JESUS CAME TO SEEK OUT AND SAVE WHAT WAS LOST

XXXI SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Luke 19:1-10

The first reading of this Sunday’s liturgy, taken from the Book of Wisdom, motivates us to approach God with trust and confidence. In no way can we compare ourselves with God. Who are we if even the universe is but a “grain of dust” or “a drop of morning dew”? However, the author of Wisdom is convicted that the Lord is the lover of life. He is not intent on destruction and condemnation; on the contrary, He is “merciful to all, ”because He loves all that exists. God is patient with us and overlooks our “sins so that we can repent”.

“Little by little, therefore, you correct those who offend,

you admonish and remind them of how they have sinned,

so that they may abstain from evil and trust in you, Lord.” ( Wis 11:22 - 12:2)

The readiness of God to wait patiently and gives us time to repent is seen clearly in the way Jesus approached Zacchaeus. a senior tax collector. Despite his wealth, Zacchaeus was an unhappy man whose heart could not find peace. He was looking for something else, searching for a way out that might lead him to find true rest. “He was anxious to see what kind of man Jesus was” and he went the extra mile to achieve that desire, which was much deeper than simple curiosity. Being rejected by people, he was aware that there was something (or maybe a lot) wrong with his life. He felt the need to straighten up his life and he was searching for a way to achieve that. In Jesus, he found a way which went beyond whatever he could dream of. Jesus noticed his effort, the sign of a deep desire for salvation and he made an explicit invitation to accept the redemption offered to him. And in happiness, Zacchaeus welcomed Jesus into his house with a clear purpose of repentance and conversion. The passage ends with Jesus’ statement:

“Today salvation has come to this house because this man too is a son of Abraham; for the Son of Man has come to seek out and save what was lost.”

We may never lose hope of salvation, no matter how big our sin is because Jesus Christ came “to seek out and save what was lost”.  

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THE HUMBLE MAN’S PRAYER PIERCES THE CLOUDS

XXX SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Luke 18:9-14

Like some other parables, the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican (tax collector) was aimed at a concrete situation as a critique of a common attitude among a group of people. In this case, the parable was addressed “to some people who prided themselves on being virtuous and despised everyone else”. This parable is a call to look at our attitude towards God. Do I behave like the Pharisee or am I in the same situation as the Publican?

Putting them side by side and paying attention to their demeanour, we will get a poor impression of the Pharisee who is proud and boasts of his righteousness before God.  He complies with all the laws and regulations. Before him, one feels out of place. He judges and condemns others, and separates himself from them with contempt. We get the impression that he approaches God to claim his reward, a reward to which he earned a right. He praises himself instead of praising God.  He does not need others and we may doubt if he needs God. Being so full of himself, there is no space left for others and God. The Publican has nothing to boast about. He is considered a sinner and despised as a traitor. Collecting taxes for the Roman emperor, he collaborates with the oppression of a foreign power.  He gets rich at the expense of the people. The Pharisee and the Publican are situated on two extremes of society. The first separates himself from the multitude of sinners to keep his purity and righteousness. The second is ostracised by the majority of the people. Living in a situation of impurity, he cannot enter the temple and so he “stood some distance away”. In his prayer, he is sincere and truthful, presenting his soul before God with confidence in his mercy and compassion. He knows that he does not deserve a place in God’s house. He recognises his sin and pleads for mercy: “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” He is well aware that his salvation is dependent on God. And God had mercy on him.

In the Catholic Church, this Sunday is Mission Sunday - dedicated to the missionary dimension of the Church. The Pope calls on us to reflect on the theme: You will be my witnesses to the end of the world (Act 1:8). Let us give witness to Jesus Christ in whom we find life and salvation.

MY HELP COMES FROM THE LORD

XXIX SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Luke 18:1-8

Psalm 121 gives us the theme for this Sunday’s liturgy:

I lift up my eyes to the mountains;

  from where shall come my help?

My help shall come from the Lord

  who made heaven and earth.

May he never allow you to stumble!

  Let him sleep not, your guard.

No, he sleeps not nor slumbers,

  Israel’s guard.

The Lord will guard you from evil,

  he will guard your soul.

The Lord will guard your going and coming

  both now and for ever.

Indeed, my help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. From whom else would it come? Only the Lord can keep me from evil, because he makes me company throughout my life, “in my going and coming both now and for ever”. In Him, we can put our trust and we can always approach Him with confidence. This psalm is like a profession of faith of the believer who entrusts himself to the Lord.

In this Sunday’s liturgy, we are given two examples of prayer as an insistent plea. During their long journey through the desert, the people of Israel were attacked by the Amalekites. The Israelites were forced to go to war to safeguard their very existence. However, on their own, they would have failed. They needed the intervention of a higher power. And Moses went to the hilltop and prayed with raised arms. We may be surprised to find God intervening in human battles. How can be God associated with violence, even in a war that may be considered legitimate? The Bible helps us to discover a God always present in the middle of people going with them through all pleasant and unpleasant moments of life. Only those who choose to ignore history may be surprised. Human history is full of violence, with nations against nations. We may think evil of all those who preceded us, thus condemning them. In our self-righteousness, we want to throw the past into the dustbin of forgetfulness. However, we are as much prone to violence and war as they were. And when war comes, we need the presence of God in our midst, to find the hope that will lead us to peace again.

Moses with raised arms on the top of the hill stands as a model of insistent prayer for the sake of his people. In the gospel, Jesus presents a widow who doesn’t get tired of pleading for justice before a corrupt judge, forcing him to attend to her. We must do the same with God, being certain that God will not delay in doing justice “to his chosen who cry to him day and night”.

Let us pray at all times, pleading for peace and justice.

JESUS, TAKE PITY ON US

XXVIII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Luke 17:11-19

In this Sunday’s liturgy, we are presented two cases of leprosy who look for and find healing. In 2 Kings 5, we have the healing of Naaman, a Syrian general who came to the prophet Elisha for help. In the gospel, a group of ten lepers is healed by Jesus.

Sickness, even the most hideous, can affect everybody rich and poor alike. However, Naaman kept his status, despite his sickness. In the past, leprosy was a terrible sickness. Being contagious and incurable, it led to exclusion. The leper was thrown out of the community and had to live as an outcast. It was as if he was already living in hell, being punished by the wrath of God because of sin. The leper was excluded in order to protect the other members of the community. 

In both stories, there is a ray of hope, pointing to the possibility of healing. For Naaman, the hope was rekindled by a servant girl who had been taken prisoner during an incursion into Israel. The slave gave a light of hope to the free and mighty. For the ten lepers, the encounter with Jesus filled them with hope and they cried out: “Jesus! Master! Take pity on us.”

With them, we have learnt to call on the name of Jesus. His name is the most powerful name. It is only through him that we may receive salvation: 

“And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Act 4:12).

The leprosy of the body is a sign of a more dangerous leprosy, the one of the soul. By our choice, we live like outcasts, far away from the Lord. And we need to meet Jesus and plead with him: “Take pity on us”. The leprosy of sin affect us as a community, and we need salvation as a community. There were ten lepers who came to Jesus. Ten is the minimum required to establish a jewish community and set up a synagogue. Thus, the number ten symbolises the community or the people of God. We are saved in community. We are called to become one body in Christ.

Salvation comes always as a gift. We may prepare ourselves for it and entreat the Lord to take pity on us, but we cannot force it upon God. The healing of Naaman makes it clear that he was made whole by the grace of God. And that grace must be recognised with thanksgiving. Naaman gave thanks and believed that Yahweh is the only God who must be worshipped. In the story of the ten lepers, we discover that only one out of ten came back to give thanks to Jesus. In Bemba (a Zambian language) there is a proverb which speaks about the callousness of those who do not give thanks: Uushitasha, mwana wa ndoshi (the one who doesn’t give thanks is a child of a witch).

The one who recognised God’s favour in his life is the one who has faith, the faith which makes possible salvation. The others were healed of a sickness of the body, but remained contaminated by sin, as outcasts from God’s presence and love.

The two episodes of healing leave us surprised because they stress the healing of foreigners who were even considered as enemies of the people of God. However, being able to accept God’s presence in their lives, they received mercy. 

Let us ask the Lord: Jesus, take pity on us.

THE RIGHTEOUS SHALL LIVE BY HIS FAITH

XXVII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Luke 17:5-10

There is plenty of evil in the world. Indeed, there is so much oppression and exploitation. Everywhere we can see injustice and tyranny. The poor and the weak are crushed. “Outrage and violence, this is all I see, all is contention, and discord flourishes.” (Hab 1:3). It is as if the violent has taken over the world. In all this, we may ask: Where is God? Why does He not care? We are not alone in asking such a question. Prophet Habakkuk asks the same: 

“How long, O Lord, am I to cry for help

while you will not listen;

to cry ‘Oppression!’ in your ear

and you will not save?” (Hab 1:2).

Habakkuk presents God’s answer: At the right time, God will put things straight.

“if it comes slowly, wait,

for come it will, without fail.” (Hab 2:3).

And a final assurance is given: “the righteous shall live by his faith”. The righteous is the one who has no part in the injustice and violence that brings suffering upon the common people; the one who stays away from evil, because he chose to walk along the straight path - the set before us by God. Faith is the acceptance of the Covenant and the decision to live by it, making God the centre of his life and the point of reference for all his actions.

In the Gospel, the disciples asked Jesus: “Increase our faith.” That is a request which we must make as well. We need to ask the Lord to increase and strengthen our commitment and faithfulness to the Covenant or the Kingdom of God. Jesus’ answer indicates that God is ready to keep his commitment to us and grant our requests, even when they seem to be whimsical. God is always faithful to us and he demands also our faithfulness towards him. Faith implies service and obedience.

True faith is manifested in a pattern of behaviour or a way of life, as Paul told Timothy:

“Keep as your pattern the sound teaching you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.” (2 Tim 1:13).

Let us live in faithfulness to the Lord.