Good Samaritan. He will be truly fulfilling the commandment and the law.

APPLICATION: Whether this lawyer acted in good or bad faith when he questioned our Lord, need not trouble us now. We can be thankful that his question brought forth this beautiful parable which has a lesson for us today as fresh as it had for all those who heard it from the lips of Jesus.

The roads of life, no matter where we live, have neighbors lying injured by the wayside. They are waiting and hoping that some fellow man will come to give them a helping hand. We can shut our eyes or turn away, as the priest and levite did. No doubt, these two men had urgent business or they had troubles enough of their own. Perhaps they had helped a few other similar cases already that day. Our Lord does not seem to excuse them on any of these scores. Even the lawyer did not find any justifying excuse for them. They behaved badly. They showed that they had no interest in their neighbor when he was in need. They did not keep the command that God had given them through Moses.

Judged in the light of that parable, are my dealings with my neighbor such as would earn the praise or the condemnation of our Lord? Would he number me with the priest and levite, or with the Samaritan? If I give a helping hand to the neighbors whom I see in corporal or spiritual need, as often as I possibly can, he will number me among the good Samaritans. If, instead, I turn a blind eye and busy myself with my own affairs, I am classing myself with the condemned priest and levite.

I have excuses. We all have. They sound plausible to ourselves. We have more than enough to do to look after our own affairs, material and spiritual. So too had the priest and levite. We have had to go through similar hardships and nobody gave us a helping hand. Two wrongs don’t make a right. These people in corporal or spiritual need brought this on themselves. Let them get themselves out of their difficulties now. Why should I be expected to help? People who are so foolish and so thoughtless as to bring such difficulties on themselves are the very ones who need help, advice and encouragement. They need it from one who has not their particular weakness of character. I must do all I can to save them from their own folly.

Our excuses for not helping our neighbor, who is every man of any description without distinction of race, creed or color, may sound plausible to us now. But will we dare repeat them on the judgement day? When describing the judgement scene, our Lord told certain people that they were being excluded from heaven because they refused to help him when he was in need. They cried out in consternation: “Lord when did we see you hungry, thirsty, naked and did not come to your aid?” His answer was: “you saw my neighbor, my ‘little ones.’ my friends, in need and you did not help.”

Today, with so much social provision for the less fortunate in most countries, we are not called on so often to exercise the corporal works of mercy. Never before, however, was there more need for sincere Christians to carry out the spiritual works of mercy. We are living in a world which is growing daily further and further away from God. We find people in every walk of life whose one purpose is to get all they can out of their few short years here on earth. They completely ignore or forget that their real purpose in life is to get to heaven.

Of course, we cannot go out and preach the truths of faith to these people on every street corner. Even if we did they would not listen to us. There are many other more effective ways of getting a neighbor to see his mistakes, if we but take the trouble. Start by taking an interest in your neighbor, in his work, his family, his recreations. Show by your way of living and by your outlook on life that God is never far from your thoughts. Show that your concern is more with the future life than with the present one. The neighbor will bring up the question of religion, not you. When he does, be ready to give him a simple explanation of what makes you live and act as you do. You will not win him over immediately. You may not win him over at all. But you will have sown a seed which will blossom forth somewhere, some day.

Where there is true love of God, there will be true love of neighbor. There must be. That love will find a way into the heart of the neighbor. Resolve, today, to be a Good Samaritan, especially towards those who are injured spiritually and who will not reach heaven unless you give them a helping hand. Never forget that it is the Lord who is with you doing nine-tenths of the work while you strive to help a neighbor spiritually or physically. What you did to your neighbor, to “one of his little ones,” you did to him, and he will not forget it when your hour of judgement comes.-c265

FIRST READING: Isaiah 66:10-14. “Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice with her in joy, all you who mourn over her; that you may suck and be satisfied with her consoling breasts; that you may drink deeply with delight from the abundance of her glory.” For thus says the Lord: “Behold, I will extend prosperity to her like a river, and the wealth of the nations like an overflowing stream, and you shall suck, you shall be carried upon her hip, and dandled upon her knees. As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem. You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice, your bones shall flourish like the grass; and it shall be known that the hand of the Lord is with his servants.”

EXPLANATION: The prophet is describing in poetic and symbolic language the prosperity and peace which the new Jerusalem will enjoy. His intention is to encourage the returned exiles who were depressed and downcast when they saw their beloved capital in ruins. This state of affairs will soon end and Jerusalem will be greater, more peaceful, more prosperous than she ever was before. She he calls on his fellow Jews to rejoice and be glad.

all you who mourn over her: That is, all the returned exiles.

abundance . . . glory: Jerusalem is compared to a mother breast-feeding her baby, a mother who will fully feed and comfort her child. Jerusalem will have abundance of sustenance for all.

prosperity like a river: The city will be flooded with all the necessary things of life.

wealth of the nations . . . stream: Palestine had always been a poor land when compared with Egypt, Mesopotamia and the other pagan countries. Now Jerusalem, the capital of Palestine, and therefore of the whole country, will be inundated with the wealth of these nations. These pagan nations will come to her, bringing their earthly treasures with them.

you shall . . . upon her hip: The Jews to whom he is speaking will be as happy, contented, and free from all care, as a suckling baby.

so will I comfort you: It is God himself who now speaks, he will be a mother to them; he will comfort them.

in Jerusalem: It is there that he will be a mother to them, giving them all they need.

your heart shall rejoice: Their day of rejoicing will soon come. They are sorrowful now, but when they behold that new Jerusalem their sorrow will be over.

. . . flourish like the grass: They will grow in health and strength without any effort on their part, as the grass grows in the fields.

hand of the Lord . . . servants: It is God who will do all this, and his servants, his faithful ones, will realize this.

APPLICATION: These words of the prophet encouraged the returned exiles to rebuild the city and to continue hoping for the Messianic days in which, according to all the prophets, there would be a new Jerusalem and a new world of peace and plenty for all.

The prophecy was never fulfilled in the earthly capital of Palestine. They were never intended to be fulfilled there. They are already partially fulfilled in Christ’s messianic kingdom on earth, but it is only in his heavenly kingdom that they will be really and truly fulfilled.

The Church which Christ established is the new Jerusalem on earth. It is the capital and the home of all races and all nations. It has the means to lead and direct all mankind to the everlasting “Jerusalem which is above.” It has the sacraments, actions with effective power given it by Christ, by means of which men can become citizens of the new kingdom, can be nourished on their heavenward journey, can be cleansed from any stains they bring on themselves through sin. The sacraments are as well special helps for the particular mode of life which they elect to live in this kingdom. They have, also, appointed leaders to whom God has promised the assistance of his Holy Spirit. These leaders can safely and without fear of error lead their people through the obstacles and hindrances of this world to their heavenly home above.

Surely, we Christians can rejoice and exult over our new Jerusalem. It has all we need to speed us on our way. But it is only a mode of transport. Whilst we can feel safe and absolutely secure on board the barque of Peter, to change the metaphor, we are still on a voyage which of its very nature entails some strains and stresses. We are not all good seamen. Most of us are landlubbers who dread the sea. God, however, knew this when he invited us to join the ship. He has his sickbay on board to renew the health and the spirits of the seasick members.

If we stay on board, the barque of Peter will bring us safely to our new and everlasting home notwithstanding, nay, maybe in most cases because of, the many hardships we have to endure on the voyage.

The heavenly Jerusalem awaits us all. There we shall find a life of plenty, a life to fulfill all our desires, a life of perfect security, as comfortable and as happy and as carefree as the suckling babe on its mother’s bosom. That life will have no end. Together with this personal happiness of each one of us, there will be the enjoyment of the company of the Blessed Trinity, the glorified human nature of Christ, our Blessed Mother and all our fellow creatures who received the same gracious gift of eternal salvation from God which we ourselves received.

What are all the earthly joys and pleasures that ever were or ever will be, compared with the joys and the happiness of heaven? What is earthly life at its best and its longest when compared to an eternal life? Which shall I choose—could I hesitate even for an instant?

SECOND READING: Galatians 6:14-18. Far be it from me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. Peace and mercy be upon all who walk by this rule, upon the Israel of God.

Henceforth let no man trouble me; for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brethren. Amen.

EXPLANATION: In these verses St. Paul is thinking aloud of the blessing his conversion to Christianity meant for him. Nothing else matters to him now but to keep Christ crucified ever before his mind. The event of Calvary, the death of Christ in order to fulfil his perfect obedience to the Father, made a new creature of Paul (and of all men). He is now a son of God. The world, that is, the desires and ambitions and follies of the old natural man, are now dead, “crucified” to him.

Far be . . . to glory: This may be a reference to the boasting of his arch-enemies, the Judaizers, about their being the true sons of Abraham, by circumcision. But the chief thought in his mind is what the Cross of Christ has meant and does mean to him.

by which . . . : Because of Christ’s act on Calvary which brought about the realization of God’s eternal salvific plan for mankind, Paul has nothing more to do with mere earthly concerns—he is raised above that; he is now a “new creature” of a higher status.

neither circumcision: These external rites of the old law have now no value as regards salvation.

a new creation: By this special act of God’s salvific will, which he had planned from eternity, and which was fulfilled in the Incarnation, Death and Resurrection of Christ, men are now new creatures, sons of God, and not just mere natural men. We are different, not with the difference caused by some extrinsic uniform or mode of conduct which we have adopted, but with an intrinsic difference which the life-giving principle of the Spirit of Christ has created in us.

Israel of God: He prays now that all Christians, Jews and Gentiles, who are the “new Israel of God,” will have the peace and the mercy of God to enable them to live according to this new life.

on my body the marks of Jesus: Paul had suffered from illness, flogging, stoning, for the cause of Jesus. The marks of these sufferings are still visible on his body.

let no man trouble me: Can any man doubt that he is a true Apostle and follower of Christ with these proofs, “the marks of Jesus,” so evident in his body? The Judaizers called circumcision the mark of God in their bodies, but what was that compared to his proof of his love and dedication to God?

with your spirit . . . brethren: He closes his letter calling the Galatians his brothers, which they were still, even though he had a few hard words to say during the course of his letter. He wishes for their “spirit,” that is, themselves, the favor, the blessings and friendships, of our Lord (God) Jesus Christ.

APPLICATION: If only we all could, at all times, be like St. Paul and appreciate and realize what being a Christian is, the difference it has made in our relationship with God and the new, proper outlook it gives us on life! The pagan who has not yet heard of the true God, or of the marvellous dignity he conferred on man when he sent his own divine Son to become one of us so that we could become one with him, has yet some ray of light to brighten the gloom of life, through his belief in his ancestral gods and through the graces God can and does send him. But yet he is lacking so much that we already have.

Compared with the pagan whose education is minimal or non-existent and who seldom reflects on life and its purpose, how much more distressing and insoluble must be the meaning of life for the educated man of our western world who has denied the existence of God! He is bound to reflect frequently on life and its brevity. But he has cast from him the one solution to all of life’s enigmas by denying the existence of a personal God, who has created all things and plans and provides for all his creation.

It is no wonder that such disbelievers in God and a future life rush headlong into pleasure-seeking or/and into the acquisition of this world’s goods. They see nothing to satisfy the normal intellectual aspirations of every intelligent person in this world. Theirs is a vain attempt to fill with temporal substitutes, which can last but a few short years, the vacuum created by their godless philosophy. They are trying to empty the ocean with a seashell!

These words are said not in derision but in sadness. Every true follower of Christ who knows, and has experienced, God’s infinite love for his human creatures, must and does wish and pray that all his human children will come to know their loving heavenly Father. He wants them all in heaven. He wants and expects us to help in bringing them there. The pagans whom we can help by cooperating with the missionary societies of the Church are numerous. Our godless neighbors can be helped in diverse ways. Love will find a way. If we really love God and our neighbor who is out of contact with God, we shall find a way to get them to meet.

The good example of our own Christian life is the best incentive to move others to think of their way of living and of its many unanswered riddles. We should pray, for a short while maybe, but fervently and often, for the grace of light for our neighbor who is blind to things spiritual. Such a prayer, if motivated by pure charity and free from all taint of selfishness, will not be left unanswered. God still loves his prodigal sons, even when they are loudly and joyfully celebrating his death. He is looking for only the smallest opening to pour his grace into their hearts. Your small prayer may soon produce that little opening.

A third duty incumbent on all of us is to learn all we can about God’s wonderful gift of Christianity to mankind. We Christians take too much for granted. We do not learn enough about our religion. We should be able to stand up and defend our faith if an occasion arises. This demands previous study. There are books available. There are study circles within the easy reach of most of us. We should avail ourselves of these helps and thus be able charitably and kindly to correct one who is making (unknowingly perhaps) false statements about things religious. Many an erring child of God has been quietly led back to the heavenward road by a few simple explanations of the Christian faith given during an argument by a sincere follower of Christ.

GOSPEL: Luke 10:1-9. Short Form. The Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to come. And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and salute no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’ And if a son of peace is there, your peace shall rest upon him, but if not, it shall return to you. And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages; do not go from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you; heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’”

EXPLANATION: In chapter 9:1-6, Luke described Christ sending the twelve Apostles on a mission to preach his gospel in the towns and villages of Galilee. Besides the twelve Apostles, he had many followers who went about with him. Among these, the seventy-two, mentioned here, seem to be a somewhat select group. They have learned more of his teaching, perhaps, than others. Therefore, he sends them out to preach and to prepare the way for his coming to the various towns and villages. The instructions which he gives them as to their behavior is similar to that given to the Apostles (9:1-6).

Seventy others: The number of the Apostles was restricted to twelve, possibly to signify that they were the leaders of the new twelve Tribes of Israel. The seventy-two or seventy (the codices differ here) may represent the seventy elders chosen by Moses to be his helpers in governing the people. This he did at God’s command (see Num. 11:16).

two by two: So that they could be of help to one another and give an example of fraternal charity to the people.

harvest is plentiful . . . few: His missionary work is often compared to a harvest (see Jn. 4:35f.; Mt. 9:37). There are so many to whom the gospel of salvation must be preached, but the preachers are so few. Alas, this is still true after almost twenty centuries of Christianity.

Lord of the harvest: He tells the disciples, and through them all his followers, to pray God to send priestly vocations into the Church.

lambs . . . midst of wolves: They will meet with opposition. The opponents are merciless, whilst they are incapable (humanly speaking) of protecting themselves. The reference here is rather to the opposition which he himself was to meet from his obdurate enemies, and after his death, the fate that awaited his followers.

carry no purse, no bag: They were to be an example of poverty, not even possessing a walking staff to help or protect them. The exclusion of the traveling bag meant that they were not to carry food supplies, but were to rely on the generosity of the people to whom they preached.

no sandals: The poorer people generally went barefoot in Palestine, and elsewhere, in those days.

salute no one: This was not forbidding the ordinary act of courtesy. He was referring to the long drawn-out greetings, which could last for hours when travelers, who perhaps had met nobody for days, met another group of travelers. The disciples were on an urgent errand and must not waste time on endless exchange of news.

Peace to this house: The usual Jewish salutation which at the time of Christ was almost an empty formula. As given by the disciples on the instruction of Christ, it was meant to wish God’s peace and blessing on the inhabitants of the house.

rest upon him: If the inhabitants are worthy, the blessing will come on them. If not, it will “come back to you.” It will produce no effect.

remain in the . . . house: If a family was willing to keep them and share their table with them, they were to remain there until their mission of preaching had finished. This would help to avoid unnecessary running about and the disturbance of too many families.

laborer . . . his wages: Their food and shelter was not alms but a wage due to them for the teaching they gave.

town . . . you: When accepted in a town or village and given food and shelter, they were to stay there for some time. They would cure the sick, a power he gave them. They would tell the people that the “reign of God,” the Messianic kingdom, was at hand: that the Messiah had come. This was but the kernel of the message they had to preach.

APPLICATION: God’s ways of dealing with us mortals are amazing when we think over them. He calls on men to help him bring themselves and their fellow man to heaven, when he could do this far more effectively himself without any help from man. The Son of God, when he was on earth, could have worked some extraordinary signs or miracles which would have made the whole Roman Empire, as well as the Jews, sit up and take notice. He could have stayed longer on earth, and could have preached his gospel in Greece and Rome. He could have converted the leading lights in the empire, and thus have made the spread of his gospel so much easier and quicker.

Instead, he chose weak, human creatures who spent years doing work which he could have done in a month or less. Today’s Gospel story is an example of this method. One half-hour of Christ in the towns and villages, in which these seventy-two disciples spent some weeks, would have been far more efficacious. He could have brought those people to his feet by one word of command. Yet, he still depends on mere humans to bring the good news of his gospel to their fellow men, and to bring these fellow men to heaven. Instead of this slow and often unsuccessful method, he himself could have appeared for a short period over each country in the world and addressed the people. He could have proved to them by a startling miracle or two that it was he. He could have made it clear that unless human beings carried out his commands for the rest of their lives, he had power to see to it that the remainder of the life of those who disobeyed would be very brief indeed.

I seem to remember, a Sunday or two ago, hearing James and John, the “Sons of Thunder,” expounding some similar idea. They asked him to call down fire from heaven on some unfortunate Samaritans. Yes, God and Christ, who is God’s divine Son, could do all the things suggested. God’s ways are not our ways. Thank God for that too. He could, without the slightest difficulty, force all men to accept his gospel and live according to it. Men have done harder things when a powerful fellow man was standing over them. What would they not do if their Creator and Lord was standing menacingly over them?

The fact is, of course, that God wants no forced laborers in heaven. He wants free citizens who have elected to go there of their own free will. Nor would those men, forced to live the gospel through fear of the all-powerful Master, earn heaven by this kind of obedience. It is because God wants all men in heaven that he leaves each one absolutely free to choose the path that leads there. Only thus can men enjoy heaven. He has marked that path clearly and vividly for all who wish to see. He has placed marked human guides (his pastors) along the way to help the weak and warn travelers of possible wrong turnings.

In other words, he has dealt with us humans in a very human way. He acts, even with his prodigal sons, as a loving father, ever ready to help them as he would help those who remain at home near him. He is almost readier still to welcome back the spendthrifts and wastrels, and lay on a home-coming party for them.

Plaintively, rather than authoritatively, he tells us all in today’s lesson that he needs more helpers to help their fellowmen. This is not only a loving call to the priesthood and the religious life. It is a call to all true Christians. He needs guides on the long road to heaven. The layman or laywoman who is traveling that road can be, and is, as good a guide as the priest or religious. This call from the loving heart of Christ is intended today as much for them as for priests and religious. Up to now, how much have I done to help Christ bring men to heaven? It is time I began, if hitherto I have done nothing in this very important matter. I may be very keen on getting to heaven, but I may be a long time waiting if I arrive alone at the gate! No one can get to heaven unless he loves God. No one can love God unless he loves his neighbor. No one can love his neighbor, and look on without concern while that neighbor is wandering miles from the road which Christ has marked out as the road to heaven. If I am a true Christian, I am thereby a disciple also. I am called on today to do the work of a disciple.-c258

FIRST READING: 1 Kings 19:16, 19-21. The Lord said to Elijah, “Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place.”

And Elijah found Elisha, the son of Shaphat, who was plowing, with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he was with the twelfth. Elijah passed by him and cast his mantle upon him. And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, “Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.” And he said to him, “Go back again; for what have I done to you?” And he returned from following him, and took the yoke of oxen, and slew them, and boiled their flesh with the yokes of the oxen, and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and went after Elijah, and ministered to him.

EXPLANATION: We have here an account of the call of Elisha to the prophetic office. Elijah, the first and greatest of the non-writing prophets, who did so much and suffered so much to preserve the true faith in the northern kingdom, was nearing the end of his days. God tells him that he is to appoint Elisha as his successor. He does so, and Elisha follows him and carries on his work. He almost equaled his teacher and predecessor in the number and spectacular nature of his miracles, for nearly fifty years.

Elisha…of Abel-meholah: This man whose name means “God has saved,’ was unheard of up to this. His native place was a district in northern Palestine near the Jordan river.

plowing…twelve yoke of oxen: He was a farmer on a large scale, having twelve yoke of oxen.

cast his mantle upon him: This was a gesture to signify he was conferring his office of prophet on him. Elijah the prophet was well-known to all, so Elisha evidently understood what this gesture meant.

let me kiss…father and mother: It seems a reasonable request. Elisha is ready to follow the prophet once he has taken leave of his parents.

go back…I done to you: Elijah’s answer is enigmatic. Go, if you wish, I am not stopping you; while granting the permission he seems not pleased with the request.

took yoke of oxen…slew them…: Elisha prepares a sacrificial meal which he ate with his people, his helpers, before leaving all things and following the prophet.

APPLICATION: God’s ways are indeed mysterious to us. Elijah, whom he had sent to Israel (the breakaway northern kingdom) did heroic work there to preserve the knowledge of the true God. It was a period when pagan infiltration was at its strongest under King Ahab and his wicked wife, Queen Jezebel, a pagan from Tyre. God called a successor for Elijah, who carried on his great work and it is due to these two men of God that the ordinary people of Israel preserved, more or less, the true faith. This was so, notwithstanding the efforts of their rulers during the ninth century B.C. to introduce paganism.

Why does God allow evil in the world he created? Why does he create men whom he knew would spread their evil influence? Through their example and their power, which they so often succeed in acquiring, they make the eternal salvation of thousands, even of millions of their fellow men, most difficult, if not impossible.

This is a question which has troubled the minds of many down through the ages. It would be so easy for God not to create men whom he knows will lead evil lives and cause so many others to follow them in their evil ways. Would not our religious life today, and our faithful service of God, be so much easier and better if there were not so many practical (and to a less harmful degree, theoretical) atheists amongst us, and so many promoters of sin and its occasions?

Yet, any sane, sound-thinking man will have to admit that surely the all-intelligent God knows what is best for his world. Man has intelligence and free will, the gifts of God which raise him above all other earthly creatures. Yet he is liable to abuse these gifts and offend his Creator. The animals do not sin, because they lack these gifts. Neither can they know God, nor have they the possibility of enjoying an eternal heaven in his company. If God denied us intelligence and free will, the only way of preventing sin, then we, like the animals, could never earn or enjoy heaven.

Furthermore, would our religious life, our respect for God and for his laws be really better and more sincere if we had no opposition? The example of countries and peoples who suffered persecutions from the opponents of the Faith in the past (and this is true of parts of our world still today) would seem to prove the opposite. The early Church spread rapidly through the Roman Empire, not only in spite of violent persecutions, but because of them. “The blood of martyrs is the seed of Christians.”

Today we live in a world which seems in theory and in practice to be moving more and more away from God. Unfortunately, as always, some of the leaders of this secularism and this disrespect for and negation of God’s rights and claims are or were men in positions of authority. This makes the scandal and the evil infection all the more widespread. However, we still trust in the all-wise God who knows all the thoughts and the doings of men—he has his purpose in allowing this state of affairs to exist in his Church and in the world. We shall understand it in the next life. During our years here below let us do our own part, and then we can safely leave the rest to God.

Elijah and Elisha, and the thousands of others which their active apostolate influenced, might never have been saints in heaven today if God had not permitted paganism to be introduced into Israel by its sinful rulers. Our modern semi-paganism, too, will produce more active love for and service of God amongst the faithful and make saints of many who might otherwise have led a lukewarm, half-hearted Christian life.

God preserved the Chosen People of the Old Testament in spite of the apostasy and wickedness of many of them, until the time was right to send his Son amongst us. He will preserve his Church, the kingdom of his Son, Christ, notwithstanding the apostasy and opposition of so many he wished to save, until the last of the human race has left this earth. Let us do our part not only for our own salvation, but also for the salvation of those very ones who are opposing God and his Church. We can safely leave the outcome to God. It is in his all-wise, all-powerful hands.

SECOND READING: Galatians 5:1, 13-18. For freedom Christ has set us free; stand fast therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. For you were called to freedom, brethren, only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love be servants of one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another take heed that you are not consumed by one another.

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you would. But if you are led by the Spirit you are not under the law.

EXPLANATION: St. Paul is still driving home the lesson that Gentile converts must pay no heed to the false teaching of the Judaizers. They are set free from the yoke of the old law. They must not listen to those who would impose it on them. So, likewise, are all Jewish converts free from the rites and practices which they once had to observe.

For freedom Christ…free: Christians are set free by Christ from the “slavery” of the old law.

stand fast: Do not yield, therefore, to this false teaching of the Judaizers. If you do you are back in the old slavery.

your freedom…opportunity…: Being called to freedom from the old law, however, does not mean they can do what they like. They must not let “the flesh” that is, in St. Paul’s language, the unspiritual inclinations in man, his weak, sinful human nature, have free rein. His earthly human inclinations must be curbed. The Christian religion does not free him from this obligation.

through love…another: Instead of selfishly following their evil inclinations, they must keep these in check and devote themselves unselfishly to the service of their brothers in Christ.

love your neighbor as yourself: A rule laid down already for the Jews in the Old Testament (Lev. 19:18), but especially emphasized by Christ who applied it to all men (not to their own co-religionists only, as was the case with the Jews). It was to be the hallmark of true Christianity.

If you bite…devour one another: The opposite of mutual love and help would be mutual destruction.

But I say…by the Spirit: If the Christians live the true Christian life, loving God and loving their neighbor, aided by the grace of God, which is the true spirit of Christianity, they will be able to keep their worldly, unspiritual inclinations in check.

desires…against the Spirit: Lust here does not refer exclusively to sexual desires but to all inclinations of the worldly man to disobey the spiritual rules of the Christian life.

the spirit—against the flesh: Through baptism man is raised to a new spiritual status. He becomes a son of God, but he does not thereby shed all the low, worldly desires and impulses of unredeemed men. So there is constant opposition between the higher and the lower desires and ambitions in each one of us.

to prevent…you would: Too often, alas, our lower nature, its desires and ambitions, not in sexual matters only, but in all our human dealings, push our higher spiritual purpose and end to the background. Hence we sin.

not under the law: Paul returns to his first thought. We are set free from the obligations and practices of the old law by Christ, but we must live a true Christian life, guided by the Spirit of Christianity, by our knowledge of our new status as sons of God.

APPLICATION: We are no longer troubled by Judaizers or by anyone trying to force us to keep the practices of the Mosaic Law. This trouble lasted for only one generation in the early Church. We are, however, surrounded on all sides today, by the other seduction against which St. Paul warns us—the call to give “free reign to the flesh.”

Freedom from all authority, freedom to do as we will with our lives, freedom from any restraint, divine or human, is the new gospel of the permissive society. But in fact it is not new. It is the old paganism of the pre-Christian era in an even more pernicious form. The old pagans had respect for their gods. They had respect for their social laws and for social authority. The new pagans have no gods but themselves. There are no social laws or no authority which they respect. They are the supreme arbiters of all their actions; they are responsible to nobody or to no power but to their own selves.

This insidious doctrine has not come from the peoples of Africa and Asia who have not yet heard the Christian message. It comes from countries that once were Christian but which gradually lost the sense of Christianity and the true meaning of its good news. There are millions of men and women today who are ignorant of, or else ignore, their true purpose in life. The only meaning they evidently find for being a few short years on this earth is to get all the pleasure, power and plenty they can out of it. That pleasure, power and plenty, however, is very restricted and limited. Their philosophy, if it could possibly be called that, must of necessity lead once more to the law of the jungle, the survival of the fittest, until in a short while one stronger than themselves comes along.

A permissive society is not a society in any sense of the word. A society means a group of people living in harmony, working together for the common good of each and all its members. Rules must be drawn up and obeyed. Leaders with the right to interpret these rules and to command their execution must be in command. Each individual’s person and rights must be respected and protected, regardless of age or position. While democracy and freedom of speech for each member is to be commended, the obligation on each member of the society to think seriously and cogitate carefully on all the implications of all decisions to be taken, is all the greater.

This true form of democracy, and freedom to express considered and carefully weighed opinions is not the norm that governs the agitators for the permissive society. They want freedom for themselves only. They do not care if others have to suffer as long as they get their own freedom to do what they will. Hence their advocacy of pre-marital sex relations, facile divorce, abortion and euthanasia, among other crimes against human society. The unborn, the weak, the old, are hindrances to their pleasure and plenty, and so must be eliminated!

Needless to say, St. Paul, when warning his converts to keep the animal-man in check, could not foresee such incredible abuses of human reasoning, and such a depth of selfishness even in animal-man. He is reminding us Christians that we must be an example to our fellow man in the society in which we live, and that example must be shown especially in our real love for our fellow man. We must be ready to help our neighbor in his need, not only when doing so is not too inconvenient, but even when it puts us to grave inconvenience. We must do for him what we would wish to be done to ourselves. We would all surely be convinced that the greatest help a neighbor could give us would be to put us back on the right road to eternal life if we had strayed from the path.

Many of our neighbors today are in dire need of help to find their true bearings on the sea of this life. We can and must help them by prayer, and ask God to give them light and direction. We can sometimes get in a quiet word of advice at the opportune moment. We can and we must openly express our total rejection of any and every suggested legislation proposed and sponsored by the permissive groups denying the right of the weaker members. Such legislation would be destructive of all rational human society. Rationality will prevail. God still rules his world.

GOSPEL: Luke 9:51-62. When the days drew near for Jesus to be received up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him; but the people would not receive him, because his face was set towards Jerusalem. And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to bid fire come down from heaven and consume them?” But he turned and rebuked them. And they went on to another village.

As they were going along the road, a man said to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” But he said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

EXPLANATION: St. Luke begins here in 9:51, a long section of nine chapters of his Gospel. He sets it in the framework of our Lord’s journey from Galilee to Jerusalem where his mission on earth was to end. Many of the incidents and instructions included here did not happen during his last journey to Jerusalem, but that matters not. Each of his “doings and saying” has its lesson for us, no matter when or where it happened or was delivered.

when the days…near: The end of his sojourn on earth, which Jesus clearly foresaw.

to be received: The Greek word analempsis, the “taking up,” means his death and resurrection as one event.

toward Jerusalem: He knew it was there that he was to be crucified “and so enter into his glory,” and he voluntarily sets out for that city.

Samaritans…not receive him: Samaritans and Jews had been archenemies for over five centuries (ever since the people of Judea returned from the Babylonian exile). They would have received Jesus, if he had not informed them that he was on his way to their enemies’ city—Jerusalem.

bid fire come…to consume them: James and John, the two sons of Zebedee, were called the “sons of Thunder” by Jesus, because of their evident fiery nature, on the day he numbered them among his Apostles (Mk. 3:17). They were still living up to that description—their novitiate with the Master had not quite changed their naturally impulsive characters. They now think these mean, inhospitable Samaritans deserve to be taught a lesson. Calling down fire means they want Christ to imitate the prophet Elijah, who burned the soldiers sent to seize him (2 Kgs. 1:10-12).

rebuked them: Revenge was not for the merciful Christ. Besides, he understood the reason for this lack of hospitality.

will follow…wherever you go: According to Mt. 8:19-22, this and the following incident happened at the beginning of Christ’s public life, where they fit in better. Christ tells the volunteer that if he becomes his disciple, his must be a life of total dedication, with no fixed abode and no earthly ties, ready to move at every call.

…follow me: He invites the second, who is ready except for a laudable filial piety which is holding him back. He will follow when he has buried his father. As Jewish burials took place on the day of death, it is unlikely that the man’s father was yet dead. The son would be in the house with the mourners, but he was near death and the son wanted to wait and do what filial love demanded when the father died.

leave the dead…own dead: Christ is not forbidding the young man to carry out for his father what his duty as son imposes on him. He is emphasizing the contrast between his gospel—the gospel of life, for which earthly death is but a door to real life—and the sad fate which earthly death is for the unbeliever. There is no real death, and no real dead, in the true Christian mode of living.

farewell…those at home: Again, this sentiment did not agree with the need of total dedication, which the following of Christ demanded. The volunteer was half-hearted, he would follow when certain conditions were fulfilled.

plow…kingdom of God: A well-known image. The good plowman concentrates all his faculties and energy on what lies ahead. The man looking back, to see how he has done, will actually do badly. So it is with him who wishes to follow Christ. If he does not concentrate on the future that awaits him, and does not despise all entanglements of the past and present, he will not reach the great future destined and prepared for him.

APPLICATION: Among the various incidents gathered together by Luke in these verses of his Gospel we have read today, perhaps the lesson that should strike all of us most is his insistence on total dedication on the part of his true followers to his service. We cannot be for Christ and against him at the same time. “He who gathers not with me, scatters,” he himself said. We are followers of Christ since our baptism. In theory this is the fact, but in practice how real is this fact for many of us? Are we really following Christ during the twenty-four hours of every day of our lives? Are our eyes always fixed on the true future which awaits us? Are we prepared to plow a straight furrow no matter what snags or obstacles may be on our way? How few of us can answer “yes, we are,” to these straight questions?

We have, of course, explanations ready at hand for our forgetfulness, our laxity, our earthly entanglements. We are tied down by family and a hundred other earthly cares. Our days, our weeks, our years are so fully occupied that we find it hard to spare even a short hour on Sundays to give to God. This answer shows a misunderstanding of what Christ demands of us. He knows his followers must live for a few years in this world and must, for the most part, struggle to earn a living for themselves during that period. But it is by living this earthly life properly, by being loyal to spouse and family, by earning one’s living honestly, by living not only peacefully but helpfully with one’s neighbors, that we are living our Christian life.

The man who keeps within the limits that Christian law lays down for him, while working his way through this life, is a true follower of Christ and is on the road to heaven, plowing a straight furrow. He may not have much time for prayer, and each morning he may rush off to work. But God understands half-sentences and even single words. At night he needs recreation and relaxation, and God does not expect long prayers from him—if he has worked honestly and has given the example of true Christianity to his fellow workers, he has honored God all day. He has prayed well. A few words of thanks to God, a request for pardon for all the mistakes made since morning, before lying down to sleep at night, will give such a man nothing to fear should God call him to judgement during the night hours.

If we only realized how reasonable God’s demands are, and how every demand he makes on us is for our own benefit and not his, we would be a little more generous in our response to his calls. He does not need us—we need him. We could slip in a few more short prayers during the day; we could find more time to take a true interest in the eternal and less in the temporal. We could manage to give a helping hand and a word of encouragement to a needy neighbor. Yes, all of us could do a lot more to show to Christ and to the world that we are following him gladly and honestly. We are not looking back while plowing our Christian furrow.-c251

FIRST READING: Zechariah 12:10-11. Thus says the Lord: “I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of compassion and supplication so that, when they look on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him as one weeps over a first-born. On that day the mourning in Jerusalem will be as great as the mourning for Hadadrimmon in the plain of Megiddo.”

EXPLANATION: Zechariah, one of the twelve minor prophets, lived and preached in Jerusalem to the returned exiles (about 520 B.C.). He encouraged the people to rebuild the Temple and settle once more in their native land. He foretells a great future—the Messianic future—when all the nations will come to the Holy Land eager to follow the God of Israel. The second part of the book (9-14) was, most probably, written by a later author, but here too we have Messianic references. Today’s reading is one such.

I will pour out on the house of David: The promise given to David by the prophet Nathan is not forgotten, for it was Messianic. His descendant who would sit on his throne would establish his kingdom forever (2 Sm. 7:16). Deutero-Zechariah promises that this is about to be fulfilled.

on…inhabitants of Jerusalem: The people of the new kingdom, represented by the citizens of Jerusalem, will receive a new spirit:

of grace and petition: The new spirit of God which the people will receive will enable them to seek God’s favor, and to repent of their past misdeeds. They will ask for forgiveness and mourn for one they have caused to suffer.

they look…on him: The people have caused the death of someone of great importance, as the following verse (natural mourning) shows. St. John (19:37) interprets these words of Christ on the cross, whose side was pierced, “thrust through,” with a lance.

they shall mourn for him: The friends and followers of Christ mourned on Good Friday, and some of his persecutors later did so after their conversion.

only child…first-born: The words are used to show how heartfelt and sincere their mourning would be, but how true they are of Christ, the only Son of God and Mary’s first-born.

Hadadrimmon…Megiddo: There was some tradition of a day of great mourning in the plain of Megiddo (northern Palestine). It may refer to the death in battle of Josiah, Israel’s greatest king after David, at Megiddo 609 B.C. (2 Kgs. 23:29). The mourning in Jerusalem, for the death of the Messiah, to be caused by his own people, would be as great as was the grief of that far-off day.

APPLICATION: From all eternity God had decided, through the Incarnation of his own divine Son, to raise man, his creature, to the dignity of divine adopted sonship, and make him a sharer in his own eternal happiness. He foresaw, and the Son foresaw, all the humiliations and sufferings this would entail because of the sins and wickedness of the very creatures he was exalting. Yet he was willing, not only to accept these humiliations and sufferings, but to forgive the offenders. He was also willing to give them the grace to repent of and to regret their crimes, and thus make them worthy to share in the benefits of the Incarnation.

It is hard for us, whose minds are so finite and limited, even to begin to understand such infinite, magnanimous love and forgiveness. Yet this very forgiveness, the fruit and proof of love, was foretold centuries before the crucifixion took place, by the prophet we have read today, and indeed by almost all the prophets. These prophecies were confirmed by Christ himself as he was about to die on the cross, when he prayed for his executioners: “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

We are all sinners. It was not only the Jewish Sanhedrin that condemned Christ to the death of the cross. We, his professed followers, his own Christians, “crucify again the Son of God” in a certain manner, every time we sin grievously. We despise him when we despise his laws. We insult him when we refuse to recognize his authority. We put him to death when, by mortal sin, we drive his Holy Spirit from us.

But the promises he made to the citizens of Jerusalem are for us too, and even more so for us than for them. He foresaw our sins, but he has told us that he is not only ready but anxious to forgive us. There is no sin so serious, no sinner so wicked, as to be beyond the reach and cleansing power of the grace of God. Christ did not become man to be an occasion for sending us to hell. He came to bring us to heaven. There are sinners who, unfortunately, are wrongly but truly afraid of God. It should not be so. God dislikes sin but he still loves the sinner. He wants no man to be eternally lost. He went to great lengths, which are to us almost unbelievable, in order to share his heaven with us. Will he miss any opportunity of bringing us there after all he has already done for us?

Today, think seriously on God’s infinite love for you. If you have offended him, ask humbly for pardon. You are certain to get it. If only we would keep God’s love for us before our minds, not only would we not be afraid to ask for forgiveness, but our normal sense of decency would keep us from offending such a loving Father, and our need for forgiveness would not exist.

SECOND READING: Galatian 3:26-29. In Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male or female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.

EXPLANATION: The great Apostle of the Gentiles was himself a Jew by birth and early education, and remained a lover of his people. From the time he became a Christian he understood that, in the promises given to Abraham, there was no longer any distinction between Jew and Gentile. The Incarnation of the Son of God—the Messianic promise given to Abraham—was for all mankind. The role of Abraham and his descendants—the Chosen People,—was that of preparation for Christ’s coming on earth. Once Christ had come, the preparation period was over. All who now accept Christ are the true Chosen People, the real descendants of Abraham, no matter what their race or nationality.

In Christ Jesus…sons of God: What a marvellous privilege! Who, but God, could have thought of it? In creating us he gave us gifts which the rest of his creation does not possess. He gave us these because of the eternal future he had planned for us.

for as…Christ: We have become God’s children by accepting as the Son of God Christ, who became one of us, so that we could become one with him, sons of his Father.

…were baptized into Christ: It was Christ himself who instituted the Sacrament of Baptism—the efficacious means by which we become one with him. The original form of baptism was by immersion. It was more symbolic of our dying with Christ and rising from the waters—the grave—as new men with him, than is our present form, but both are equally efficacious.

have put on Christ…: We have put on Christ. We are living in him, or as Paul puts it in another place, we are “members of his body.”

Jew nor Greek…male or female: From the moment of baptism we are “new creatures.” We are all members of Christ’s body. All distinctions of race, status, “slave or freeman,” and even sex, disappear. Race, status and sex, mere accidentals in this life, have no meaning whatsoever in the kingdom of God into which we have entered by baptism.

If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring: It was to prepare for the coming of Christ and of Christianity that Abraham was called. Christians are, therefore, the descendants of Abraham. He was called to be the father of a great race, the father of peoples of all nations (Gen. 12:13).

…heirs according to promise: All that was promised to Abraham, the Messiah, and all the blessings, eternal blessings, which flow from the Messiah, are yours.

APPLICATION: What a consoling and, at the same time, what a frightening thought is contained in these outright words of St. Paul for me today! “You are a son of God,” he tells me. It is surely consoling to know that God is my Father, a loving father who is interested in me and who has a great inheritance to give me. He thought of me before creation began. Before he created the world he planned to make me his own son and to share his eternal, happy home with me. Every human father, worthy of the name, does all in his power to educate and prepare his children to make their way in this world. But how limited are the human father’s powers! They begin and end in this very finite life and world.

God, my Father in heaven, is infinite in his power and love. He can and does help me to succeed in this life, even in my very temporal affairs. He can and does help me be a success in the future everlasting life also. That is the real life and the real success. Surely, then, I have reason to rejoice, and be consoled at the thought that God has made me his son.

But when I think of my unworthiness, of my earthiness, of my meanness to the Father who has been so good to me, I have reason to be frightened, frightened that through my own fault I could exclude myself from my Father’s home. It has happened to others. It certainly can happen to me. It need not. It will not happen because of my past faults—I have the means of ridding myself of them. God foresaw my weakness and provided the great sacrament of his mercy, the Sacrament of Penance, so that I could return once more to his friendship and love. If I fail to use the means he gave me, if I persevere in being a prodigal son, ignoring my Father and my real home, then indeed I have reason to fear. Not even God himself, my loving Father, can save me from my own folly.

However, God’s mercy is available to the greatest sinner until he draws his last breath. God keeps sending reminders and messengers to his prodigal sons, inviting them home—right up to the last minute. Why should any decent son delay returning to such a loving Father? Let each one of us look honestly at his conduct, in relation to God and his commandments, and if he really appreciates what God has intended for him by making him his son, he will put himself right with his heavenly Father. He will do all in his power to remain a faithful, thankful son, until he is called to his Father’s eternal home.

GOSPEL: Luke 9:18-24. It happened that as Jesus was praying alone the disciples were with him; and he asked them, “Who do the people say that I am?” And they answered, “John the Baptist; but others say Elijah; and others, that one of the old prophets has risen.” And he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered, “The Christ of God.” But he charged and commanded them to tell this to no one, saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”

And he said to all, “if any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake, he will save it.”

EXPLANATION: For some months now, crowds have been following Jesus, moved by his words of mercy and peace, and especially by the many miracles he was working. They knew that he was a man of God in some way. They looked upon him as someone like the prophets of old of which they had heard. Even the Apostles and disciples had not as yet any idea that he was the Son of God in human nature. Perhaps some of them were doubting that he could be the promised Messiah.

happened…praying alone: Every now and then he went into some secluded spot to meditate and pray, thus training his Apostles in the necessity of prayer, even when doing the work of God.

who do the…say: As they were alone, he took the opportunity to find out what was the opinion of the crowds, and their own opinion. as to who or what he was.

John the Baptist: John had been beheaded by Herod, the tetrarch of Galilee, because his illegal wife wanted it so. Some of the crowds evidently thought Jesus was John, risen from the dead. Herod had heard the rumor too (see 9:7).

Elijah…prophets of old: Others thought he was Elijah, one of the earliest of Israel’s prophets (c. 900-850 B.C.), or one of the many other prophets they had had down through the centuries, whom God had raised from the dead to preach again to them.

But you…I am: He expects a different answer from them and

Peter answered…: Peter was already the leader of the Apostles and therefore their spokesman.

Christ of God: The person promised so often down through their history ever since the call of Abraham. The title Messiah, “one anointed,” had been given to him only in the last century before his coming. The name was invented because the prophetic descriptions given of him represented him as king and priest, both of whom were anointed with oil on assuming office. The Greek for Messiah (Aramaic) is Christos, hence the English Christ.

charged…to tell: Because of the wrong ideas the people had concerning the promised Messiah, he did not want the people to look on him as the Messiah yet. He had still much work to do before he could let his enemies take him, and some of his friends might want to proclaim him king and thus incur the fatal wrath of the Roman authorities. Hence, it was necessary that the secret should be kept for the present.

Son of Man: This is the title by which Jesus most frequently described himself. He uses it eighty times in the four Gospels. No one else calls him by this name except St. Stephen at his martyrdom, where he saw “the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” The Jews understood that Stephen meant Christ and stoned him for blasphemy. It was probably used by Jesus to emphasize his true humanity. In Hebrew and Aramaic, it simply means a man, but there was also a veiled hint at a Messianic meaning when it was used by Daniel (7:13).

must suffer many things: He now tells his Apostles and disciples that sufferings and death await him, that the High Priests and leaders of the people will condemn him to death, but that he will be raised from the dead on the third day. This was the first of the many such prophecies of his execution and Resurrection. They did not believe that this was possible and so they promptly forgot these predictions.

if any man…after me: He now tells them that they too, and anybody else, who would be his disciple must be prepared to suffer daily—to take up his cross and follow him.

save his life will lose it: The man who will avoid sufferings and martyrdom, which was the fate of many Christians in the early Church (and indeed in many places still), by denying his faith in Christ, will escape earthly death because he denied Christ. On the other hand the martyr will lose or rather shorten his spell of life on this earth, but because he does so for Christ, he will earn eternal life.

APPLICATION: The lesson intended for us in this passage of Luke’s Gospel is most likely in the last few lines. A true follower of Christ if he values eternal life must be ready to carry his cross and, if necessary, must be ready to be nailed to it, as Christ was. We are Christians because we sincerely want to have the everlasting life he came on earth to give us. He went through the excruciating death by crucifixion, the most painful and the most humiliating form of execution then known. He did so in order to enable us to merit heaven. He was the Son of God. He had no sins or faults of any kind to atone for. His sufferings were all willingly undertaken for our sakes.

It is hardly surprising, therefore, that we should be expected to imitate him for our own sakes and in so far as God will demand it of us, by carrying our daily crosses. Down through the nineteen-and-a-half centuries of the Church’s history, there have been heroic examples of men and women who have undergone torture and martyrdom rather than deny Christ or risk their eternal life. We respect them and we honor them. Most of us may feel we would be unable to face such a test of our faith. But God will see to that. When he sends a heavy cross, he strengthens the shoulder that has to bear it.

What the vast majority of us are called on and expected to do, is to bear our own relatively little daily crosses cheerfully and gladly—keeping God’s commandments when temptations to break them are strong around us. Bearing patiently with one’s state in life when others seem to have the best of everything, putting up with a nagging wife or husband, often is a slow and private martyrdom. Forgiving those who injure us and not seeking revenge is a heavy cross, too. Bearing ill-health patiently, instead of perpetually grumbling against God and against those around us, is another form of Christian martyrdom.

These are but a sample of the many crosses that all men have to bear. Those unfortunate ones who have never heard of God or of a future life, or who refuse to believe in anything beyond the grave, have the same crosses to bear as we have. We have the marvellous help of our faith. We know that there is an eternal life awaiting us, if we live our Christian life as Christ told us to live it. This surely lightens our crosses, whereas the atheist has nothing to lighten his load of sorrow, no future to look forward to, and the present life is a misery until the grave puts an end to it.

Thank you, God, for the gift of faith. Thank you, Christ, for having made eternal life available to me, and for showing me how to reach it. Please give me the grace and the strength to show myself worthy of my heavenly calling by carrying cheerfully every day the crosses you wish to send me.-c244

FIRST READING: 2 Samuel 12:7-10, 13. Nathan said to David, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘I anointed you king of Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul; and I gave you your master’s house, and your master’s wives into your bosom, and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah, and if this were too little, I would add to you as much more. Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight? You have smitten Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife, and have slain him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’” David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin, you shall not die.”

EXPLANATION: David, chosen by God to be the second King of Israel and his representative in charge of the Chosen People, had offended God seriously. He had committed adultery with Bathsheba, wife of Uriah, a soldier who was then absent doing battle for Israel and the King. By recalling Uriah David tried to cover up his adultery, but he failed. He then ordered the officer in charge to put Uriah in a part of the battle line where death was a certain fate. Uriah was killed by the enemy, but indirectly murdered by David. David then took Bathsheba as his wife.

Nathan said to David: Nathan, a prophet, came to David and spoke fearlessly to him in God’s name. Through Nathan, God mentioned the many favors he had conferred on David, for which David had thanked him in this way.

despised…Lord…evil in his sight: He had forgotten God, his laws, and his goodness. He had followed his own evil passions. Note how every sin against a neighbor is also, and more so, a sin against God.

the sword…never depart…house: David will be punished in this life for the death of Uriah. There will be fratricide in his own family and incest too, because

you have despised me: Through adultery and murder he has seriously insulted God.

I have sinned against the Lord: David, king though he was and supreme lord over Israel, recognized that God was his Lord and Master. He openly confessed that he had offended him. Weak in his morals, his faith was strong and his humility exemplary.

the Lord…sin: Nathan then states that (because of his humble repentance) God had pardoned his sin and he would not demand a life for a life. David’s life would be spared.

APPLICATION: This incident in the life of King David, who lived three thousand years ago, has been preserved in the Sacred Scripture because it contains a lesson for all men. It shows us the weakness of human nature, even in one so exalted as the king whom God had placed over his people. At the same time it shows the infinite mercy of God when he is dealing with a repentant sinner.

David had sinned grievously in his adultery with Bathsheba. How often does it not happen that one sin leads to another, and even to a worse or greater sin? In trying to cover up his adultery, David had the husband whom he had offended, murdered. This magnified his guilt a hundredfold. In the eyes of men his adultery might have gone unnoticed. The death of Uriah, in battle, could have been laid at nobody’s door. But God, who sees even the secrets of our hearts, was not deceived, and he did not delay in telling David so.

Adultery and murder are serious sins against the neighbor. They are expressly forbidden by God in his commandments. David did injury, and serious injury, not only to Uriah but to God also. He knew this, for he knew the commandments and knew he was bound to observe them. However, he had the good grace to admit his sins when challenged by God’s representative, the prophet Nathan. He made no excuses and no attempt, on this occasion, to cover up his faults. He knew it was God who was speaking through Nathan. He could, perhaps, have claimed some exemption from the commandments because he was king, the highest power in the land. Lesser men have done so down through our history. David, however, was a man of strong faith. He realized full well that the word of the Lord, the commandments of God, bound both king and people.

Because he humbly admitted his sins (”I have sinned against God’) he had thrown himself on God’s mercy—and God’s mercy did not fail. God forgave him. He remained loyal to God and his commandments for the rest of his life. He suffered many heartbreaks from the members of his own family. These were, as Nathan told him, punishment for the serious sins of his life. He bore them with great patience to the end of his days.

There are few amongst us who can, in all honesty, point the finger of shame at David. We may not, thank God, have committed such serious sins as he did on that occasion. We have, however, offended God in lesser ways, through lesser injuries to our neighbor. But have we always had the humility and the honesty of David to admit our guilt as sincerely as David did?

If we are sincerely repentant in our confessions, we have the word of God assuring us that we are forgiven, just as definitely as David was. The priest’s words of absolution, “I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,” are a repetition of, and as effective as, the words of Nathan to David: “God for his part forgives your sin.” Thus, the infinite mercy of God is there for us sinners too, as it was for David, if we turn to him with a truly contrite heart.

We are all weak. We are all capable of offending God, and thus of losing eternal life. But our God is a merciful father, who is ever ready to forgive the repentant sinner and to welcome the prodigal son home.

SECOND READING: Galatians 2:16, 19-21. We ourselves, who are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners, yet who know that a man is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ, and not by works of the law, because by works of the law shall no one be justified. For I through the law died to the law, that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification were through the law, then Christ died to no purpose.

EXPLANATION: Paul is speaking here to Peter who had come to Antioch (Syria) and had given some scandal to the Gentile Christians. It was wrong for a Jew to enter or to eat in the house of a Gentile. Peter, knowing that the Christian law had abolished all such customs, had been having meals in Gentile-Christian homes in Antioch, until some Judaizers came up from Jerusalem. He then stopped doing so, and Paul openly told him how wrong he was, as there was no distinction in the Christian religion between Jew and Gentile—all were equally brothers of Christ and in Christ.

a man is not justified by…of the law: Both Peter and Paul have learned, through the teaching of the Christian faith, that the keeping of the Mosaic Law did not bring men to heaven but

faith in Jesus Christ: The Mosaic Law, the whole Old Testament, was but a preparation for the Incarnation, which alone was able to make men adopted sons of God and heirs to heaven. That was true justification. This Christian teaching is for all men, Jew and Gentile. All are made sons of God (justified). There is no further need or usefulness in the Mosaic observances.

we have believed in Christ: Paul reminds Peter that both of them, Jews by birth and by religious practice for years, had accepted Christ and his teaching and therefore had no further use for the old law.

through the law I died to the law: Every Christian, in and by his baptism, is crucified with Christ, dies with him, and rises again with him. (Baptism by immersion brought out this in a symbolic way.) It was the Pharisaical interpretation of the law that caused the crucifixion of Christ and his death, and so likewise the crucifixion and death of all Christians. Therefore, the law itself has compelled all Christians to die to the law, to be finished with it, for they have now the new, the true law which justifies them, makes them heirs of heaven.

I live…God: Giving up the old law and its observances sets Paul and all Christians free to live a truly spiritual life for God. They are now adopted sons of God.

Christ who lives in me: Since in baptism he has died and risen with Christ, his life is no longer his own. It is no longer a merely human life. He has been raised to a new status, that of sonship of God. It is a status which Christ won for him, and which the presence or indwelling of Christ continually preserves and sustains in him.

I who live…life: Becoming a follower of Christ did not change Paul’s human nature externally in any way. He is changed, however, internally. His outlook on this life and the next is different. It is a life of

faith in the Son of God: His whole trust is now in Christ and he is firmly convinced of the change involved in becoming a member of Christ’s body. He is now raised up to a new status, that of an adopted son of God, brother of Christ and heir to heaven.

gave himself for me: Christ, whom he calls and knows to be the Son of God, loved him (and all men) and sacrificed his human life for him on the cross.

I do…grace of God: The Christian faith, which changes man’s status and guarantees immortality, is a pure gift of God. He could have left us to our natural fate, but he willed otherwise. The old law did not, or could not, do this for us, so why should a Christian go back to the old law?

Christ died to no purpose!: Christ died to earn for us sonship of God and an eternal heritage. If the Law could do that, why should he have died?

APPLICATION: St. Paul, once a fanatical defender of the old law, the Jewish religion, never misses an opportunity to stress the superiority of the New Law, the Christian faith. It is good for us, too, that the Church often recalls to our minds during the year the privilege and good fortune we have as Christians. The Jews had a knowledge of the true God. They knew that he was the Creator and Lord of all that existed. They knew that he had a plan for mankind which in “the fullness of time” would be put into effect, when the Messiah came. Their religion was a religion of preparation for the coming of the Messiah. Therefore, once he had come, their religion’s reason for existing would end.

This was Paul’s oft-repeated answer to the Judaizers. Christians have no need for circumcision or other practices of the Mosaic Law. Through Christ’s Incarnation, Death and Resurrection they have become his brothers. The human race has been raised to the dignity of adopted sons of God. When their life on this earth ends, they will rise like Christ from the dead to begin their immortal, eternal life.

We need to be reminded of this often. This earth is not our home. We are travelers on our way to our real home. We may, and we do, meet with snags and hindrances on our way; but any traveler must expect and accept this. The eternal happiness that awaits us in our real home is worth any and every difficulty that we meet on this earth.

This is St. Paul’s and the Church’s message to us today. Christ has earned heaven for us. He represented us in his human life here on earth, and in our name he gave perfect obedience to the Father. That obedience entailed death on the cross, to be followed by his being raised by the Father from the grave. Now, as our brother and Mediator, he sits at the right hand of the Father in heaven. Our resurrection is thus assured. He was “the first-fruits of all who have died” (1 Cor. 15:20); so we will be the full harvest which will follow in due course.

He has opened the gates of heaven for us. He has earned an eternal life for us. He has given us all the help and all the aid we need on our journey to that eternal life. Any Christian who fails to reach his true home can have only himself to blame. God has done his part, and Christ not only did his part and suffered so much for us, but he is with us every day and every moment, encouraging us to persevere in doing good and avoiding evil. This morning’s reminder of our real destiny is his doing and is an example of his interest in our eternal welfare. Could we be so foolish as to turn a deaf car to his reminder? Could we go back to our careless, cold, or worse still, our positively sinful way of living, which was perhaps our so called Christian life? Could we ignore the fact that our whole eternal future depends on how we spend, and live, the few short years that still remain to us in this earthly world? God grant that no one here present could be so foolish, so oblivious of his own true welfare.

GOSPEL: Luke 7:36-50. One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house, and sat at table. And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was sitting at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “What is it, Teacher?” “A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he forgave them both. Now which of them will love him more?” Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, to whom he forgave more.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house, you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.” And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you, go in peace.”

EXPLANATION: St. Luke’s story of the penitent sinner, forgiven by Christ, is but one of many such incidents which occurred but are not narrated in the Gospels. He was accused by his enemies of associating with sinners and tax-gatherers. He did not deny the accusation; “it was the sick who needed the doctor, not those who were well.” he said.

One of the…asked him to eat: The Pharisees, Jews who strictly observed the Mosaic Law to the letter and thought all other Jews who did not do likewise were sinners and were thus to be avoided, became hostile to Jesus almost from the beginning of his public life. This invitation to dine must have occurred very early in our Lord’s public life, for there is no sign of hostility on the part of the Pharisee. That he omitted some of the formalities which etiquette demanded when receiving a guest need not have been intentional.

and sat at table: It was the common custom of that time to recline on a couch while eating. Reclining on the left side, the right hand was free to do all that was necessary. Knives and forks were not then in use.

woman…was a sinner: Luke out of delicacy does not mention her name. There is no reason to identify her with Mary Magdalene or much less with Mary, sister of Martha and Lazarus. Evidently, she lived a life of loose morals, and this fact was well-known in the town.

alabaster…ointment: Having heard that Christ was dining with the Pharisee, and evidently having heard of his compassion and forgiveness for sinners, she dared the wrath of the Pharisee and entered his house. All she wanted was to show her respect for the merciful Christ. This she did by washing his feet with her tears and drying them with her hair. She then anointed them with precious perfumed oil.

If this man were a prophet: The Pharisee knew that Christ was claiming to be not a prophet but the prophet promised in Dt. 18:18. But how could he be, if he did not know this woman was a public sinner, and therefore ought to be strictly avoided according to the code of the Pharisees.

Simon, I have something…you: He shows this Pharisee that he is more than a prophet. He has read the thoughts which the Pharisee had not openly expressed.

what…Teacher: Simon respectfully calls him Rabbi, Teacher, and he is willing to listen. There is no reason to suspect him of sarcasm.

creditor…debtors: Christ now proposes a parable and Simon gives the correct answer to the question raised. He to whom more was forgiven would be the more grateful.

he said to him: He compares the actions of this woman (the public sinner) with those of Simon, who had failed in his duties as host.

…for she loved much…: According to the parable, the great love and gratitude is the result, not the cause, of the forgiveness. This is the case here, as the Greek construction proves. Christ had already forgiven her sins. It was to show her gratitude and her love for the merciful Master that she came to the house and performed these actions to proclaim her gratitude publicly.

he who is forgiven little: This woman was closer to God than the Pharisee. Her thankfulness and love for Christ were far greater than those of Simon, who had only small sins forgiven or to be forgiven.

Your sins are forgiven: Christ now publicly declares to her, and especially to Simon and the other guests, that her sins are forgiven, and he adds

your faith has saved you: Christ had been preaching the message of mercy in that town and district. This woman had heard of the message and the future that awaited those who received it. She felt remorse for her past life of sin and she asked for his forgiveness. This she received. She believed that Christ was what he claimed to be, the promised Messiah. He now tells her to go in peace, in peace with God and with her own conscience.

who even forgives sins: Christ’s public declaration to the woman, that her sins had been forgiven, had a result which he must have intended. Simon and the other guests naturally began to wonder who this man was. Only God can forgive sins, yet this man tells the sinner that her sins are forgiven. Is he claiming to be God? He was, and it was not just a claim, but a fact.

APPLICATION: While the mercy of God for sinners and the willingness, even eagerness, with which he welcomes back the sinner is the principal teaching in this Gospel story, most if not all of us can be cheered by that teaching. But there are two other lessons in it for us. The first lesson is that the pardoned sinner should show gratitude to God. One of the greatest proofs of gratitude is the firm resolution to avoid offending our good God anymore. Do we really mean it when we solemnly promise in our act of contrition in confession “never more to offend you and to amend my life”? There is great danger that we may make this promise out of habit of routine, without seriously intending or meaning what we say. Non-Catholics often accuse us of hypocrisy in this. “You Catholics can sin and just tell it in confession, be forgiven, and go back and sin again.” This is not so. The priest’s power to forgive sin, given by Christ himself, has effect only on a repentant sinner. If a person goes to confession with serious sins and has no intention of avoiding those sins and the occasions which cause them, he is not only not forgiven, but is adding a further sin to his conscience by abusing and insulting God in that great gift of his mercy, the Sacrament of Penance. Such cases are rare, thank God. We are repentant and we mean to avoid such sins in future. However, the fact that one may fall again is always possible. This does not prove the previous confession to be invalid. But the penitent’s attempts to avoid the occasions will be proof of one’s sincere repentance. It will also be a sign of his gratitude to the merciful God who forgave him his sins.

The second reading is for those amongst us who succeed, thanks to God’s grace, in avoiding serious sins: it is that we must avoid the sin of the Pharisees. They were, on the whole, devout men and did many a good deed. But they gave all the credit, not to God, but to themselves. They grew proud of their good works and despised all others who did not do as they did. The good Christian must avoid any such temptation. He must never say, as the Pharisee did, “thank God I am not like the rest of men, tax-gatherers and sinners,” but rather say what the saints said when they saw or heard of some great sinner: “there would be St. Francis only for the grace of God “.

Yes, the avoidance of serious sin is something which we must thank God for. We should never praise ourselves because of this, and never, never should we despise the neighbor who is not so fortunate. Instead, we must help that neighbor by every means in our power to return to God’s friendship through sincere repentance. This will prove our love for God and neighbor, and our sincere appreciation of the great graces given us by our merciful Lord to keep us free from grave sins.-c237

FIRST READING: Genesis 14:18-20. Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine; he was priest of God Most High. And he blessed Abram and said, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, maker of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hands!” And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

EXPLANATION: This incident in the life of Abraham has been chosen for our first reading on this, the Feast of Corpus Christi, because of the reference to the offering of bread and wine. Abraham was returning victoriously from a battle against four invading kings from the east who had raided eastern Canaan and taken off much booty. He met Melchizedek, the King and Chief Priest of Salem, a pagan city at that time (it was later called Jerusalem, and became the capital of Israel), who came out to meet and congratulate him.

brought out bread and wine: That there was some sacrificial significance intended by this action—it was not just an ordinary meal offered to Abraham and his troops—seems clear from what follows.

for he was a priest of the Most High God: Melchizedek could have formed an alliance with Abraham, and the bread and wine, part of a sacrifice, sealed the alliance (see Ex. 24:11).

Most High God: This does not mean Yahweh, the true God, the God of Abraham. This title, the “most high” (Elyon), was applied by the Canaanites to their various gods. The Israelites later used these titles for Yahweh, who alone was the Most High.

He blessed Abram: As a priest he asked his God to bless this stranger with whom he had now formed an alliance.

maker of heaven and earth: This title belongs to the true God of Abraham only, and the author of these verses implies that Melchizedek is referring to the God of Abraham here, as Abraham himself does in verse 22: “I salute the Lord God Most High, maker of heaven and earth.” Abraham would hardly reverence a pagan god.

who…delivered your enemies…your hand: Melchizedek would hardly suggest that his local god had helped a stranger win a battle some hundred or so miles outside of Jerusalem. The pagan gods had very local jurisdiction and power.

APPLICATION: Because Psalm 110 saw in Melchizedek a figure or type of the future Messiah: “You are a priest of the order of Melchizedek and forever” and “royal dignity was yours from the day you were born” (Ps. 110:4; 3), the New Testament (Hebrews 7), and the Fathers read a messianic meaning into this meeting of Abraham with Melchizedek. Clement of Alexandria saw in the bread and wine offered by Melchizedek a figure of the Eucharist. He was followed by others and eventually this offering by Melchizedek found a place in the Canon of the Mass.

That Melchizedek was a king and a priest, and that he offered bread in some form of sacrifice, makes him worthy of mention in the Canon and in today’s feast day. Christ was King and Priest and he offered himself, and continues to offer himself daily, as a true sacrifice to God the Father on our behalf, under the form of bread and wine in the blessed Eucharist—the holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

That Christ who was the Son of God in human nature could do this we cannot doubt. He who, during the years of his life on earth hid his divinity, “emptied himself of it,” as St. Paul says, can hide his divinity and humanity under the form of food, bread and wine, is less surprising and certainly not impossible for one who is God. The fact that he did so is clearly established. In St. John’s Gospel, we are told of his promise to do so (Jn. 6). In the Synoptics and in St. Paul, the occasion (the Last Supper) and the words he used, as well as his command to his disciples to continue doing this, are given us. The Acts of the Apostles and the practice of the Church from its very beginning show that the Apostles understood what he had done, and what they were commanded to do. He did what he commanded them. The mystery of the Blessed Eucharist, that is, that Christ is present, for our spiritual nourishment, in the bread and wine after the consecration in the Mass, is not whether it could be done, but rather why the infinite love and thoughtfulness of the Son of God for us led him to do so.

But though our small minds cannot understand divine love, they can do something to show their gratitude for this proof of God’s love. Christ wished to remain with his Church until the last human being leaves this earth. He wished to remain under a form which would help us on our way. To live his earthly life man needs food. He also needs spiritual food which Christ has provided in the Eucharist.

Not only is Christ in his divinity and humanity present in us every time we receive the Blessed Eucharist, but he deigns to remain under the sacramental species in our churches to welcome us and to encourage us in our daily struggles, when we call to visit him. Surely, if the Chosen People of the Old Testament could exclaim: “What great nation has its gods so close to it, as the Lord our God is to us” (Dt. 4:7), with how much more conviction and certitude can we not say this? He comes personally to each one of us when we receive him in Holy Communion. He remains personally in all our churches throughout the world in order to help us on the road to heaven.

Today, the feast day of Corpus Christi, Christ in the Blessed Eucharist reminds us again of all that God has done and is still doing for us. What am I doing for him in return? I could visit him more often as a sign of my appreciation. I could receive him more often with greater love and fervor. I know I am not worthy of this supreme honor, but if he says the word, “I shall be healed.” I shall be made worthy.

SECOND READING: 1 Corinthians 11:23-26. I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the New Covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

EXPLANATION: St. Paul had preached the doctrine of the Blessed Eucharist to his Corinthian converts. The custom of the early Church was to imitate the Last Supper, during which our Lord had his last meal with his disciples, and then instituted the Eucharist. The Christians used to have a community meal (the Agape, meal of love and unity) after which they received the Holy Eucharist. Some abuses concerning the community meal cropped up in Corinth—lack of true charity among the congregation; the rich had abundance they did not share with the poor, some went so far as to drink too much wine at the community meal and made themselves unworthy of receiving the Lord. Paul corrects these abuses in this letter and then goes on to emphasize once more what the Eucharist really is.

I received from the Lord: This can but does not necessarily mean that the doctrine of the Blessed Eucharist was directly revealed to him by Christ. He was taught the Christian doctrine in Damascus and later in Jerusalem, but whichever way he received it, he had the true doctrine. Of this he had no doubt.

What I…to you: What he had learned, he had taught to his converts.

on the night…he was betrayed: Holy Thursday night, on which he had his last meal with his disciples—when Judas went out to betray him to his enemies.

took bread…broke it…said: The bread used on the feast of Passover was unleavened bread. “He gave thanks,” the Jewish custom before every meal, and then divided the bread to have a portion for each.

This is my body: By his divine power the bread became in a mysterious way his body, himself.

which is for you: Which is to be offered up (on the cross next day) for all men.

do this in remembrance of me: A command and a commission. He is hereby giving them (and their successors) the power to do what he was doing, the power to change the bread into his body, into himself.

In the same way…the cup: He then took the chalice or cup of wine “saying”

this cup is the New Covenant: The Old Covenant (and all covenants in ancient times) was sealed and ratified by the offering of a sacrifice, and the sprinkling of the blood of the sacrifice on the object of the pact and on the contracting parties (see Ex. 24:8 on the similar procedure in the making of the Old Covenant between God and the Israelites).

in my blood: Moses used the blood of the sacrifices offered to ratify the Old Covenant. Christ’s blood is the seat and ratification of the New Covenant between God and the Chosen People, Christ’s followers. The blood represented the life of man or animal.

in remembrance of me: As the Passover supper was a solemn reminder to the Israelites of their deliverance from Egypt, so the new Passover, the Blessed Eucharist, is a solemn reminder to Christians of their liberation through the death of Christ.

as often as…bread…cup: This Eucharistic celebration was to be repeated later by Christians. It was, and Christ intended it to be, a recalling to mind, a reenactment, of his death on the Cross, the culmination of the perfect obedience of the Incarnate Son of God. It earned for us the privilege of divine adoption.

until he comes: This reenactment of the death (and Resurrection) of Christ is to be continued until Christ returns on the last day. It is to be the central act of worship (the sacrifice of Christ for us) of the Church until the end of time.

APPLICATION: These words of St. Paul to the Corinthians, written in 57 A.D., can leave no doubt in our minds as to the belief of the great Apostle and that of his converts in the reality of the gift of himself which Our Lord gave to us in that central sacrament of our Christian faith, the Blessed Eucharist, or the Body of Christ, as today’s feast calls it. The meeting for “the breaking of bread,” that is, the celebration of the Eucharist, was the chief act of divine worship performed by the Christians. It was also the bond of love which kept them united from the very first days of the Church.

They knew that in the consecration of the bread and wine, the Mass as it was later called, they were repeating, in an unbloody but real manner, the salvific action of Christ in his death and Resurrection. He returned to heaven in his glorified humanity to take his place as the God-man at the right hand of the Father. But in his love for us, he found a way in which he could still remain with us, and re-offer the sacrifice of the Cross through us and for us.

As an essential part in all the sacrifices of the Old Testament (and in pagan religions too) the priests and the laity offering the sacrifice ate part of the sacrifice offered. It was a sign of their union with God and with one another. Thus Christ gave us the re-offering of himself, “his body and blood,” under the form of food and drink so that we could partake of it and thus become united to God and to one another.

The Mass and the receiving of Holy Communion are the full participation in the re-enactment of Calvary. By offering the Mass we are giving infinite honor and satisfaction to God, and by receiving part of what is sacrificed we become intimately united with God and with one another—we are members of the one divine family, partaking of the same divine meal. This community participation in the Eucharistic sacrifice was stressed and practiced very much in the early Church and down through the first centuries. This is being stressed again in recent years, and so it ought to be. We give honor to God by being present and participating in the Mass, in the offering of Christ’s sacrifice to the Father. But we participate fully and receive the full benefits of this sacrificial act only when we partake of the sacrifice with our fellow-worshipers by receiving Christ in Holy Communion.

There are many, of course, who feel they are not worthy. They are not worthy if they are conscious of serious sins which are unforgiven. But the means of forgiveness, left to us by Christ in another sacrament, are so easily available that to neglect to make use of these means shows a lack of interest, not only in our own salvation, but in the good God who is offering himself to us as our spiritual food on the road to heaven. For those not conscious of any serious offense, an act of love of God will cleanse them of any minor faults or failings. Then the Good Lord will make them worthy. He is willing and anxious to enter their humble and lowly homes.

The ideal to be aimed at is that everyone present at the Mass should also gather around the communion table and take part in the community, sacrificial meal. This will then strengthen the bonds of love that unite them with God and with one another.

GOSPEL: Luke 9:11-17. Jesus spoke to the crowds of the kingdom of God, and cured those who had need of healing. Now the day began to wear away; and the twelve came and said to him, “Send the crowd away, to go into the villages and country round about, to lodge and get provisions; for we are here in a lonely place.” But he said to them, “You give them something to eat.” They said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish—unless we are to go and buy food for all these people.” For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, “Make them sit down in companies, about fifty each.” And they did so, and made them all sit down. And taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. And all ate and were satisfied. And they took up what was left over, twelve baskets of broken pieces.

EXPLANATION: Jesus had been preaching for some months in the district around the Lake of Gennesaret. His fame had spread all over these regions because of the many miracles he was performing. Wherever he appeared huge crowds gathered to hear him, but especially to obtain favors. In the incident we have just read, the crowds remained all day listening to him speak of the kingdom of God—”and he healed all who were in need of healing.” As night was approaching, the Apostles suggested to him that he should tell the crowd to go away for the night, and to seek food in the neighboring villages. They were evidently in some uninhabited region without shelter or food.

you give them something to eat…: Jesus must have known that the Apostles had not nearly enough supplies to feed such a large number (five thousand men alone), nor could they go and purchase so much food. His purpose, therefore, in asking them must have been to prepare their minds to see the miracle, for it was humanly impossible to provide food there for such a multitude.

no more…five loaves and two fish: Scarcely enough for an evening meal for themselves.

unless…go and buy: Their question expects a negative answer. They had not enough money to buy so much food, nor could they carry it back.

sit down…fifty each: To help the distribution of food, and to estimate the number, and therefore the magnitude, of the miracle.

he looked up…to heaven…the crowd: Our Lord took the loaves and fish, and giving thanks to God he blessed the loaves, broke them and gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people. St. Luke mentions the prayer of thanksgiving to God, the blessing, the breaking, and the distributing of the loaves (and fish) using the identical formula followed by Christ at the institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper. It is noteworthy that this is the only miracle given in all four Gospels and that each of the four Evangelists connects the miracle with the announcement of his Passion by our Lord (see Luke 9:22). There is more than a hint in this of the sacrificial character of the Eucharist.

all ate…left over…twelve baskets: Five thousand hungry men, not to mention the women, ate of the multiplied loaves and fish, and twelve baskets-full of the fragments left over were collected. There can be no doubt as to the authenticity and the magnitude of such a miracle. It was a miracle performed out of sheer divine generosity—these people could have gone home or could have found food on their way. St. John, who does not mention the institution of the Eucharist, connects Christ’s promise of the Eucharist (himself, namely, “the true bread of life who has come down from heaven”) with this multiplication of the loaves (see Jn. 6:1-15, 27-35).

APPLICATION: It should not surprise us that Jesus, who miraculously fed over five thousand people out of sheer generosity, to prevent them feeling any pangs of hunger on their return journey home, could and would find a miraculous way to feed his faithful followers on their way to heaven. Many, if not most, of that five thousand had little or no interest in his teaching (he said so the next day; see Jn. 6:26), but were ready to take all the earthly benefits he would give them. Yet he wanted to prevent them from suffering any undue hardship.

We, his followers, have learned and appreciated his teaching and the supernatural future life which he has earned for us and promised us. We are trying to live Christian lives according to the rules he gave us. We are struggling along towards heaven, each in his own way, fervent at times, careless or cold often, perhaps but still most anxious not to miss the glorious future he has prepared for us. With this proof of his kindness and generosity in helping this more or less indifferent multitude in the matter of earthly food, it is much easier for us to see him provide generously for the spiritual nourishment of his followers on their journey to their true and lasting home.

That he did so we have the certainty of the centuries-long tradition of generations of Christians, based on his own words recorded in the inspired writings. Christ has arranged to remain with us under the form of food for our spiritual sustenance in the sacred sacrifice of the Mass, in which we can partake of his sacred Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity. This is, we can receive the Incarnate Son of God in the Sacrament of Holy Communion.

How he could do that is only a small mystery for our finite minds. He was God as well as man. But why he should do this for us unworthy creatures is the greater mystery by far. Infinite love, which we finite beings cannot even begin to understand, is the answer and the explanation. Instead, then, of wasting any time on trying to solve this mystery, which we know to be a fact, let us try to thank him for it and use this gift of his love as often as possible. This will be the greatest proof that we appreciate this divine gift. We know that we are not worthy to receive our divine Lord “under our roof.” Perhaps, we are even more unworthy than the pagan Centurion who was first to use these words. But we also know that Jesus can and will make us worthy if we ask him in all sincerity: “to say but the word” and we shall be healed.

“It is not the healthy who need the doctor but the sick,” Christ said when accused of being too friendly with sinners (Mt. 9:12). We Christians are more often spiritually sick and dead than healthy. However, we have our doctor and he cares for us. It is only by following his advice, and by using the spiritual medical nourishment he prescribes for us, that we can overcome our illnesses and weaknesses and keep on the straight and narrow road to heaven.-c223

FIRST READING Proverbs 8:22-31. Thus speaks the Wisdom of God. The Lord created me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old. Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth. When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with water. Before the mountains had been shaped, before the hills, I was brought forth; before he had made the earth with its fields, or the first of the dust of the world. When he established the heavens, I was there, when he drew a circle on the face of the deep, when he made firm the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep, when he assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was beside him, like a master workman; and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always, rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the sons of men.

EXPLANATION: The Book of Proverbs, one of the sapiential books of the Old Testament, is a collection of wise saying and counsels. Its range covers human as well as divine wisdom, and though intended primarily for the young and inexperienced, it can also help those in a more advanced state of education to wisdom. The section read to us today is a eulogy of Wisdom personified, which existed as distinct from God before creation. It is a foreshadowing of what was fully revealed later, when Wisdom in the Person of Jesus Christ became incarnate.

The Lord created me: Wisdom is speaking as a person and says he was begotten of God (the Father, as later revelation made clear).

beginning . . . his work: Preceded all other works or products of God, both in time and in excellence. St. Paul (Col. 1:15) understands these words as said of Christ.

first . . . old: The Hebrew word “olam” means an indefinite period of time. They had no word for eternity, which is what “olam” stands for here.

before . . . the earth: This and the following three verses express in a poetic fashion the fact that personified Wisdom existed before any part of the universe was created.

When he established . . . I was there: He (Wisdom as a person) was present when God brought the world into being, and not only present but

beside him . . . workman: He cooperated with God intelligently in the work of creation: He was the architect, the designer (see Wis. 7:21).

his delight . . . rejoicing before him: Wisdom is God’s child, playing in his presence, a source of delight for his Father. St. John expresses this same idea: “the only Son ever at the Father’s side” (1:18).

in . . . world: He delights in all created things, but especially

delighting in the sons of men: Man is the masterpiece of creation and would therefore be the source of greatest pleasure to the Architect, but there is also here perhaps a hint at least of the Son’s part in man’s salvation—the reason why man was the masterpiece in God’s creative act.

APPLICATION: The fact that there are three Persons in the one God has been clearly revealed by Christ himself. He spoke of being equal to the Father yet a distinct Person from the Father; then he spoke of the Holy Spirit as a Person with distinct actions of his own, whom he and the Father would send on earth to complete the work of man’s salvation. The Church accepted this fact and this doctrine without hesitation from its very beginning, as it was given to it on Christ’s undoubted and undoubtable authority.

This doctrine was not revealed to the Jews of the Old Testament, and for a very good reason. They were surrounded by pagan nations who had many gods, and anything that even remotely looked like polytheism was anathema to their strict monotheism. But there were many hints at the possibility of more than one Person in their God—one of which we have just read in Proverbs today—but the Jews did not see the hints, for their minds were closed against any such idea.

What is remarkable is the ease with which the Jewish converts of the early Church, and they were numbered in thousands, accepted this doctrine once they accepted the divinity of Christ. The one followed of necessity from the other. The Gentiles accepted it too without question, not because their former paganism allowed many gods, for Christianity had but one God (in whom there were three persons), but because the authority from whom this truth came was none other than Christ who was one of the divine Persons of the Triune God.

The doctrine of the Trinity is the basic mystery of our religion. We too accept it, not because we can understand it but because we have it from Christ. Granted that we cannot understand how the one divine nature has three distinct persons in it, we can use our reason and see that, because our intelligence is so finite and limited, to comprehend or to understand the inner nature and qualities of the infinite is something entirely beyond us. In fact, if we could understand God and grasp his nature, fully, then he would not be God but something finite and limited like ourselves.

Today, let us humbly adore the Blessed Trinity and let us thank the three divine Persons for all the knowledge concerning themselves which they have revealed to us. We know enough about the goodness and the love of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit for us to make us want and wish to spend eternity thanking them. We know enough about the plans they have made for us, so that we can share in their eternal happiness. We know more than enough to make any sensible human being do all in his power to cooperate with them in the work of his own salvation.

We were baptized in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. If we strive to live lives faithful to our baptismal vows, we can be sure that the same Father, Son and Holy Spirit will receive us into the eternal mansions when we depart from this world.

SECOND READING: Romans 5:1-5. Since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

EXPLANATION: These five verses of St. Paul’s letter to the Romans bring out very clearly the doctrine of the Blessed Trinity. Each of the three divine Persons has a part in our justification. We are at peace with God the Father through the death and resurrection of the Son, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit continually lives in us, keeping the love of God alive and active in our hearts.

justified by faith: Through their belief in Christ who had become man in order to make them sons of God, all Christians are on the way to their justification, that is, to the eternal happiness with God for which they have been created.

peace with God: Friends, nay, sons of God, because of Jesus Christ our Lord, that is, because Christ who is God (our Lord) through his Incarnation, his gospel, his death and resurrection, has made us his brothers and, therefore, God’s sons.

the grace in which we . . . stand: The friendship, the new relationship with God which we now have, we owe to the Christian faith.

hope . . . the glory of God: We shall partake in God’s glory in heaven if we follow this faith and live up to its teaching.

rejoice . . . sufferings: To St. Paul, and to every true Christian, to suffer for and with Christ was a privilege to be welcomed and boasted of.

endurance produces: Paul goes on to show how sufferings help to build up the true Christian virtues and form a solid basis for Christian hope.

hope . . . does not disappoint: This Christian hope—the firm assurance that we shall one day share in God’s heavenly glory—will not prove false because

the Holy Spirit has been given us: At his baptism the Christian receives the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Blessed Trinity, who continues to dwell within him, strengthening in him daily the gifts of faith, hope and charity. Love of God is the most important part of charity, and where the love of God is strong and active, hope in the future reward is assured. Paul tells us the Holy Spirit, fruit of divine love, is filling our hearts daily with this love of God.

APPLICATION: That there are three Persons in the one God, each one infinite in power, in glory, in wisdom, is a fact we accept because the Triune God has revealed it to us. No intelligent Christian, or, for that matter, no intelligent human being, who hears of this mystery, can even think of questioning this truth once he admits its existence has been revealed by God “who cannot deceive or be deceived.” The human mind, let it be that of the greatest genius the world has ever produced, is finite and limited; it cannot even begin to grasp or study the infinite, much less deny anything the Infinite tells us of itself.

As Christians then we accept without question that there are three Persons in the One God and we bow down in humble adoration before them. But there is another mystery in the Blessed Trinity which can and should cause us wonder and amazement. It is the mystery of this Triune God’s love for us. St. Paul’s words in today’s reading show us the three divine Persons cooperating on our behalf. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit have each a part in the work of enabling us, finite, fragile and fickle creatures, to share in their infinite happiness.

But why? They are infinitely perfect and infinitely happy in themselves; they need nothing from us. Here again is where our small, finite intelligence fails us. We can understand human love and human generosity, which is hardly ever without a tinge of selfish interest, and which at its greatest is but a temporary and very limited quality and quantity. But God’s love for us is infinite. It is completely and entirely without self-interest. It is not a limited gift but the promise of an unending state of happiness, if we do what is asked of us during our few years of probation in this world.

We know the fact that it has been clearly and very definitely revealed to us—God loves us with an infinite love. The three Persons of the Blessed Trinity have proved and are still proving this fact to us. We cannot in this life understand why, but we can and we must show our gratitude for this fact of divine generosity and love.

Today, the feast day of the Blessed Trinity, let us thank, from our hearts, the three divine Persons for all they have done and are continuing to do for us. Let us resolve to make ourselves less unworthy of their divine love, by doing what they ask of us, by living our faith in charity, and by keeping ever before our minds the hope of the eternal reward, so generously offered to us. If we do this, one day soon, we shall meet the three divine Persons, we shall get to know them a little more intimately, and we shall share personally, joyfully and gratefully in their divine, eternal happiness.

GOSPEL: John 16:12-15. Jesus said to his disciples: “I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”

EXPLANATION: During his discourse at the Last Supper, Christ had promised his disciples that he would send them the Holy Spirit—the Paraclete—(see Jn. 14:16-26), to strengthen and console them and recall to their minds the truths he had taught them. In today’s text, he repeats the promise and tells them the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son, and that the truths he will reveal to them will be those which the Father and the Son want revealed.

you cannot bear . . . now: Christ says he has much more to tell them, but their minds were so disturbed at the thought that he was very soon to leave them that they were unable to understand what he would have said. The Apostles, who were not yet convinced that he was God as well as man, thought that death would end not only his life but all their hopes. They were in no state to hear of his resurrection and eternal glorification in his human nature.

When he . . . truth: When the Holy Spirit he had already promised would come.

he will guide you to all truth: Then they will learn the full truth of Christ’s two natures in one Person, and of his mission on earth.

not speak on his own: As Christ’s authority to speak came from the Father (Jn. 12:49), the authority of the Holy Spirit will be from the Son and the Father, who is in Christ the Son (Jn. 14:10). The truths he will announce will be spoken with the authority of the three divine Persons.

declare . . . things to come: He will foretell future events (see Acts 21:11; Rom. 12:6; 1 Cor. 12:10 etc.), but especially the Holy Spirit will explain the events that were to take place within the next three days, events which almost shattered the spirit and the faith of the Apostles.

will glorify me: By continuing the work of Christ and by consolidating it, the Holy Spirit will give glory to the Son Incarnate as he had given glory to the Father (Jn. 13:31 etc.).

will take . . . to you: The truths the Holy Spirit will announce, he will receive from the Son, who in turn had received them from the Father (Mt. 11:27 etc.).

All the Father . . . is mine: All three divine Persons cooperate in the salvation of man. The Son Incarnate established the Church through the power and authority of the Father. The Holy Spirit will continue to uphold and teach the Church through the power and authority of the Father and the Son. The one God, in three divine Persons, is the author of man’s salvation and of all the necessary revelation and other aids which that salvation demands.

APPLICATION: In St. Paul’s letter to the Romans, read at today’s Mass, we have a clear statement of the faith of the infant Church in the doctrine of the Blessed Trinity. In these verses from St. John—a part of the discourse at the Last Supper—we have St. Paul’s and the Church’s source of the truth of that doctrine, Christ himself, who was the second Person of the Blessed Trinity become man for our salvation. As regards this basic dogma of our Faith then, that there are three Persons in the One God, there is no room for doubt, we have it on the authority of Christ who is God. If we cannot understand how this can be, we need not be surprised—our human minds are very limited, they depend on our human senses for their images of things. A man, deaf from birth, has no image in his mind of sound, a man blind from birth has no mental idea of color, but it would be irrational of these to deny the existence of sound and color.

We Christians, however, have no difficulty in admitting the existence of the Blessed Trinity, and today, as we honor the three divine Persons, our central thought should concentrate on gratitude to each of the three: the loving Father who planned not only our creation but our elevation to adopted sonship; the all-obedient loving Son, who carried out the Father’s plan, sharing with us our humanity so that we could share in the divinity; the Holy Spirit, fruit of the love of Father and Son, who has come to dwell in the Church and in each individual member in order to fill our hearts with a true love of God.

We know we are unworthy of this divine generosity. The greatest saints that ever lived on earth were unworthy of such divine interest. That should not and must not stop us from availing of this divine generosity. We can show our gratitude in one way only, that is by appreciating our privilege and by striving to show our appreciation of it in our daily lives.

The Father, Son and Holy Spirit know all our human weaknesses, they knew them before they arranged to make us sharers in their own eternal happiness. They know also that it is those of us who try and try again to rise above our human weaknesses who will finally share their heaven with them.

This possibility is open to all. The Blessed Trinity will exclude nobody from heaven. What we know of their plans for man’s sanctification makes such a thought impossible. If some fail, the fault will lie completely and entirely with themselves; they did not do the little that was asked of them.

May God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit grant us the strength to overcome our human weaknesses and live and die in their love so that we may share their eternal kingdom with them.-c204