FOR EVERY TREE CAN BE TOLD BY ITS OWN FRUIT

VIII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Luke 6:39-45

In this Sunday’s gospel, Luke puts together a few sayings of Jesus:

• the blind guiding the blind;
• the disciple is not superior to his teacher;
• having a plank in your eye, you want to take the splinter from your friend’s eye;
• a tree can be told by its fruit;
• a man’s words reveal what is in his heart.

These are wisdom sayings that may help us to examine ourselves and our surroundings. They may serve as signs along the road of life, warning us of danger ahead and indicating the direction we should follow.

Jesus asked: How can a blind guide the blind? Indeed, both will fall into a pit. And that is the situation we are finding ourselves in the world. The war which began with the invasion of Ukraine is a result of that. The leaders are blind people who prosper in deeds of darkness. Guided by false ideals, they are ready to lead the world to doom. All try to justify themselves with words of justice and peace. They are deluded and try to impose their delusion on others. In which way can be justified the invasion of an independent country? Is it for annexation or to impose a puppet government? We point fingers at Russia, but the United States did the same more than once. We can remember Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. Iraq was invaded on basis of lies. Ukraine is being invaded based on a perceived threat to the security of Russia. Why can’t they live as brothers that share so much in common? When the leaders are blind, they lead the people into the pit of destruction and death.

It is so easy to see the failures in others while overlooking our own. Most of us are filled with a sense of self-righteousness and we are always ready to blame others for any shortcomings. Demonising the others, we are ready to destroy them or their good name. This happens at an individual level and also at the community and national level. Some consider themselves as reaching excellence, thus becoming models of democracy, freedom and justice. The others are the enemy, always full of evil intents. We live in the radiance of light, while they live in the darkness of oppression. Jesus invites us to do a serious self-examination and to recognise our failures and shortcomings:

“Hypocrite! Take the plank out of your eye first, and then you will see clearly enough to take out the splinter that is in your brother’s eye.”

Our deeds will be the proof of good or evil in us. And we cannot hide them. Sooner or later, our rottenness will come into the public eye; or the goodness which is in our heart will be recognised.

As the war rages in Ukraine, let us pray for peace.

“Let us pray.

Grant us, O Lord, we pray,

that the course of our world

may be directed by your peaceful rule

and that your Church may rejoice,

untroubled in her devotion.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever.

Amen.” (prayer of this Sunday’s mass)

THE LORD IS COMPASSION AND LOVE

VII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Luke 6:27-38

When Moses asked God: “Please show me your glory.” (Ex 33:18), the “Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord” (Ex 34:5). Then, the Lord proclaimed:

“The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin” (Ex 34:6-7)

This is the way God speaks of himself and this proclamation is repeated throughout the Holy Scriptures and we can hear it again in this Sunday’s psalm: 

“The Lord is compassion and love,

  slow to anger and rich in mercy.” (Ps 103)

Many times in the past, even in the recent past, we had a distorted image of God, fabricating an image following our human nature, instead of remaining faithful to God’s revelation. We looked at God as an angry and harsh God always intent on catching us at the slightest fault and then punishing us with all the power of his rage. We lived in fear of God, instead of putting our trust in the Father who loves us with tender love. In his letter to the Romans, Paul wrote: 

“For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” (Ro 8:15).

In this Sunday’s gospel, Jesus orders us to imitate God’s mercifulness: “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.” (Lk 6:36).

Time and again, we are intent on revenge, allowing ourselves to be guided by our instincts, which lead us to violence, transforming us into the most vicious animal. Whenever we go through this path, we become an icon of Satan, the father of all evil. The only way to establish peace on earth is to follow the Prince of peace and become true images of God.

Revenge is seen in many cultures as an action to defend our honour. When someone is murdered, the relatives must exact vengeance upon the enemy who destroyed an innocent life. Then, it is no surprise that there are plenty of books telling stories built on revenge and plenty of videos on taking vengeance upon somebody because of past actions that injured the dignity of someone. Many wars started in that way, thus inflicting suffering and death on many who had very little to do with the original cause. This revenge is motivated by the duty to reestablish justice. However, justice cannot be enacted through violence. Instead of justice, we initiate a cycle of violence that will be difficult to stop. And with violence, we will bring all kinds of injustice and oppression. A man’s strength of character is shown in the control of his instincts and in the effort to become a true image of God: 

“Do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who treat you badly.” (Lk 4:27)

LET DOWN YOUR NETS FOR A CATCH

V SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Luke 5:1-11

This Sunday’s gospel and the first reading that goes with the gospel puts us before God’s calling and then the mission which he entrusts to us. Both readings leave us with a feeling that God needs us or wants us to share in the fulfilment of his project. Surrounded by the crowd and to be seen and heard, Jesus asked Simon’s boat. Jesus showed himself to be always eager to look for the cooperation of the people who were with him. It is as if everybody should be involved. The boat is a symbol of the Church and the proclamation of the Gospel is made by the Church and in the Church. In this passage of the Gospel, Jesus is the first preacher, as he addresses himself to the crowds. However, as soon as he finished his preaching, Jesus prepares the ground for the continuation of his mission. And the order is clear: “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” The church must go out into deep waters. There is always the danger of taking refuge in the comfort of what is known and we fear the unknown far away from the safety of the harbour. Jesus demands that we leave behind our comfort and go into the world. Then, “let down your nets for a catch”. That’s is: proclaim the Good News and invite people to become disciples of Jesus Christ. It is interesting that, in the gospel of Matthew, Jesus gives the last commandment which is the same: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” (Mt 28:19). We must go and let down the nets to make disciples. It is not an easy job. Simon and his companions had done just that. They had “worked hard all night long and caught nothing”. We find ourselves in the same situation. Despite our efforts, we work in vain and come empty-handed. Maybe we trust our capacity and our ingenuity. We forget that the mission is not ours but Jesus’ mission. Simon showed the correct attitude when he said: “But at your word I will let down the nets”. We need an attitude of faith and obedience. The rest belongs to Him and he will make sure that the catch is abundant. And so it was. Seeing that, Simon “fell at the knees of Jesus” in awe. He saw himself in the presence of the Lord and he realised how unworthy he was. Whenever we put ourselves before the Lord and allow His light to penetrate our hearts, we realise our sinfulness. On our own, we cannot carry out the mission entrusted to us. However, the Lord is with us and at his commandment, we may realise wonders. Even though we are unworthy, Jesus calls us and then purifies us from our sins and heals us from our incapacities, making us his co-workers in the work of salvation. Jesus reassures Simon and calls him to the mission: “Do not be afraid; from now on it is men you will catch.”

May our answer to the Lord be the same one of Isaiah: “Here I am, send me.” 

LOVE NEVER COMES TO AN END

IV SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - 1 Corinthians 13:4-13

This Sunday, we are invited to listen to one of the most profound and beautiful passages of the New Testament: St. Paul’s hymn on love.

Before we proceed, we should ask ourselves what love is it that Paul speaks about? Nowadays, the word love is repeated endless times in such a way that it seems to have lost value and many times it implies a relationship in which we are sexually involved. To avoid confusion, the Greeks had different words for different kinds of love. For passionate and sexual love they used the word “eros”. For friendship, they used the word “philia”. For family love, they used the word “storge”. And for divine love - a selfless and boundless love, they used the word “agape” (αγαπη), translated in Latin by “caritas”. This is the love that we find in the New Testament and the love Paul wrote about.

First of all, love is a gift from God - the greatest gift,  which “has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit” (Ro 5:5). In the first letter of John, we are told that God himself is love (1 Jn 4:8). That’s why love is eternal, as Paul says: “Love does not come to an end.” (1 Co 13:8). And we cannot claim to love God or to believe in Him if we don’t love others with whom we live. Indeed, “if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.” (1 Co 13:2). Faith implies and demands to be committed to love, otherwise, it is a useless and dead faith. The claim that we are saved by faith alone is misleading and Paul leaves no doubt about the greatness of love: there are “faith, hope and love; and the greatest of these is love.” (1 Co 13:13). True faith manifests itself in love, and love implies commitment and service.

Love is the new commandment given to us by Jesus: “you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” And it is by love that we may be recognised as his disciples (Jn 13:34-35). Jesus is the role model, and we are called to love in the manner he loved, being ready to spend our lives at the service of others. Is it possible to love as Jesus loved? Or is it an impossible task? God loved us first and put in us His Spirit of love, so that strengthened by him we may grow in love until the day when he will make love in us come to perfection.

Paul presents the great qualities of love:

“Love is patient and kind; 

love does not envy or boast; 

it is not arrogant or rude. 

It does not insist on its own way; 

it is not irritable or resentful; 

it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, 

but rejoices with the truth. 

Love bears all things, 

believes all things, hopes all things, 

endures all things.” (from ESV).

Love is always a relationship. And God, being love, He is relationship: The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Relationship leads to communion. The qualities of love presented by Paul are the qualities of a relationship where there is self-giving, commitment and service. I live for the other and in that my life comes to fulfilment.

May the Lord strengthen his love in us for us to live as his beloved children.

SUNDAY OF THE WORD OF GOD

III SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Luke 1:1-4,4:14-21

Luke begins his gospel by giving the reasons for writing what was heard from and taught by “those who from the outset were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word” (Lk 1:2). It is interesting that, since the beginning, there were “ministers of the word”, that’s people who were entrusted with the ministry of proclaiming the word of God and announcing the gospel of Jesus Christ. To be faithful to the events and the message announced, Luke decided “carefully going over the whole story from the beginning”. And the reason for doing that is that you “may learn how well founded the teaching is that you have received.” (Lk 1:4). What we find in Luke’s gospel are not fairy tales, but events well documented by “eyewitnesses”.

The Apostles were the first ones entrusted with the ministry of the word and they passed on that ministry. Today, there are still those who are called to announce and proclaim the word. We can remember John the Baptist who presented himself as “the voice” (Jn 1:23) that cries out, calling people to repent and convert.

To celebrate this ministry of the word, Pope Francis has established this Sunday (the third in ordinary time) as the Sunday of the Word of God. And to reflect upon the importance of God’s word, we are given two texts in this Sunday’s liturgy: a) Nehemiah 8:2-6,8-10; b) Luke 1:1-4,4:14-21.

In both cases, we hear the Holy Scriptures being read. The Holy Scriptures are for us the Word of God. Through them, we can hear God speaking to us and revealing himself to us. Then, we find that the Scriptures are read in public, during a community gathering. The reading in community implies a celebration of the Word of God, which is done with all respect and honour and in a prayerful atmosphere. Jesus read from the book of Isaiah in a Saturday gathering in the synagogue. In the first reading, Ezra does a solemn reading of the Law (Torah) before the assembly of the people in a public square. The word is not only read but it is proclaimed with a clear voice for everybody to hear and get the message. After the solemn reading, in both cases, we have an explanation of the reading, making sure that people understand what was read.

In the gospel, on the sabbath day, Jesus went to the synagogue as he used to do, meaning that the community weekly meeting for hearing God’s word and worshipping him is important. The first reading presents a feast - a feast dedicated to celebrating the Word of God. We are called to do the same today.

We may pray with psalm:

Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life.

The law of the Lord is perfect,

  it revives the soul.

The rule of the Lord is to be trusted,

  it gives wisdom to the simple.

Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life.

The precepts of the Lord are right,

  they gladden the heart.

The command of the Lord is clear,

  it gives light to the eyes.

Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life.

Psalm 19

JESUS MANIFESTED HIS GLORY

II SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - John 2:1-11

The wedding at Cana is part of the great feast of Epiphany, in which we celebrate the manifestation of the divine glory of Jesus. This manifestation is presented in a threefold way: 

• the Magi saw his star and go to worship him and recognise him as the light of the world;
• Jesus is baptised in the river Jordan, being anointed with the Spirit and proclaimed as the Son of God - the Messiah;
• Jesus, present at the wedding banquet, manifests himself as the true groom who comes to wed his bride, the Church, presiding at the great feast of salvation.

“There was a wedding” (Jn 2:1) and Jesus was invited to the wedding. It might seem that he was only a guest among many other guests; however, he takes the centre stage. He is the bridegroom and he initiates the feast of salvation - the great banquet to which all peoples will be called (Is 25:6). The wedding is an event pregnant with meaning: it implies a covenant of love and it refers to the covenant between God and his people. In the first reading, Isaiah speaks of that:

“You shall be called ‘My Delight’

and your land ‘The Wedded’;

for the Lord takes delight in you

and your land will have its wedding.” (Is 62:4)

Presenting the wedding at Cana as the first sign given by Jesus, John presents Jesus as fulfilling the promise. He comes to celebrate the wedding with his people:

“as the bridegroom rejoices in his bride,

so will your God rejoice in you.” (Is 62:5).

God’s plan of salvation is to establish a covenant of love with his people. And he will be always faithful to this covenant. God will find his joy in us. 

Jesus is the groom who loves his bride, the Church, with his whole heart. According to Paul, “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendour, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.” (Ep 5:25-27). And at the end of the book of Revelation, the New Jerusalem is presented as “the Bride, the wife of the Lamb” (Rev 21:9).

Jesus comes to fulfil the promises and to establish a New Covenant, sealed with his blood. His love is so great that he gives his own life to redeem and sanctify his bride, the Church.

We should remember as well that Paul uses Jesus' covenant of love with his Church as the model of the covenant of love between husband and wife in marriage (see Ep 5:21-33). Marriage has always a sacred dimension in which God himself is involved. We should not diminish or put aside the dignity of marriage and its importance in God’s plan of salvation. Let us pray for all couples who dared to seal their love with a covenant guaranteed by God’s grace. May the Lord strengthen their love and protect them.

I have appointed you as covenant of the people and light of the nations.

THE BAPTISM OF THE LORD - Luke 3:15-16,21-22

John had recognised in Jesus someone whom he was not worthy of untying the strap of his sandals (Jn 1:27) because he is “a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.” (Jn 1:30). And John gave witness that Jesus is the Messiah, the one who comes to fulfil the great promise of life and salvation. It is He the one who comes to baptize with the Holy Spirit: he is “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (Jn 1:29).

John was called the Baptist because he was baptising those who came to him, as a sign of repentance and conversion. People who came to him felt touched by his powerful message, by his way of life and by his testimony and they would follow him as the Messiah. However, John was an honest man who lived by the truth: and he was no more than a voice - a messenger announcing the coming of the Messiah. He lived for that, at Jesus’ baptism: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him.”

In Jesus’ baptism, we are presented with an epiphany of his mission: anointed with the Spirit, he is proclaimed by the Father as the Son, the Beloved, “with you I am well pleased.” (Lc 3:22). We may say that in the baptism, Jesus receives his mission from the Father. Going into the waters of the river Jordan, Jesus shares the condition of the multitudes who confess their sin. Indeed, Jesus accepts the role of the Servant of the Lord who carries on his shoulders our transgressions and our iniquity (Is 53:6-8). 

Jesus’ baptism constitutes the model of our baptism. We are baptised in the Spirit, who transforms us by making us children of God, the beloved, who are called to walk in Jesus’ footsteps.

It is not enough to believe to be a true disciple of Jesus Christ, since all those who listen to the Gospel and accept Jesus as the Christ and the Saviour must pass through the waters that renew us and make us members of the people of God. In the baptism, we became members of the body of Christ, so that with him we share in the glory of life eternal.