IF ANYONE LOVES ME

XXI SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Luke 13:22-30

More than once, Jesus was asked about salvation. A rich man came to him and asked, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” (Mt 19:16). To that question, Jesus gave a straightforward answer: Keep the commandments. On this Sunday, the gospel presents a similar question: “Sir, will there be only a few saved?” Prophet Isaiah, in the first reading, announces that God will offer salvation to people of all nations: “I am coming to gather the nations of every language. They shall come to witness my glory.” “And of some of them I will make priests and Levites, says the Lord.” (Is 66:18, 21) However, salvation is not for the faint-hearted. It demands effort, and it implies hardships. That’s what Jesus states clearly in the answer that he gave to the question about salvation: “Try your best to enter by the narrow door, because, I tell you, many will try to enter and will not succeed.” And he insists that we must be ready to welcome the Lord when he comes. We must be on the alert; otherwise, we may find the door closed. Then, we will be excluded, and we cannot blame anybody but ourselves. We must always be in a state of readiness to answer God’s call.

The second reading, taken from the letter to the Hebrews, advises us to accept God’s corrections, which take place whenever we go through hardships and suffering in life. “Suffering is part of your training; God is treating you as his sons.” (Heb 12:7). For sure, suffering is never pleasant, and we try to avoid it at all costs. However, an easy life never yields the ripe and sweet fruits of justice, compassion, and love. Hardships are necessary to build a good character and bring forth commitment and responsibility.

The gospel acclamation puts forward the essential attitude of listening and obedience:

“If anyone loves me he will keep my word,

and my Father will love him,

and we shall come to him.” (Jn 14:23)

BRINGING FIRE TO THE EARTH

XX SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Luke 12:32-48

As this Sunday’s gospel is proclaimed, we may feel confused about the meaning of some of Jesus’s words. “‘I have come to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were blazing already!” What kind of fire is Jesus talking about?

In fulfilment of Jesus’ promise, the Holy Spirit will come upon the disciples as tongues of fire, filling them with strength, zeal and boldness to proclaim the Good News of salvation. The coming of the Holy Spirit made possible the beginning of the Church, which must spread to the ends of the earth.

In the Old Testament, God manifests himself in fire, as it happened to Moses on Horeb with the burning bush (Ex 3:2). During their travelling through the desert, God accompanied his people in a “pillar of fire to give them light” ( Ex 13:21). In the great theophany that took place on Sinai, “the LORD had descended on it in fire.” (Ex 19:18). And the book of Deuteronomy presents God as a “consuming fire” (Dt 4:24).

Fire can also refer to love (SS 8:6), God’s love that is poured into our hearts. However, we should not forget that fire is also associated with judgment. Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by fire, and the prophet Malachi speaks of the day of judgment that will come “burning like a furnace” (Malachi 4:1). In the parable of the last judgment, Jesus says that those who are excluded from heaven will go to “the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Mt 25:41). According to Paul, in his Second Letter to the Thessalonians, Jesus will be “revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus” (2 Tes 1:7-8).

When the judgment comes at the end of time, Jesus will reveal Himself in all His glory, bringing to fulfilment the salvation plan. Then God will be all in all (1 Co 15:28). Jesus’ eagerness to spread the fire indicates his urgency in carrying out the Father’s plan of salvation. To achieve that, Jesus has to pass through suffering and death, which is the baptism that he speaks about, and he is deeply distressed.

Jesus warns his disciples that they will suffer opposition and rejection, even from their own family. They must be ready to go through Jesus’ baptism, that is, His passion. We must be prepared to lose our lives for Jesus Christ; otherwise, we are not worthy of being his disciples.

STAY AWAKE AND STAND READY

XIX SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Luke 12:32-48

The second reading taken from the letter to the Hebrews invites us to reflect on faith and presents Abraham and Sarah as role models of faith.

In the Scriptures, Abraham is presented as the first who lived in faith. Called, he answered God’s call, making of his life a journey of relationship with God. God took the initiative and established with Abraham ties of friendship. Abraham proceeded the journey of faith putting himself in God’s hands, full of trust in His love, protection and guidance. He went through difficult moments and his faith was put to the test. However, he never turned his back on God and never doubted his friendship. In the darkest moments of his life, he abandoned himself in God’s hands, being certain that God remains faithful to his promise.

Journeying in faith through life, they realised that “they were only strangers and nomads on earth.” Aware of that, they lived in “in search of their real homeland.” (Hb 11:13-14).

Being strangers and nomads, we must behave in a detached way from the things that may tie us down, making our journey heavy and difficult. In the Gospel, Jesus advises his disciples on the attitudes they should have to walk towards heaven:

• We are weak, fragile, small and poor, but that is no reason to fear: “There is no need to be afraid, little flock”.
• With that confidence in God’s care, our hearts and minds may be free from greed.  “‘Sell your possessions and give alms. Get yourselves purses that do not wear out, treasure that will not fail you, in heaven where no thief can reach it and no moth destroy it. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Our treasure is in heaven. If we possess wealth, we must use it to get purses in heaven. By sharing with others, we will find brothers and sisters who will accompany us  and speak for us in God’s presence.
• The lamps of our faith must be lit and we must be ready to welcome the Lord when he comes. When He calls out, we must be ready to answer: “Present!”
• We must be true servants - faithful and trustworthy. We are called to serve and the gifts we receive from the Holy Spirit are to be used for the benefit of others. We should never abuse our position and our ministry.
• We must be always ready to carry out our master’s will. We will be answerable for our actions: “The servant who knows what his master wants, but has not even started to carry out those wishes, will receive very many strokes of the lash. The one who did not know, but deserves to be beaten for what he has done, will receive fewer strokes.”
• The more we received from the Lord, the more will be expected from us: “When a man has had a great deal given him, a great deal will be demanded of him; when a man has had a great deal given him on trust, even more will be expected of him.”

May the words of the Psalmist echo in our hearts:

Our soul is waiting for the Lord.

  The Lord is our help and our shield.

May your love be upon us, O Lord,

  as we place all our hope in you. (Psalm 33)

THERE IS ONLY CHRIST

XVIII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Luke 12:13-21

In this Sunday’s readings, the responsorial psalm gives us the mood and the attitude with which we should approach not only the liturgy but also life.

“Make us know the shortness of our life

  that we may gain wisdom of heart.” - Psalm 90

We must become aware of our fragility and weakness. We are mortal, and the span of our lives is short. While in good health, we may appear strong and feel that everything is possible. This may lead us to become reckless with our lives. According to the psalm, we are “like the grass which springs up in the morning”; “it springs up and flowers: by evening it withers and fades.” The first reading, taken from Qohelet (Ecclesiastes), summarises the reality of life, saying: “Vanity of vanities. All is vanity!”. (Ecc 1:2). This truth is illustrated by Jesus in the parable of the rich man who put his heart and soul into his wealth, forgetting that death may take him away at any time. We will take nothing to the grave. In death, all go the same way. This awareness will give us the wisdom to find meaning and purpose for our lives. We should realise that life is to be lived with others. When we prioritise wealth, we develop a sense of self-sufficiency that often overlooks and disregards others. The rich man of the parable did not think about all those who contributed to his wealth. Thus, he did not share, but kept it all to himself. In his selfishness, there was no place for anybody else. In the end, his life was empty and meaningless.

In his letter to the Colossians, Paul presents the only way we can find meaning in our lives. Redeemed by Christ, we must put our minds and hearts on the values that must be found in his followers: “Since you have been brought back to true life with Christ, you must look for the things that are in heaven, where Christ is, sitting at God’s right hand.” (Col 3:1). This implies a daily struggle against the false values the entice and seduce us: “That is why you must kill everything in you that belongs only to earthly life: fornication, impurity, guilty passion, evil desires and especially greed, which is the same thing as worshipping a false god; and never tell each other lies. You have stripped off your old behaviour with your old self, and you have put on a new self which will progress towards true knowledge the more it is renewed in the image of its creator”. (Col 3:8-10)

LORD, TEACH US TO PRAY

XVII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Luke 11:1-13

Luke gives the context for the teaching of Our Father. The disciples had seen John’s followers recite prayers taught by their master. And they wanted the same from Jesus. So they approached Him with a request: “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” And Jesus taught them the Lord’s Prayer. Luke’s version is shorter than Matthew’s. However, the requests are the same. Mathew expanded on some of the requests found in Luke to have a total of seven. We begin with a profession of faith, addressing God as Father and recognising that we are his children, not by right but by adoption. In Jesus Christ, the Son, we become sons and daughters of the merciful and loving God.

Then, we make our petitions to God. On a first impression, the first two are concerned with God: “Hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come.” However, in reality, they speak of us, praying that God’s name may be hallowed in us. May we be holy, as He is holy. May the glory of God be manifest in us. And then we ask for God’s kingdom to come, so that we may have peace, justice and freedom, that is happiness. For that to happen, we must be ready to do God’s will. The fulfilment of the following requests makes life in the community - that is, in God’s family - possible. We need our daily sustenance, getting the bread that keeps us alive and the bread of life that, uniting us to Jesus, is a guarantee of life eternal in God’s Kingdom. Recognising our sinfulness, we ask for forgiveness and show readiness to forgive. Finally, aware of our shortcomings and weaknesses, we ask that God strengthen us in temptation, so that we stand firm against the evil one.

With trust and confidence, we may approach the Father and ask for what is truly important. We may not be selfish in our petitions. However, God never refuses to give us his greatest gift, the Holy Spirit.

With Abraham, we learn the prayer of intercession, pleading with God to be merciful. May the Lord not punish us according to our sins, but, on account of His mercy and love, forgive us and strengthen us with His Spirit.

SERVANT OF THE CHURCH

XVI SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Colossians 1:24-28

In his letter to the Colossians, Paul speaks of the mystery: God’s mystery, or the mystery of salvation, which is God’s secret plan of salvation revealed in Jesus Christ. Jesus is the mystery: “The mystery is Christ among you, your hope of glory”. And Paul was chosen to proclaim this message: “God made me responsible for delivering God’s message to you”. That’s why he “became the servant of the Church”. His life has no other purpose but to proclaim Jesus Christ and to “train everyone and instruct everyone, to make them all perfect in Christ.” To achieve his mission, he is ready to suffer for the Church. He accepts his suffering as sharing in Christ’s suffering, adding up to it. Certainly, Christ suffered all he had to suffer. His cup was filled to the brim. However, in Christ’s mystery, there is the mystery of the Church, which is his body. And Christ goes on suffering in the members of his body until we reach in him the perfection. Then, Christ’s command will be fulfilled: “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Mt 5:48).

In this Sunday’s gospel (Lk 10:38-42), we are presented with two attitudes before the mystery of Christ, one of service and the other of contemplation. Martha loved Jesus and put herself at his service with readiness and commitment. She wanted her sister to do the same. We must be servants of Jesus Christ. That’s why Paul presents himself as a servant of the Church, that is, of Christ. However, we must aim higher. We should strive to become perfect in Christ, and this goes beyond service. Mary forgot about everything else to be with Christ. Paul was granted the extraordinary grace of being one with Christ, sharing in his suffering. He is certain that Christ is our “hope of glory”.

GO AND DO THE SAME YOURSELF

XV SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Luke 10:25-37

In the gospel of Luke, we can find some of the most beautiful parables. This Sunday, we are told the parable of the Good Samaritan. The parable was told as part of an answer to a lawyer who tried to catch him with a clever question. The man inquired about what he should do to inherit eternal life. Jesus returned the question, telling him: “What is written in the Law? What do you read there?” He was an expert in the Scriptures. He should know the answer. By doing this, Jesus unmasked his intentions. And he answered the way everyone knows: “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbour as yourself”.

To receive eternal life - that is, to be saved - one must keep the commandments, and the most fundamental commandments include and summarise all other commandments. Our life must be oriented towards God. He is the supreme value in our lives. Without Him, our lives run to self-destruction, sinking into darkness and despair. And we must realise that love of God demands and implies love of our neighbour. What does that mean? Trying to justify himself, the lawyer asked Jesus: “And who is my neighbour?” Maybe our friends or the ones who live nearby! However, Jesus does not speak about those. According to the parable, we must become the neighbour of those we cross paths with and are faced with their suffering.

In the parable, Jesus makes it clear that our love of God is tested in our attitude towards the suffering ones we meet along the way. The priest and the Levite were men of God coming from fulfilling their duties in the Temple. Certainly, they were in good standing before the community, but they ignored the man in need who robbers had attacked. Their love of God was found wanting. Failing their neighbour, they failed God.

Jesus is the Good Samaritan, who carries our sins and heals our wounds. At the same time, he identifies with the injured man. Ignoring the dying man, they ignored Christ. Our entrance into the Kingdom of God will depend on our compassion and mercy for the suffering ones.