Christian – Page 46 – deacon rudy's notes

October 22, 2019October 22, 2019

A Little Help

picture of people helping each other climb a rocky hill

Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time Mass Readings

First Reading: Exodus 17:8-13
Responsorial: Psalm 121:1-8
Second Reading: 2 Timothy 3:14 – 4:2
Gospel: Luke 18:1-8

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/102019.cfm

My brothers and sisters, in today’s Gospel Jesus tells us the interesting story about the widow who sought justice from an unjust judge. Jesus says, “Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says,” (Luke 18:6).

And what does the judge say?

“…because this widow keeps bothering me I shall deliver a just decision for her lest she finally come and strike me down,” (Luke 18:5).

Is his motivation really about justice? No, of course not. The motivation is clearly self-preservation at best. But the judge does give us a glimpse into something very important. His motivation is not based on his faith in the absolute truth upon which the Law based, the inspired Word of God. His comment betrays his lack of real faith. This prompts Jesus to conclude the “Parable of the Persistent Widow” with a question: But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth? (Luke 18:8).

But the journey of faith can be difficult. Perhaps a life of hard work can leave a person feeling jaded or cynical. Or perhaps you’ve lived a life filled with chapters you hope are never published. Either way, it’s all too easy to distance ourselves from living a life of faith – from living a life believing in anything other than those things which we define as real for ourselves.

In contrast with this idea, we hear in the first reading the extraordinary story of Israel’s battle against Amalek. Moses believed that as long as he held his arms up holding the staff of God in his hand, Israel would win the day. Indeed, as the battle raged, whenever Moses’ hands were held up, Israel succeeded, but when his arms dropped, Israel suffered. Wow! That’s a story of faith –the belief of the army of Israel that God would stand with them as long as Moses kept his arms up.

Scripture tells us again and again the amazing things we can accomplish with faith – real, absolute, unconditional faith in the God who saves. “Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth,” we hear from our Psalmist today.

But Moses could not keep his arms up without help. Scripture tells us that Aaron and Hur each supported one side of Moses until sunset. By the end of the day, Joshua and the army had indeed defeated Amalek. In the end, their faith, Moses’ faith in God and the army’s faith in Moses and God, saved the day. But what would have happened if Moses didn’t have help?

Help. That may be the most difficult word for some of us to speak. How many of us, I wonder, go through life believing we have to do it all on our own? “…be persistent,” we hear in our second reading from 2 Timothy 4:2. Be persistent like the widow in today’s parable.

But I suggest that one idea from our readings today is a reminder that we are in fact not alone. We are part of a community of believers. So, when our arms are tired, figuratively speaking, and we perhaps desire to take the easy path, let persistence nudge us forward and open us up to ask for help. How can we do this? Well, an accountability group like a Bible study with a group of friends might benefit us greatly. Or perhaps we could turn to a spouse or close friend or family member and ask for help. Of course you may ask me for help either by clicking the contact me button on the website or sending me a prayer request from the website and I’ll gladly help.

And we can pray – pray that God will place us in contact with the right person at the right time to help support our faith. I can’t tell you how many times this has happened in my life and continues to happen – the chance meeting with a person who truly is the answer to a prayer. So, we are encouraged by today’s readings to act with faith like Moses and not with selfish motivations like the unjust judge. No matter how difficult the road ahead is, we are reminded to, “Remain faithful to what you have learned and believe…” (2 Timothy 3:14).

Homework! After being nourished by the Word of God proclaimed and in the Eucharist, I encourage you to reflect on the following two questions:

Who are your Aaron and Hur? Who are the people who support you in your faith? Thank God for them!
How can you be an Aaron or a Hur for someone this week?

I think by doing our homework, we can better recognize how God is trying to help us in our journey and how we can help others too. Do you got it? Do you get it? Good! May Almighty God bless you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit! +Amen!

October 13, 2019October 13, 2019

Learning from the Margins

A healed leper kneels before Jesus giving thanks

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Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time Mass Readings

First Reading: 2 Kings 5:14-17
Responsorial: Psalm 98:1-4
Second Reading: 2 Timothy 2:8-13
Gospel: Luke 17:11-19

http://usccb.org/bible/readings/101319.cfm

In today’s readings, we hear the message that we need to be thankful. In the first reading, the army commander of the King of Aram suffered from leprosy. But he returned to thank the Prophet Elisha for his healing through Yahweh and to pledge his allegiance to the God of Israel. In the Responsorial, the Psalmist urges us to, “Sing joyfully to the Lord…Break into song; sing praise!” St. Paul advises Timothy in the second reading to be grateful to God even in his physical suffering and despite the dangers of spreading the Word of God. And in today’s Gospel, one of the 10 lepers returned to thank Jesus.

So, having a spirit of thankfulness is a central theme of the readings today. But notice something very interesting. In both the first reading and the Gospel, it is the foreigner – the outsider – the one who lives on the margins – who returns to give thanks. In the first reading from 2 Kings 5:14-17, the pagan and foreigner Naaman is healed by the Yahweh. He returns to thank Elisha and he takes with him two mule-loads of earth so that when he returns to Damascus, he can pray to Yahweh on the soil of Israel.

In today’s Gospel, the ten lepers cry out to Jesus for help. He tells them to present themselves to the priests. One leper realized he they had all been healed. He turned back and fell at Jesus’ feet and gave thanks to God for his healing. Jesus asks him, “Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine? Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?” Then he said to him, “Stand up and go; your faith has saved you,” Luke 17:17-19.

Isn’t it interesting? The outsiders – the foreigners return to give thanks to God for their healing. I think there’s a lesson there.

I think that sometimes we can become so comfortable in our lives that we take things for granted – be it our relationships, our work, and even our faith. We lose our sense of wonder at the beauty around us. In other words, we take things for granted. I know there have been times in my life when I put my faith life on autopilot. I just went through the motions without any thought for what I was doing or why. Perhaps we can call this a spiritual leprosy. Of course, spiritual leprosy could also be caused by our own sinful, selfish, proud choices.

During these times in our lives, how did you handle it? Did you turn in to yourself and live with fear, guilt or despair? Did you try to self-soothe during these times in your life, like abusing alcohol, drugs, pornography, sex?

How do we get back on course? You would think that we who are baptized and catechized wouldn’t need any help finding our way. Once we realized we’d made a mistake, we’d snap out of it and get back on track. But unfortunately, it’s not that easy, is it? But God does not abandon us. As we’ve heard in the many parables over these last several weeks, God seeks us like the shepherd in search of the lost sheep or the father who runs through the fields to embrace the prodigal son.

No matter how far we might wander off the path because of our leprosy, the God who loves us unconditionally can speak to us in some of the most interesting ways. For example, a chance encounter with someone – a stranger – on the train or in a coffee shop can be the setting for an encounter with Jesus Christ. Perhaps something the stranger says or does something that triggers an awareness in us. By the stranger’s example, we might realize what we’re doing to ourselves and turn back to God.

Isn’t it ironic that so many of us are indifferent to or even hostile to the stranger – the outsider – the foreigner? But like in today’s readings, the example of thankfulness can come from outside our circle of family and friends. The question is, are we open to those experiences?

Jesus Christ left us this amazing church which offers us so many opportunities to experience the same healing that Naaman and the Samaritan experienced. We experienced this cleansing in the waters of Baptism. We experience this cleansing and healing again and again in the Sacrament of Penance. We can experience this cleansing and healing in the Eucharist. Like Naaman and the Samaritan, we have the opportunity to thank God each and every time we go to Mass. We offer ourselves in sacrifice—falling on our knees before our Lord, giving thanks for our salvation. In this Eucharist, we remember the merciful and healing power of Jesus Christ. And we pray, as Paul in Second Timothy, to persevere in this faith.

Homework! After being nourished by the Word of God proclaimed and by the Eucharist, I encourage you to reflect on the following questions:

I would like you to write out ten things you are thankful for in your life.
I encourage you to use the opportunity of going to mass to give thanks to God for your salvation, and for all the many blessings in your life, like those on your list.

I think by doing our homework we will develop a better and more consistent sense of thankfulness that we should all have as disciples. Do you got it? Do you get it? Good! May Almighty God bless you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit! +Amen!

October 6, 2019October 4, 2019

Lessons on the Road to Jerusalem

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Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time Mass Readings

First Reading: Habakkuk 1:2-3; 2:2-4
Responsorial: Psalm 95:1-2, 6-9
Second Reading: 2 Timothy 1:6-8, 13-14
Gospel: Luke 17:5-10

http://usccb.org/bible/readings/100619.cfm

Before we get started, I’d like to ask how your homework went last week? Did you put yourself in the role of the rich man and write a letter to warn your family and friends? If you did, how did it go? Was it difficult? If you didn’t, why not? I’d love to read your comments. Head over to www.deaconrudysnotes.org and click on the title “The Sin of Pride.” At the bottom of the window, you will check “like” if you like the reflection, and you will also find a comment box. The only way I get better is with your honest feedback. But either way, I do encourage you to complete last week’s homework because it can be very helpful in our spiritual journeys.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus is continuing on his journey to Jerusalem. All of these parables that we’ve been hearing over the last several weeks have been given while on the road to Jerusalem. So, after addressing the Pharisees in Luke 16:14-31, he goes back to instructing his disciples like we heard in the beginning of this series, Luke 16:1. When we look at these parables as a whole, there are at least four themes that Jesus is teaching: scandal, forgiveness, faith and service.

First, the word “scandal” refers to a moral stumbling block that leads others to do evil – or to sin (see Catechism 2284). A couple of examples of this are those who act like the dishonest steward we heard about a few weeks ago or the rich man who ignored Lazarus. He emphasizes that leading little ones astray, meaning those weak in faith, see Rom 14:1; or 1 Cor 8:9. Jesus says woe against these people. He says it is better that such a person have a millstone placed around their neck and they be cast into the sea than spending an eternity in torment, Luke 17:2. Therefore beware! He instructs his disciples that they should not be like the Pharisees who cause others to sin.

Next, he talks about forgiveness. We see the need for this in the relationship between the angry older brother and the prodigal son. The older brother in many ways reflects the attitude of the Pharisees who despised tax collectors and sinners, see Luke 18:9. We need to be willing to forgive those who hurt us, but this is much easier said than done, right?

Jesus teaches a different approach. If someone sins, we shouldn’t just ignore it or sweep it under the carpet. Scripture calls for a fraternal rebuke, see Lev 19:17; 2 Tim 3:16; 4:2. But if he repents, if he is willing to say, “I am sorry,” like the prodigal son was willing to, see Luke 15:18, 21; 15:7, 10, then we need to forgive. How many times should we forgive? As many as seven times in one day, see Prov 24:16; Luke 17:4.

For us as Christians and disciples of Christ Jesus, underlining our call to forgive is the petition from the Lord’s Prayer: …forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us…, Luke 11:4. In other words, if we are willing to ask God to forgive us our sins, then we should be ready to forgive others.

Now is this easy? No, and that’s why in today’s Gospel, the disciples closest to Jesus, those who will become the apostles, ask Jesus to increase their faith, Luke 17:5, and this is the third lesson coming from these parables. They don’t think they can measure up to the challenge of forgiveness, isn’t that interesting? Those closest to Jesus didn’t think they could forgive so easily. Sometimes we fall into the trap of feeling unworthy, but passages like this from today’s Gospel remind us that we are not alone in feeling this way. Jesus responds by saying that even faith as small as a mustard seed, one of the tiniest seeds around, has great power. He says this little faith can tell a Mulberry tree, which has an extensive root system, to be uprooted and walk into the sea, Luke 17:6. Jesus tells us that faith, no matter how small, can do the impossible. I think that’s a message we often overlook.

Finally, Jesus talks about service. We hear this really unfortunate story about the ungrateful master who has no sympathy for the work his servant has done in the fields. He tells him to go and make something for him to eat. The master expects the servant to just do his job – the job he was hired to do – no matter how tired he is. The servant must carry on. As disciples, we too must carry on. We must do what God asks us to do.

That’s the lesson Jesus is giving us. This is especially applicable in the missionary work that the apostles will carry out. We see many examples of that, like 2 Corinthians 4:5; plowing to spread the Kingdom of God, Luke 9:62, 1 Corinthians 9:10; tending the sheep as pastors, Acts 20:28, 1 Corinthians 9:7; and giving them food to eat and drink in the Eucharist, 1 Corinthians 11:25-26. And of course, all these parables leading up to this lesson on service are happening as Jesus is walking to Jerusalem to face his death – and he knows it. The good and faithful servant must fulfil his purposes – he must do what he was created to do.

Homework! Having been nourished by the Word of God proclaimed and, in the Eucharist, I encourage you to reflect on the following one question this week, in addition to finishing your homework from last week if you are not done:

As a good and faithful servant, what is God asking you to do with your life? Are you living your purpose?

I think our homework will help develop us to become better disciples of Christ Jesus.

One final request: please join in me in praying for the upcoming Pan-Amazon Synod which begins today, Sunday. Good and gracious God, we thank you for the many blessings you have given us. Please forgive us for those times when we have ignored our role as steward of creation and taken this world for granted. We ask that you send your wisdom to all our elected officials that they may step up the challenges of safeguarding creation for today and for generations to come. We also ask for your blessing upon all those who will participate in the upcoming Pan-Amazon Synod. May all participants be guided by your Truth, and may all of us be guided by your Spirit of unity, fraternity and love. We ask all this in the name of Jesus Christ. +Amen!

Well, that’s a wrap! Do you got it? Do you get it? Good! May Almighty God bless you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit! +Amen!

Notes: