Twenty-sixth Sunday - 2019

Recall last Sunday how Jesus, in Luke chapter 16, warned us that you cannot serve two masters, both God and money. Today’s gospel continues with Jesus warning of the dangers of wealth and its misuse and where we could end up if we are not wise and prudent about how we use it. In the early years of Jewish belief ideas of what was the make up of the afterlife is just developing. It was believed that all souls went to the same place called Sheol, the realm of the dead, where the good, the bad, those in-between all went to the same place. By the time of Christ, the idea had developed. Now within Sheol there is a separate place called Hades, the place of the damned. This is how Jesus uses the expression Hades – a place opposite to heaven, a place of anguish and flames – a place where the wicked go. Now even though there is a great chasm separating these two opposite realms those in Hades can see those in heaven which only adds to their suffering seeing what they have lost. So why is the rich man in hates? What does Jesus parable say about him; does it say he is an idolater, no;  does it say he breaks the Sabbath, no; does it say he stole from anyone, no; does it say he was a liar or and adulterer or a murderer, no none of these things commandments. All it says that he lived a life of luxury and gluttony, causing him to fail the second of Jesus’ two greatest commandments failing to love his neighbour who was languishing right there on his doorstep. He is in Hates for sins of omission. By this parable Jesus is warning of the great danger wealth poses, how it can lead to the sin of pride, a turning in on one’s self and leading to all manner of sins. It well might be that we could be failing to realize there are two categories of sins, sins of commission and sins of omission, what we fail to do. Some may think that because they believe that God exists, that they attend church and that they have not killed anyone that that is all there is to it. I’m in – think again. Let us revisit Matthew 25, I quoted last Sunday: Then he will say to those at his left hand, "You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' Then they also will answer, "Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?' Then he will answer them, "Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.' And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." People today often talk about their "bucket list" all those things they want to experience, see and do before they die. A lot of work goes into planning and achieving the bucket list. Perhaps it would be well for us to spend less time on our bucket list and more time on our "to do" list, all those things yet to be done for which we will be held accountable on that day reckoning that surely is to come.

.

The Making of a Saint

THE VIDEO VIDEO Purgative Way Dark Night Senses ↑ Illuminative Way ↓ Dark Night Soul Unitive Way Culminating in the Transforming Union

1.      We start by emerging from the shell of sinfulness to begin a life of transformation. 2.      The truth is now revealed about our ego, it is small enough to fit on a pine needle. 3.      We start consuming the Living Word daily. 4.      In this Purgative Way we shed the layers of sin and falsehood that we have worn with pride. 5.      More and more our minds take on the color of Truth. 6.      Hunger for the spiritual consumes us daily. 7.      Illumination prompts us to drop the face of falsehood behind which we have been living. 8.      Now we are to be woven into the Dark Nights where we will lay hidden. 9.      The Dark Night of the Senses morphs into the Dark Night of the Soul. 10.   All this comes about through the Spirit while we, not knowing how, surrender unconditionally. 11.   Finally, there emerges from this Transforming Union the new man formed in the image of God. 12.   The very beauty of holiness is now revealed in us for all to see. These are the classic stages in the spiritual life from the writings of St. John of the Cross

.

Twenty-fourth Sunday - 2019

If you may have noticed people walking around scratching their heads lately it could be that they are church-going Catholics trying to figure out what on earth has Jesus been saying to us in the gospels these last few Sundays. Last Sunday Jesus said we cannot be his disciple unless we hate the members of our family. Two weeks ago, Jesus warned that many may not make it to heaven. Sunday before that Jesus said, “Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division!” and today Jesus gives us three parables that do not make sense. If this goes on, we may have no hair left to scratch. Let’s look at these three parables Jesus is using to teach us. Now the Scribes and the Pharisees are scandalized at Jesus welcoming and eating with sinners. Pharisees would have nothing to do with these “breakers of the law of God.” So Jesus answers with these two parables. The first is about a shepherd and his sheep; “Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it?" Well this will leave them scratching their heads because no one would do that, risk leave their whole herd to predators and thieves over one sheep. “Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbours, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’  Again, no one would do that, they would look absolutely foolish, having a neighbourhood rejoicing over a lost loonie. Jesus has fashioned these examples to be counter intuitive to the extreme to demonstrate that when it comes to sinners God does not think like we do. Just the opposite.  “There is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance”. God wants all his created humanity to be at home with Him in heaven. That is why God sent his Son into the world to bring every last one home. Jesus illustrates this with the story of the Prodigal Son which ends today’s gospel reading. The question for us today is where do I stand on the lost? Let them go to hell if they want to, they deserve it. Or am I here today in tears over those I know who no longer have any interest in anything having to do with God?  In this parable of the Prodigal Son there are three main characters. Which one do I most resemble?

.

Twenty-third Sunday - 2019

If ever there was someone who wanted to put you to the test about your Christian faith, today's gospel text would make a perfect weapon. “Whoever comes to me and does not hate their father and mother, spouse and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even their life itself, cannot be my disciple.” So your Jesus wants you to hate your family – it says so right here. Now if you reply by saying that Jesus didn’t really say that or mean that, you create a whole lot of trouble for yourself. Would that not be true of anything the gospels quote Jesus as saying? Perhaps a little parable might help us here. Suppose you belonged to a family of a non-Christian religion. Your father is a strong, devote believer and he strictly demands that you follow this same religion and all its beliefs and practices. One day you come and announce that you are going to become a Catholic; you believe that Jesus is the son of God and that the Catholic Church is the true way to follow Christ. Your father tells you that if you do this, he will disown you, strip you of your inheritance and nothing more to do with you. And so you leave. In other words it all or nothing. In today's society, the worst thing you can do is promote hate. Hate crimes are of the worst kind of evil. Here Jesus is using hyperbole; which is an exaggerated statement or claim not meant to be taken literally. Like when Jesus said “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell.” Mk. 9:43 Jesus is not teaching hate, but he is teaching unconditional love. To be his disciple Jesus wants our whole heart, our whole soul, our whole mind with all our strength. The problem we face in the Church today is mediocrity – I like some of the things the Church teaches but certainly not everything. In Matthew’s account of this issue Jesus is warning that to follow Him unconditionally will have its challenges.  “A man’s enemies will be the members of his own household. Anyone who loves his father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me; and anyone who does not take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. Mtt. 10:36 Jesus wants our whole heart first and above all. Half-hearted faith will never last in today's world. It slowly drains away until it is all gone. The choice is now in our hands.

.

Commentary on the Sunday Gospel for  the Twenty-third Sunday, 2019. Dr. Brant Pitre, a Research Professor of Theology  at the Augustine Institute. View on Catholic Productions - LINK

.