HOW GREAT AN OUTCRY!

XVII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Gn 18:20-32

Sodom and Gomorrah

The story of Sodom and Gomorrah is a story of depravation and punishment. Because of their "grievous sin", there was an "outcry" against them, which reached God.

Gn 19:1-11 presents the depravity of those two cities: they did not see with good eyes the presence among them of Lot, who was a foreigner; they did not respect the sacred laws of hospitality, and they were ready to use violence against Lot and his guests and to rape them. It was not only a question of homosexuality. Their hearts and minds had become so corrupt that they only care about their own self-satisfaction, and being ready to do anything to get it.

Today’s outcry

The outcry can still be heard today, not the one of Sodom and Gomorrah, which have disappeared long ago, but the outcry of the poor and the oppressed, and the outcry of all those who suffer, because of the corrupt society in which they live.

God hears the outcry, and he will not remain silent and patient for ever. One day, he will take action.

Our world is being corrupted by sin. The sin of war, fruit of hatred, envy, jealousy and the lust for power and wealth. The sin of greed that makes profit at all costs the supreme value that moves companies and nations. The sin of violence against the weak and the defenceless. The sin of child abuse which scars their bodies and destroys the innocence of their hearts and minds.

The sin of exploitation, which transforms people into tools at the service of others. The sin of individualism that  destroys the harmony and communion among people. The sin of self-indulgence that leads to care only about my own satisfaction and pleasure.

Abraham’s intercession

However, this Sunday's first reading only mentions the outcry caused by the corruption in Sodom and Gomorrah and then concentrates on Abraham's friendship with God and on his intercession for those people who had lost all self-respect. If we want to maintain or regain our self-respect, we should have a good look at Abraham. He was a not a perfect man, but he grew in goodness as he grew old. Being a foreigner himself, he gave a great welcomed to the three travellers who passed by his tent. His relationship with God grew in friendship and love to such an extent that he felt most confident to speak to God on behalf of people who did not belong to his tribe and his nation. 

We are in need of intercessors. And like Abraham, we should not be afraid of bothering God with our requests. Jesus said: "Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you." (Lk 11:9).

ONLY LOVE GIVES MEANING TO SUFFERING

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

There is no life without suffering

Suffering always causes fear in our hearts, and we do everything possible to avoid it. However, we cannot pass through life without suffering. It always comes our way in a great variety of forms.

In the traditional culture of many tribes, during the time of initiation into adulthood, suffering is purposely inflicted in order to lead the initiands to psychological and moral maturity. They are forced to realise that life is a dangerous adventure.

Suffering can be a result of our own limitations, shortcomings and inability to cope; it may come from the environment in which we live, or from the situations which we find ourselves in. And suffering can also be brought about by people who wilfully inflict it on others.

Whenever faced with suffering, we ask ourselves: Why? Why all this suffering? This question is so pertinent that the book of Job was written about it. And in anguish, Job asked: "Why did I not die at birth, come forth from the womb and expire?" (Job 3:11).

Indeed, we ask ourselves: Does suffering serve any purpose? Is there any good in it? And what is the meaning of it? 

Suffering, we cry out for liberation

In suffering, we feel oppressed and deprived of the joy and peace that should be ours, and we cry out for liberation. 

The Christian faith presents the cross of Jesus (his passion and death) as the answer to that cry. Through the road of suffering, he passed the gate of death and entered into the glory of resurrection. Jesus himself interpreted his suffering and death as being for the redemption of many (Mk 10:45). He suffered and died for others, making of his death the greatest proof of his love. Love gave meaning to his passion and death.

Suffering for you

In this Sunday second reading, uniting himself with Jesus, Paul presents the same attitude: "It makes me happy to suffer for you, as I am suffering now, and in my own body to do what I can to make up all that has still to be undergone by Christ for the sake of his body, the Church." (Col 1:24)

Paul, like Christ, makes of his suffering a proof of love: it is "for you"; and by doing that, he unites himself to the passion of Christ, in such a way that he sees the passion of Christ going on in him and bringing redemption to the Church.

WHAT MUST WE DO TO BE SAVED?

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

The question about salvation

Throughout human history, there have been so many different answers to this important question. In a way, all religions are an attempt at finding an answer and at showing the way to salvation.

As Christians, we believe that the only way to salvation is through Jesus Christ, meaning that we accept to become his disciples and follow on his footsteps. We recognise and proclaim him as the "Saviour of the world" (Jn 4:42).

Law and faith - do they exclude each other?

All the Protestant Churches, steadfastly following Luther with more loyalty than the apostolic Tradition, stress the opposition between Faith and Law. Luther, with his experience of fear and anguish, was led to stress a religious experience based on faith, claiming to follow St. Paul, who teaches that one is made righteous only by faith, not by the works of the Law. Since Luther, a lot of teaching about salvation is based on a big misunderstanding of Paul's teaching about Faith and about the Law, leading to the exclusion of good deeds as essential for salvation, with people taking one-sided position with the total exclusion of any stress on other different aspects of the same reality.

Jesus’ answer to the question of salvation

In this Sunday's gospel, we hear Jesus being asked this same question: "Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" (Lk 10:25), which is the same as asking: What must I do to be saved?

And Jesus gave a very simple answer in another question: "What is written in the law? What do you read there?" It is surprising that, instead of answering, he forced the one who questioned him - an expert in the Law - to give the answer:

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself." After hearing the answer, Jesus added: "Do this, and you will live." That is keep the commandments (the Law) and you will be saved. 

Jesus makes it very clear that to follow the Law - this law of love - is needed to have eternal life (salvation).

We may ask if Paul was not in contradiction of Jesus' teaching, when he spoke about the opposition between Law and Faith. However, we must realise that he was not speaking about the Law of love, since he used similar language to that of Jesus, when he wrote: 

"Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet”; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, “Love your neighbour as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbour; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law"(Ro 13:8-10).

Faith implies the acceptance of salvation as a gift

When Paul speaks of the Law, he speaks about the need of circumcision and of the faithful keeping of all rituals, in order to get salvation. And he speaks of proud people with an attitude of self-righteousness, who think that they deserve salvation and may claim it from God. In contrast to that claim of righteousness of those who keep the commandments of the Law, Paul teaches the attitude of Faith of those who recognises their inability to save themselves and who are ready to accept God's gift of merciful and saving love.

Faith without love is useless

The same Paul, who proclaimed the importance of faith for justification and salvation, wrote to the Corinthians that faith without love is useless: "If I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing." (1 Co 13:2).

In fact, faith is not an isolated virtue or attitude, which acts on itself independently of everything else. That's why James wrote: 

"What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead." (James 2:14-17).

True faith is filled with love, and this love of God filling our hearts stands out like a witness to God's presence and action, which strengthen our faith.

I BOAST ONLY ABOUT THE CROSS OF CHRIST

XIV SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Gal 6:14-18

Jesus’ cross, a proclamation of love’s victory

Is there anything to boast about in a cross? Certainly not. During Paul's time, the cross meant punishment and execution, and the ones crucified on it were considered cursed.

In his boasting, Paul is not speaking about suffering and injustice, and he is not boasting about the crosses of the criminal ones or the crosses on which countless people were left gasping for air until they suffocated and died. Paul speaks about the Cross of Christ, on which He offered his life in sacrifice for us, redeeming us and reconciling us with God. On that cross, Jesus surrendered his life and put himself totally in the hands of the Father. His death was the death of the innocent and pure Lamb, whose blood was shed, so that we may be cleansed and made anew. It is about this cross that Paul boasts, because it stands out as a proclamation of love's victory over hatred, and of faithfulness over disobedience and betrayal.

New creatures in Jesus Christ

There is nothing else we can boast about. It does not matter how good or how holy we are, because we will always fall far short of God's holiness. It is only through the death and resurrection of Jesus that we are made into "new creatures". That's why "it does not matter if a person is circumcised or not; what matters is for him to become an altogether new creature." (Gal 6:15)

According to Paul, being a "new creature", implies that "the world is crucified to me, and I to the world." (Gal 6:14), meaning that I am dead to the world. In his gospel, John presents Jesus praying for his disciples and saying that they do not belong to the world (Jn 17:14). Being dead to the world means that we cannot live according to the wisdom and the values of the world; instead, we accept God's gift of love, who transforms us into his beloved children.

The marks of Jesus’ suffering in Paul’s body

In his letters, here and there, Paul leaves little bits of information about his own life and his relationship with Jesus Christ. In relation to the cross of Christ, he tells us that "I carry the marks of Jesus branded on my body" (Gal 6:17). This is a very rare experience of sharing in Jesus' passion, when the marks of his suffering on the cross are made visible in the body of someone. Besides Paul, we know of Francis of Assisi and of Padre Pio, who received the gift of this extraordinary experience, in order to give witness to the crucified Christ.

WITH ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI

In this past week, I have been surrounded and accompanied by the spirit of St. Francis. The invitation to guide a group of Franciscan sisters in their retreat, as they prepare to celebrate the silver jubilee of their profession, gave me the opportunity to stay with the Franciscan Friars at Itimpi (near Kitwe) and to come closer to Francis, reflecting on the great values that guided his life.

In spite of his sometimes strange behaviour, which to certain people may look as crazy, Francis is respected and admired by all kinds of people, many of whom are not christians. Coming in contact with him, people recognise that he was not a fool at all and surely he was not crazy. His life and his teaching still challenge us as they challenged the people of his age.

In his reading and acceptance of the gospels, he was radical. For him, Christ could not have been mistaken, and his word must be taken seriously, without any attempt to dilute it in order to suite our own desires and conveniences. He dedicated his life to be a true follower of Jesus Christ, in such a way that people could recognise in him the face of Christ.

From the cross, Jesus had called him to rebuild his Church. Indeed, the Church was in serious need of reform. Surrounded by power and prestige, the leaders of the Church had forgotten the poor; but Francis felt the call to be poor, like Jesus had been poor, sharing their plight, proclaiming their dignity of children of God, and becoming a sign of protest against the values of a society that trampled down upon them.

He brought deep change in the Church by his humility, respect, obedience and poverty. He never turned against the Church or initiated a revolt against her, like otherd did throughout history. Francis was a man of peace, who lived in harmony with everything that surrounded him, be it nature or people. He showed respect and consideration for everybody, without any discrimination. His poverty, putting him at the bottom of the social ladder, gave him total freedom. He had nothing to lose and so he could not be influenced by prestige, influence, power or property. As poor, he was free with the freedom given by the Spirit, which made him ready to follow Jesus.

The prayer of St. Francis

This prayer is attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, but in fact appeared only for the first time in 1912 in a  French magazine. However, it transmits well the spirit of St. Francis.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

Where there is injury, pardon;

Where there is doubt, faith;

Where there is despair, hope;

Where there is darkness, light;

Where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,

grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;

to be understood, as to understand;

to be loved, as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive.

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

Amen.