Praying Alone Together: Cycle-c

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The Feast of Christ the King

The Last Sunday of the Year

Dear Friends,

This famous Gospel text is not as simple and straight forward as it seems on the surface.

I do not know of anyone who has turned away more needy, homeless and addicted women and their children than my sister who is a nun. If we take a literal interpretation of the text, she is in bad shape.

In reality, she is a 24/7 servant of the poor as a leader of a rehab center for addicted poor women. Her resources are always played out to the limit. Because the program is so good she has many more applicants than space and program allow. The net result is she keeps the recovering women as long as two years sometimes. The recovery rate for those who stay clean goes beyond 90%. This is phenomenal.

Reading of the Holy Gospel according to Luke 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).

Reading of the Holy Gospel according to Luke 20, 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”!

Reading of the Holy Gospel according to Luke 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)

Reading of the holy gospel according to 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.

Reading of the Holy Gospel according to Luke 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 eventualy 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.

Reading of the Holy Gospel according to 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.

Reading of the Holy Gospel according to Luke 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.

Reading of the Holy Gospel according to Luke 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: 21). Then in Lk 6: 24 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”.

Reading of the Holy Gospel according to Luke 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.

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.

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

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 food. It has been said we can eat our way through 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 manners. He is drawing us into the presence of God that opens the stuff of daily life to its deepest meaning and mystery.

Luke puts special emphasis on Jesus’ mission to turn the world upside down. He does this through many expressions of the theme of reversal. Today’s version is: “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted” (Lk 14:11).

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)

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.

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.

Prayer of Petition I

“Our Thoughts and Prayers:” A Serious Commitment

We often tell people that we will pray for them or that they will be in our thoughts and prayers. This can mean several different things. When we are truly sincere, it almost always means we have come to a sense of our helplessness and mortality. We are turning to God for assistance. At the other end of the spectrum, this is a polite way to exit a scene in which we experience minimal concern. In between, there are various degrees of discomfort that reflect our true feelings.

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.

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.

Lk 10: 38-42

Dear Friends,

Today’s short passage of Luke’s gospel seems like a simple story. It tells us there must be a balance between prayer and action, service and contemplation. However, when we are delving into the gospel of Jesus, we are always running into a mystery of profound depth. There are always new levels beckoning us into multilayered stages of understanding and action. Likewise, we are exposed to the shattering of our cultural norms.