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Christ the King

The Thirty Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time
Lk 23: 35-43

Dear Friends,The Angel said to Mary, “You shall name him Jesus. He will be great and called the Son of the Most High and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father….And Mary said, “How can this be?” (Lk 1:31-34)

On this feast of Christ the King we celebrate a “kingdom of truth and life, a kingdom of holiness and grace, a kingdom of justice, love and peace” (Preface of Christ the King). We are asked to gaze again on the Crucified Christ. We are driven to ponder Mary’s words: How can this be?

We have journeyed the year with St. Luke’s Gospel. We have been invited into the mystery where the last shall be first, and the first last. We have heard the strange teaching where we have to lose our life to save it. Even stranger, we were told to “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you…to the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other as well.” (Lk 6:27-29)

As we contemplate the mangled body of our King, so many events of the Gospel journey seem like a long-faded past. The miracle worker and the healer is hidden in the agony of the Cross. Peter’s boat overflowing with the great catch, the multiplication of the loves and fishers, Bartimeaus jumping for joy with his new sight, the penitent woman rejoicing in her tears and so many other events unveiling the gracious possibilities in life. We have to ask, how is such a radical turn to darkness possible? The contradiction of the Cross goes so beyond any possible human understanding. Yet we ponder and see a crucified Savior and Messiah, a King in total poverty and apparent defeat. A leader has been abandoned by almost all. With good reason we need to ask, How can this be?

The mockery of the rulers, the soldiers and even the unrepentant thief holds the seed of the answer. “Save yourself.” Indeed, the message is one of salvation. But even to the very end Jesus is not about himself but the servant of others. In Luke’s Passion there is one theme that invites us deeper into the mystery of Jesus’ saving love: Jesus is always concerned about others. In the garden, it is the man whose ear was cut off. On the road to Calvary, he showed his sympathy for the women. This loving concern bursts out most clearly in the encounter with the good thief. With a heart unlocked by this compassionate love, Dismas is able to see a Savior and a King. “Today you will be with me in paradise.” (Lk 23:43) Luke’s pattern of reversal, the up side down world of Jesus’ Gospel, has its ultimate expression in today’s Gospel: death giving way to life! It is not only the good thief, but all of us, who celebrate the victory of a loving God answering our question, How can this be? The unconditional love of God revealed in Jesus Crucified and Jesus Risen tells us how this can be! Alleluia!

Lk 21:5-19

Dear Parishioners, As the Church Year draws to a rapid conclusion, the Gospel message is once again a story of the end. Last week it was a personal ending. This week it is the end of the world.

Luke’s description in today’s Gospel is the destruction of the Temple. It is the first of three destructions in this chapter of Luke. The next two are of Jerusalem (Lk 21:20-24) and the world (Lk 21:25-28).

This passage addresses the early Christians and us. Our first ancestors in the faith expected a quick and almost effortless passage to glory on their acceptance of Christ as Savior. No such luck. Rejection, conflict and persecution shortly followed their conversion. Slowly they had to delve more deeply into the Gospel message to find meaning in their new puzzling, and at times, frightening world.

It is the same for us. We come to Jesus seeking comfort and soon much of our new world is caught in the challenge of walking with Jesus on the road to Jerusalem.

Jesus’ message today is that the struggle will continue to the end. Our journey of discipleship is only possible in his footsteps on the road to Jerusalem where death gives way to life. Good and evil will be our daily fare until the end. Whether it be the call to martyrdom or dealing with the in-laws, whether it is the loss of a child or the aging process, whether it is a loved one lost in a destructive addiction or the crisis of a Church floundering in search of the Gospel, the weeds and the wheat will be the stuff of our experience till the end.

Teresa of Avila’s classic, The Interior Castle, is about purification and transformation on the pilgrimage to God. It has an uncanny similarity to the role of purgatory in our salvation. The following five reflections seek to flesh out some positive elements in this connection. In sum, it is our invitation to a deeper and more productive spiritual life.

PART TWO

Purgatory as Purification

Purgatory is not a hot issue among believers these days. It has traditionally been seen much more in negative terms than positive. However, our common understanding of purgatory is in the process of change. It is moving away from the idea of punishment to the idea of purification. This is part of a transition from an image of God as vengeful to God as merciful. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states this about purgatory. “All who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification to achieve holiness to enter the joy of heaven.” (CCC #1030)

This idea of purgatory as purification is much more attractive than the pre-Vatican II view of a final down payment as punishment for our sins. It is much more in tune with the image of God Jesus offers us in the experience of the prodigal son. Our sinfulness is completely overwhelmed by the love and mercy of God. We simply need to get dressed up for the party. Any inconsequential delay has no comparison to our possession of our heart’s true destiny: eternal life engulfed in love. In this overall perspective, purgatory transcends any possible expression of human happiness which is necessarily wrapped up in the limits of mortality. This is why we should treasure the invitation of The Interior Castle to seek oneness with God in our daily life right now.

Lk 27:27-38

Dear Parishioners, In today’s Gospel story the Sadducees challenge Jesus with a simplistic and absurd story about seven brothers marrying the same woman. Jesus turns the story into a profound truth that we profess in the Apostles’ Creed: the resurrection of the body. But before we enter the new life where, in the coming age, we neither marry nor are given in marriage, we must face death.

We are in the final weeks of the Church year. The liturgy weaves a very fascinating story of the end and the beginning. In the process it invites us into the mystery of time.

Today we are confronted with the reality our corporal death. Next week we are challenged with the end of the total historical venture that we call the end times. Then the first three weeks of the new year give us the Advent message. It expresses a longing for the new reality that leads us to cry out, “Come, Lord Jesus”!

In between the message of the ending and the entreaty for the new beginning we celebrate Christ the King. This is a bridge that connects the transiency of our human condition, our mortality, with our ultimate purpose and goal in life: to be in the eternal embrace of our loving Lord, our immortality.

Lk 19:1-10

Dear Parishioners,"Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector and a wealthy man, was seeking to see who Jesus was." (Lk 19:2) Jesus shattered the norms of correctness and invited himself to dinner at Zacchaeus’ home. In the process, the restless tax collector was introduced into the Jesus game where you win by losing.

Luke is the only evangelist who brings us into the delightful Zacchaeus story. He does so, in part, to highlight the difference between the chief tax collector and the rich official who did not want to play the Jesus game. (Lk 18:18-23)

On the surface, the two men where dramatically different. One had all the right credentials of social acceptability. If the rich official were operating today, he surely would be a daily communicant and probably on the pastoral council of his parish.

Zacchaeus was a low life. He not only would not go into the crowd to try to see Jesus because he was short. He knew it would be dangerous for him because as a tax collector for the despised Roman oppressors he was a hated man. On the other hand, both men shared that hunger in the heart that Jesus so easily surfaced by his presence and message.

Luke 18, 9-14

Dear Parishioners,
I grew up in St. Laurence parish on the South Side of Chicago. It was a very beautiful and enriching experience in many ways. But like anything else human, it suffered from the blindness revealed in today’s Gospel. Over the years, I have found myself growing in awareness of the many prejudices and ignorance that were implanted in me by my early Irish Catholic formation.

First of all, we had a wide open highway to hell for others. Protestants and fallen away Catholics, especially the divorced, led the parade. The role of women was very clear: in the kitchen and preferably pregnant. The “colored people”, the operative term of respect for African Americans in my youth, were inferior and happy to stay on the other side of 47th St. where God put them. As Catholics we were very patriotic and in full support of the insanity of nuclear escalation.

We were proud to be Catholics leading the way in the censorship of movies to maintain pelvic orthodoxy. I think the Communion line in my parish would not have made it past the censors. We never gave a thought to Hollywood’s glorification of booze, smoking and violence. Mexicans were the only Hispanics I knew and this only thru movies. They were always total losers only topped by the savagery of Native Americans who attacked the white settlers.

I could go on at length about clerical dominance but the point is clear. Organized religion, no matter how beautiful and profound, is never too far removed from the Pharisee in today’s Gospel.

I do not think often enough about what the next generation will see in our parish and today’s Church that is so completely off the radar of Gospel values. I am sure that there is a lot to consider even if it is hidden from our awareness at this time.

There are two powerful points in today’s parable. It continues Luke’s often reaped theme of reversal. In God’s coming revealed in Jesus, things will be put in the order of what God really is, not as that part of us similar to what the Pharisee likes to see a world with ourselves as the center of reality.

Secondly, the Pharisee exposes the tendency of the human heart that we all share to be an idol making machine. The Publican exposes the true reality of the goodness and mercy of God and our role as broken but loved and forgiven sinners.

To have the openness and integrity of the tax collector is quite a spiritual feat. St. Teresa of Avila teaches us of the utter importance of this self-knowledge. She practiced it so well that she could say at the end, her life story is all a story of God’s mercy.

The most fundamental truth of today’s parable is that every human heart is torn between the pull of the Pharisee’s arrogance and the tax collector’s humility and self-knowledge. The power of the message is that the God of mercy revealed by Jesus forgives sinners. All we need to do is to recognize that we need to get in line for this liberating gift!

In Christ,

Fr. Tracy

LK 18:1-8

Dear Friends, There are a couple of points we need to make right away. The parable of the judge and widow does not teach us that we can eventually win God over to our side by our strong-minded resolve. The real lesson for us in the story is this: not to lose hope in spite of all the hardships and injustices that confront us daily. The parable is inviting us to a persistence that is rooted in loving trust in the goodness of God. We need not worry about God’s perseverance. It is our faithfulness that is the issue.

One of the delightful aspects of the story is missing in English where it says that the judge finally gives way to the widow because he fears she may strike him. In the original language, it says he fears that she will give him a black eye.

The main point of the parable is contrasting the self-absorbed and crooked judge with a loving and merciful God. If the poor widow received her due from the corrupt minister of the law, how much more will be the loving response of the God of mercy, compassion and limitless love. We are called to place trust in our prayer to a God of all goodness. Luke’s message is one of exhortation to the disciples and us: be constant in your prayer no matter what.

Luke 17:11-19

Dear Friends, The first words of today’s passage from Luke are “As Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem”. (Lk 17:11) We have been with Jesus for fifteen weeks on this journey to Jerusalem and have three more to go. It has been a time of learning how to be a true disciple.

When the journey to Jerusalem began, the Samaritans refused Jesus free passage through their territory. James and John responded by suggesting that they would call down fire from heaven. Jesus had a better idea. His non-violent response led to the inclusion of two Samaritans in stories of salvation: The Good Samaritan and today’s thankful and faith-filled Samaritan, cleansed of leprosy and recipient of salvation. These two individuals fit into Luke’s theme of inclusion flowing from the universal dimension of Jesus’ message. Both incidents highlight the Samaritans, the hated enemies of the Jews. Likewise, both stories further tear down the barriers of salvation. All are included in Jesus’ teaching and practice of the Kingdom.

Most Gospel stories are deeper and more challenging than they seem on the surface. Today’s story of the ten lepers is a good example. While it includes the limitless horizons of salvation, it also is an obvious lesson of gratitude. It is very helpful to understand the background. Any person with any skin disease was considered a leper. This, of course, included those with real leprosy which is very contagious and fatal. However, it also included many minor skin diseases. Lepers were totally isolated and could not come closer than fifty yards to any person as well as their loved ones. They had no participation in the social life of the community and were totally dependent on the generosity of others for all their needs.

Lk 17:5-10

Dear Friends, This short passage in today’s Gospel is part of a longer section. Here Jesus is continuing to teach the disciples what it meant of be his follower. Immediately, before today’s selection, Jesus presented the challenging news about forgiveness. For those listening in Jesus’ presence, down to us today, it is a truly challenging task to forgive seven times a day. “If he wrongs you seven times in one day, and returns to you seven times to say I ‘I am sorry’, you should forgive him”. (Lk 17:4) This lesson is why they asked the Lord to increase their faith.

The phrase about the mulberry tree flying off to the sea is just another example of the strong language that Jesus used to stress a point. What he is saying to the disciples and to us, is that the little faith we have is sufficient if we only trust it and express our confidence in God. Faith allows us to share in the power of God. The impossible becomes possible to the person of faith.

We should not be put off by the language about the servants. This was an example from the everyday reality of Jesus’ listeners. Jesus is not accepting nor rejecting it. He is using it to convey a message that his listeners would understand. The real issue is not how the owner treats the servant but how the servant understands his role. It should help us understand the basic reality that defines us. God is God and we are the creature. We must fight the constant temptation to make ourselves god and God our servant.

Jesus is using the parable to teach about discipleship. Community leaders need to see their role as servants. Jesus is contrasting this understanding with the constant practice of the Scribes and Pharisees. They saw themselves in a position of privilege and expected special recognition and esteem at all times. On the other hand, the disciple of Christ should seek to lead by example and service even to the point of washing the feet of the community members.

Accepting ourselves as creature and God as Creator means among other things, that we can never put God in our debt. We can never have any claim on God. When we have done our best, we only have done our duty. We are not living in the realm of law with its exactitude in measuring our responsibilities. Jesus has called us into the realm of love where the boundaries of our giving are always expanding to new horizons.

St. Teresa of Avila understood her role as creature and servant with profound accuracy. All her teachings and wisdom flowed from her appreciation of this humble condition. She recognized, with ever-growing clarity and insight, that God is God and she is the creature. In spite of embracing her humble circumstances, she accepted God as a loving and merciful savior, and herself as a humble and sinful servant both loved and forgiven. She understood her life, in its deepest truth, as the story of God’s mercy. It is the same for all of us.

Lk 16:19-31

Dear Friends, In his Gospel, Luke puts great emphasis on the theme of reversal. Right at the beginning we have in Mary’s great hymn, the Magnificat: “He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones but lifted up the lowly. The hungry he has filled with good things, the rich he has sent away empty. (Lk: 1: 52-53)” In the Sermon on the Plain this theme of reversal dominates. One clear contrast is, “Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours.” (Lk 6:12). Then in Lk 6:20 we read: “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.” Then in Lk 13:30 we read: “For behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last”.

Jesus’ entry into the human scene has had many consequences. The great reversal is one of them that awaits us. Today’s parable about Lazarus and the unidentified rich man is a significant example of this turn-around. The two characters experience a deep transformation of their fortunes. There is a profound message in this story for us.

The first lesson for us is that all wealth, status, prestige, privilege and power is transitory. Secondly, we need to learn that ownership is not absolute. It has consequences. When we do not accept these realities, we are subject to the great reversal. These great changes flow from the radically Good News that Jesus offers us.

The story does not describe either character as particularly good or bad. The problem is neglect and blindness. Luke, in this parable, found only in his Gospel, goes deeply into the details the reversal. First, in contrast to almost all of history, the poor man is identified and the rich man is nameless. Then, the disparity in physical comfort is dramatically changed. Now the powerful rich man sees Lazarus as the one who can give him what he wants. First, it is water and secondly, it is help for his brothers.

Lk 16:1-13

Dear Friends, When we finally work through this most puzzling of all the parables in today’s Gospel, the message is clear and strong. We need to use our money and possessions to enter the Kingdom. You can call it a plea for Kingdom economics. It is an invitation to a rather difficult task: how to use our material gifts to facilitate, not obstruct, our journey to the Kingdom and ever-lasting life.

Discipleship demands a total commitment. Luke is insistent on the role of money for the followers of Jesus. How we use our possessions reveals our priorities. If Jesus is truly our priority, the approach to wealth and its trappings will be measured by how it draws us into the Kingdom values that Jesus proclaims.

Jesus’ message in the parable is strong and simple: we are called to make a clear-cut choice. The steward did this in a short-run vision of reality. As disciples, we are called to the wisdom of a similar decisive conclusion in the long -range vision of the Kingdom.

The key to understanding the parable and its forceful teaching is to determine where the steward committed the injustice. On reflection, it had to be in the earlier use of the owner’s goods. This is why he is being dismissed. The heart of puzzle is the owner’s praise of the seeming theft involved in the steward’s reduction of the bill to the various debtors. This had to involve his personal commission on the deal. Thus, the owner commended his foresight and action.

Jesus is inviting his followers to us their time, treasure and talent with similar foresight. Like the steward, we have to realize that our possessions have a mortgage on them. Their actual ownership belongs to another. In the disciples’ case, God is the owner. The material blessings are to be shared to benefit the Kingdom. The wise use of wealth that Jesus is calling for needs to include the needs of the poor.

In the fourth century St. Ambrose had a great insight about wealth and the poor. He was commenting on the rich man and his barns (Lk 12:16-21): “The bosoms of the poor, the houses of widows, the mouths of children are the barns that last forever.”

Lk 15: 1-32

Dear Friends,All three parables have one dominant and common theme. They are totally excessive in their contradiction of common sense. They all point to the extravagance of God’s mercy. Particularly, the story of the father and the sons changes the theme from sin and forgiveness. This was the concern of the Pharisees and clearly the driving anxiety of the younger son. Jesus saw the issue differently. It was about a human being lost and a human being found.

We need to see ourselves in both sons. When we repent, like the first son, we have our story ready. The father has no interest in the story. His son was dead and now is alive. The father will have nothing to do with hired servant nonsense. This is his son. The ring and sandals and feast are all symbols of him the unconditional welcoming of the son in his merciful embrace. Like the shepherd and the woman, the father knows what was lost and has been found. It is time to celebrate.

As we move on to the second son, we can recognize ourselves as the victim in many of our life situations. His complaints have a good deal of merit.

However, they miss the point that the father sees so clearly. It is not about things but people. Possessions and privileges just do not make sense when measured against life, love and mercy. “My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours. But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found” (Lk 15: 32).

LK 14:25-33

Dear Friends, These words of Jesus are very strong. In fact, they are the most extreme in expressing the demands of discipleship in all of the Gospels. Likewise, they probably are the most neglected.

It is clear from the rest of Gospel that Jesus does not mean that we “hate” our loved ones. What he does mean is that we must place Jesus first. It is simply a question of priorities expressed in the style of the language in Jesus’ time. This leaves plenty of room for concern and compassion for our loved ones

Secondly, the carrying of the cross is a non-negotiable component of walking with Jesus, of being a disciple. It is a clear and evident. Following Jesus has a steep price. We have to die to our selfishness. We have to cast off the world’s values of success and prosperity. We have to free ourselves from the clutches of a pervasive consumer mentality of bigger and better. Jesus’ forceful words leave no doubt about it, true discipleship is a costly affair.

The clarity and power of Jesus’ terms and the call to decision too often lead to either the neglect of true discipleship or its reduction as a commitment to a more convenient and comfortable Jesus. This distortion of a popular Jesus has been a challenge down through Christian history. The very elements of power riches, privilege and power that Jesus attacked in all his teachings, ministry and life too often are the operative values of his followers and Church. The Church has always been burdened by far more token disciples than true followers of Christ.

Today’s Gospel passage makes it quite evident. Jesus demands that we follow him on his terms. Jesus makes it obvious that everything else must make sense in light of this commitment. All other loves must find their true meaning and direction from the love of Jesus.

When we place this mandate of taking up the cross in isolation, it is both frightening and more than difficult. However, we encounter a much more enticing view when we place this call of true discipleship in the context of Jesus’ call to the Kingdom. Here we are invited to share the conquest of sin, injustice and eventual death of this life. We are invited to the Kingdom’s way of love and everlasting life. Jesus words, “My yoke is easy and my burden light” (Mt 11:30) make true sense.

Jesus asks us to calculate our decision on the basis of the final victory. That victory will not come from comfort and wealth, indulgence and prestige. All this will pass away. The ultimate victory is the conquest of the cross over all the evil of this world. The decisive victory is the cross as the instrument of the new life and everlasting love that comes in true discipleship to the risen Christ. There is no payment too high for this treasure that begins now when we walk with Jesus in the way of love. This love that flows from true discipleship begins with our loved ones but is always expanding to new horizons. It reaches out to the peripheries of the forgotten and neglected.

LK 14:1, 7-14

Dear Friends, As always, today’s Gospel passage has many levels. On the surface, Jesus is offering some practical advice. It touches on two strong customs in his day: hospitality and reciprocity. Both were wedded to the idea of, “You do something for me and I will return the favor”.

Luke places today’s teaching in the context of a meal. Much of the evangelist’s teachings are presented in the sharing of a meal. It has been said we can eat our way to Gospel in Luke’s rendition of the Good News.

Obviously, Jesus was always inviting his followers into a much more profound level of human experience than practical table know-how. He is always drawing us into the presence of God that opens the stuff of daily life to the deepest mystery.

Luke puts special emphasis on Jesus’ mission to turn the world upside down. He puts great importance on the of the theme of reversal: “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted” (Lk 14:11).

Today’ teachings are given in the form of a parable. The message is about the Kingdom: the great reversal that is to come. We are called to receive the poor and the lowly. There we will find God. The great and powerful of this world will find their fate woefully lacking and diminished in the new upside-down world of the Kingdom. The call for us in this great reversal is to go beyond the handout to true hospitality.

Hospitality in Jesus’ teaching is not a token gesture but true sacrifice and involvement with those in need in our midst. Too often, it is about fundraising and not service, feeling good and not self-giving that draws us out of our narrow comfort zone.

Jesus was challenging the deeply entrenched self-serving customs of his day: a distorted sense of hospitality and reciprocity. Jesus is calling us to truly go beyond a handout to share our table and our life with those in our midst in need. This is not easy an ask. It shares the uprooting and world-shattering dimensions of all of Jesus’ teaching. Too often, the ordinary practices of our helping those in need prove to be an obstacle and a hindrance to the message of Jesus in today’s Gospel. More frequently than not, it is about feeling good rather personal sacrifice.

In the great reversal of God’s Kingdom, God will be the host. As Luke teaches us in the Magnificat (Lk 1:51-53) and the Beatitudes and the Woes (Lk 6:20-26) the poor and neglected will have a special place. The way of the world that wraps self-serving activity in the twisted activities of false hospitality and reciprocity, will come to a crashing conclusion. God, as the host of the heavenly banquet, will do the humbling and exalting. This is the Good News:all have an invitation to the table. The guests will be measured by service not by prestige and wealth. The ticket is a heart and life committed to truly helping those who are in need.

Luke 13:22-30

Dear Friends, Religion is a very tricky business. A lot of selfishness takes place in the name of Jesus. Often, what seems to be, really is not, and what really is, does not seem to be. St. Luke is very strong in presenting this theme of reversal. Today, we close the Gospel with another expression of Luke’s often repeated theme of reversal, “For behold, some are last who will be first and, some are first, who will be last.” (13:30)

There are many who call themselves Christian and often image themselves as Christian warriors. Their main job is to attack the “sins” of others. They are full time against abortion and homosexuals, others are crusaders against the racists and those opposing immigration reform. They are occupied completely pointing out how horrible other people are. Others make it a full-time job finger-pointing at certain people who do not follow the minor laws of the Church in the liturgy and sacraments.

Jesus is pretty clear on these issues. “Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye…You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your own eye first.” (Mt. 7:3-5)

It is very clear that being an usher or lector or Eucharistic minister or a member of the liturgy committee or school board are not the main concerns. Jesus invites us to be humble and forgiving servants in a Church of sinners seeking the mercy of God together.

St Teresa of Avila has two fundamental teachings that address today’s Gospel. Jesus is telling us to listen to his message and live it. To do this, we need to know ourselves. Teresa repeats over and over that the journey to God is first and foremost guided by self-knowledge. We need to know we are sinners, but sinners who are loved and forgiven. That is why she says the story of our lives is always, in the final analysis, the story of God’s mercy.

This theme of mercy has been at the center of Pope Francis’ message that has delighted and inspired the world. He said recently that to be a Christian is not to never fall down and fail. It is to get up again and embrace God’s mercy that is always there for us.

Lk 12:49-53

Dear Friends, Our Gospel today places us in the midst of Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem. Luke’s ten chapters dedicated to this passage are mostly an invitation to enter into the depths of Jesus’ message. This movement is the most fundamental and clarifying experience of the human reality: the conflict of good and evil.

Whether we are aware or not, we are totally immersed in this conflict. Through Luke, Jesus is telling us we must make a choice. This choice has consequences. There will be fire and division. Jesus sees his mission, made very concrete on the road to Jerusalem, to expose the reality hidden by deception and corruption wrapped in the false face of a religious practice that does not want to offend anybody.

Much of religion is always in need of the prophet. Jesus embraced this role of the prophet. He came into the world to attack its mediocrity, its indifference and, most of all, its captivity in evil. Jesus states his desire for fire and baptism. This was his destiny from the beginning: the redemptive death on the cross that would unleash the firestorm of the Holy Spirit.

This ultimate conflict of good and evil was Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. His proclamation of the Kingdom exposes a reality that is already in place even though it is hidden. He seeks to destroy the divisions that flow from sin and injustice. The fire and baptism of the saving love of the Cross lead to true unity and peace. However, his message and his life, and especially the death and resurrection, attack the superficial façade of peace that avoids and is blinded by the true violence of rampant poverty, separation and isolation of “the others.”

When Jesus speaks of division in the family in today’s Gospel selection, he was laying out the harsh realities his presence unleashed in the world. Fire and division are non-negotiables on the road to Jerusalem. We as a church, as a parish and as individuals need to examine ourselves in light of this encounter with God’s word. Do we upset anyone by our commitment to Jesus? Does the level of our comfort allow for sufficient space to live the challenge of the true Gospel? Have we reduced Jesus’ message to an inoffensive religious practice that upsets no one?

God’s word always challenges the unthinking acceptance of the false peace. God’s word will constantly produce confusion and uprooting as it leads to the true path of peace that is rooted in justice and concern for the poor. Love is never without a cost. Jesus challenges us to be on fire for the Lord. This is why his priorities transcend even the deepest of human loves in the family or elsewhere.

True peace demands conversion. This is the personal transformation that accepts Jesus as the center. Only a heart committed to Christ will experience this true peace. Jesus will create a heart in true harmony that will deliver us from the deception of evil and a comfortable mediocrity of indulgence and indifference. True peace in Christ transforms all human love into the true love that springs from the divine Mystery of Love.

Luke 12:32-48

Dear Friends, I get the impression that most people come to worship on Sunday to change God. They have real problems and concerns. They have a plan for what is necessary for them and their loved ones to be happy. They know they need God’s help to bring that plan to completion. Therefore, they come to pray and a major part of their prayer is asking God to buy into their plan.

On the other hand, God has a plan also. God wants us to change. God wants us to share in his love for all creation and especially our brothers and sisters in all their human flaws.

In the Gospel today, Luke has the seemingly harsh and unrealistic plea for us to sell our goods and give alms to the poor. This is a theme about property that Luke repeats often in different ways throughout his Gospel.

Luke’s point is to put things in perspective. The perspective is that first of all there is more to life than our immediate security and convenience. Secondly, Luke teaches us that God’s love for us in God’s plan of his Kingdom is our real treasure. When we understand the wonder and beauty of this gracious gift of God revealed in Jesus and his teaching on the Kingdom, we then are able to put both our worries and possessions in perspective. This is how God wants us to change and to grow. We need to learn that God has a better plan than our plan. The message of the Gospel tells us to see our life and our possessions in light of God’s Kingdom that is taking place now. We share in that Kingdom when we walk with Jesus in love. This love will carry us beyond our mortality to life beyond death

When we put Jesus’ words in this context, they do not seem so harsh and unrealistic.

“Do not be afraid any longer, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the Kingdom. Sell your belongings and give alms. Provide money bags for yourselves that do not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven that no their can reach nor moth destroy.” (Luke 12:32-33)

God has a plan. It is the Kingdom. We are invited to buy in. That is how God wants us to change. That is what it means when we say. “Let go and let God.”

Lk 12:13-21

Dear Friends, In today’s Gospel, Jesus responds to the request to intervene in the family dispute by telling a story. The message is clear and direct. Do not be a fool.

Hebrew Scriptures have a clear understanding of what constitutes a fool. This is a person who has denied or forgotten God. In this story, the neglect of God is manifested in the greedy farmer with the very productive land. He was rich because he had many crops. He was a fool because he thought he was secure: “You have so many good things stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink and be merry” (Lk 12:19). He failed to realize U-Hauls are useless in cemeteries.

The owner is clearly a person who is self-absorbed. The idea of sharing never entered into his planning. He placed his bet down on his crop. Material possessions were his gateway to happiness. He became a fool simply by not being real. Life is a passing venture. In spite of all the guarantees of the advertising world, there is no lasting happiness as long as the funeral directors continue to have a lucrative business. The choice is between things and God. The fool choses things.

Lk 11: 1-13

Dear Friends, Today, we have the Lukan version of the Our Father. This special prayer is the culmination and deepest expression of all the prayers in the Bible. It has been described as the summary of the Gospel.

Down through the centuries, the saints, and particularly the Doctors of the Church, have sung its praises. St. Thomas Aquinas called it a prayer of the end times. At our present moment we experience the mystery of salvation in what has been described as “already but not yet.” This means that the Pascal Mystery of Christ’s death and resurrection has accomplished our salvation. Yet we are in a process of moving toward the completion of that reality in our Christian life and final destiny of human history. We are moving toward the fullness of the Kingdom of God, the restoration of the original innocence. It still remains an object of hope, a time where we will be completely free of the consequences of sin: no more sickness, division, hatred, violence, ignorance, de-humanizing poverty and prejudice and, finally, death gives way to eternal life. St. Thomas’ point is that the Our Father is a prayer for the coming of the New Day and the New Creation that is God’s Kingdom.

When Jesus gave his followers the Our father, he was offering a way of life. This prayer was a guide of how they were to live and relate to God. This is the prayer for those who wish to walk with Jesus on the journey to the Kingdom.

Our Father

The great gift of Jesus is that we have become adopted children, allowing us to address our God as Father. When addressing the Father, Luke has Jesus using the term “Abba” and invites us to do the same. This is the most intimate and familial expression a child would use in addressing a parent. Matthew uses the term we translate as “Father.” This term is more distinguished and majestic. Both Evangelists direct us into the great mystery that Jesus reveals in the Our Father.

The term “Our” identifies us as part of the family of God. Jesus is creating a community of believers to share his relationship with the Father. All our prayers include the personal needs but also take account of all God’s children. All the petitions in this prayer are communal as well as personal.

Hallowed Be thy Name

Hallowed means to make holy. The request here is that recognizing God’s holiness that we respond to that divine holiness. We are called to be witnesses to God’s holiness as we follow in the footsteps of Jesus in search of his Kingdom.

Thy Kingdom Come

Jesus reveals the Kingdom as God’s plan. His works and teachings and especially in the death and resurrection disclose God’s action. This is the initiation of the destruction of all the consequences of Adam and Eve’s sin.

Love, justice and mercy have the final say in the Kingdom. Our sins are forgiven, the sick healed, enemies are reconciled, the poor share the blessings of the Lord in abundance and the captives are freed. Every desire in harmony with God’s love is fulfilled. The human venture is brought to a just and peaceful resolution.

In the Lukan version, God’s will clearly is part of the Kingdom we seek in our prayer. Jesus showed us the way in fulfilling the Father’s will. God’s plan is for our freedom leading to eternal happiness. God invites us into that treasure beyond our dreams. In Gethsemane, Jesus showed the power of his surrender to the Father’s will. His acceptance of the divine will produced the passage from death to life for all humankind. God’s will for us, both personally and communally, continues to call us into the fullness of life.

The Thou Petitions

Give Us this Day Our Daily Bread

By saying give “us” we are again showing our communion with all our brothers and sisters. The bread we ask for includes all material needs of ourselves and others, a steady supply of sustenance. As part of a communion, the needs of others, especially the poor, must be a priority.

At the same time, we are praying for the Bread of Life which includes the Word of God and the Body of Christ in the Eucharist. These gifts of the spirit strengthen and enable us to respond generously in making the petitions real in our life.

Forgive Us Our Trespasses as We Forgive Those Who Trespass against Us

Reconciliation looks forward to the coming of the Lord in judgment. We are asking for the great gift necessary to enter the Kingdom: forgiveness. Only our willingness to forgive will open the passage to new life. Lack of forgiveness hardens our hearts and closes the way into the merciful love of our God.

Do not subject us to the final test

We now recognize our human weakness caught in the battle of the spirit and the flesh. We are asking God to protect and guide us away from sin. We are asking for discernment, vigilance and perseverance.

This final test means deliverance from the Evil One who is Satan. We are asking for guidance through the harsh and horrible appeal of all elements in the world that are in total opposition to our salvation. We are asking God to deliver us from all the evils that are the relentless work of the Evil One whose overriding desire is to draw us away from God.

Part One

(In the second dwelling places it becomes clear that Teresa is not primarily interested in offering a method of prayer. Her goal is to describe the individual’s growing awareness of the experience of God. She is describing the journey to the center where God awaits. Prayer is the way forward that demands letting go of our selfishness.)

The second dwelling places brings a new awakening. Many struggles accompany this enlightenment. The individual begins to answer the question, “Is that all there is?” The results are both frightening and enticing. As the new awareness of God’s call begins to penetrate the consciousness, numerous problems surface. In the end, there is a need for change, a call to a real makeover of our awareness. The story of the second dwelling places highlights the conflict between the old and the new, grace and sin, pleasure and sacrifice.

A maturing insight helps the individual understand the true nature of prayer. Prayer seeks not to change God but to change ourselves. The depth of this insight evolves slowly. Previously, our prayer was seeking to guarantee our plan for happiness. In the second dwelling places we slowly, ever so slowly, begin to see that true prayer works toward changing not pursuing our plan for happiness. In this refocusing from ourselves to God as the center, there is a price to pay. Teresa puts it this way: “It is much more difficult to hear his voice than to not here his voice.” (IC.2.2)

This new understanding of prayer exposes the need for personal transformation. In the second dwelling places this is experienced in a moral conversion. We now begin to withdraw from our unquestioning life of indulgence, possessions and self-centeredness. The deeply rooted patterns of neglect of God and neighbor are being challenged. A consumer lifestyle encounters a critical attitude as never before. Patterns of thought about race, sexual orientation and the environment surface in unsettling ways. On the other hand, there is a pull to the Word of God and paricularlly toward Jesus.

All of this, and much more, is unfolding as one begins to pray in a way that truly is seeking an understanding of God’s word and knowledge of God’s will. This is the stuff of the second dwelling places.

The real question is: How does this happen? What triggers a person to make this step toward a truly different mentality and a truly differ way of praying?

For most people, a faithful and consistent practice of “saying my prayers” or “attending the novena” or “praying the rosary” or other forms of devotion, particularly regular attendance at Mass during the week have led to a spiritual growth. In different ways, a sense of faithfulness leads to a deeper hunger. Teresa puts a name on this hunger in the second dwelling palaces. It is a hunger for God.

God speaks in the second welling places in many ways. First of all, the powerful witness of good persons touches the heart. Then there are praiseworthy religious experiences particularly good liturgy and relevant homilies. Movies, books and other social media experiences inspire the heart from time to time. Life always has enough trials and difficulties that open one to a need for God. Finally, prayer constantly has the possibility of uncovering the divine.

In the area of prayer, the word of God, especially in the scriptures, becomes a source of light and comfort. It also surfaces the need to change. As prayer progresses, a relationship with Jesus steadily becomes more imperative for the searching individual.

The person has begun to pray with some consistency. This awakens a desire for a more truthful, authentic and responsible experience of life. However, this progress creates some difficult choices. As God’s goodness, mercy and love become clearer, so too, the call to let go of old ways. Worldly attachments and pleasures with their spirit of vanity and superficiality are not compatible to spiritual progress.

“Since they are getting closer to where His Majesty dwells, He is a very good neighbor. His mercy and goodness are so bountiful; whereas we are occupied in our pastimes, business affairs, pleasures, and worldly buying and selling and still falling into sin and rising again.” (IC 2.2) Teresa points out that the failure to avoid occasions of sin produces the uncertainty and ambiguity that play a dominant role in the second dwelling places.

Unlike the first dwelling places where the individual is almost deaf and mute in spiritual things, the person traveling in the second dwelling places can hear God’s voice even in the midst of the seemingly endless noise in a culture of indulgence that abhors silence. The manifestation of God’s mercy penetrates the cluttered mind and heart. However, the message most often demands sacrifice. There is always a price to pay when God draws closer in one’s awareness. This is the battleground of the second dwelling places.

The Thirty Fourth Sunday of Ordinary TimeLk 23: 35-43