Tuesday of the Twenty-Eighth Week of Ordinary Time

Lectio

   Luke 11:37–41

Meditatio

“Give alms, and … everything will be clean for you.”

   Even though the evangelists don’t mention it, Jesus and the Pharisees must have had some common ground. For example, they often invited him to dinner. At one such dinner, Jesus praised a woman who kissed his feet and anointed them with oil. His host had neglected the customary signs of welcome.

In today’s passage, too, a minor confrontation develops, and Jesus states that inner purity is more important than outward cleanliness. Luke adds a phrase that the other evangelists don’t use: Jesus’ host will be cleansed inwardly if he gives alms.

   Almsgiving is important in the Jewish and Christian religions. The Book of Sirach states that almsgiving is a sacrifice of praise (see 35:2). Matthew quotes Jesus as saying, “And whoever gives only a cup of cold water … will surely not lose his reward” (10:42). Saint Paul took up a collection from the mainly Gentile churches to aid the poor Hebrew Christians in Jerusalem.

Contributing to a worthy cause helps us feel good. We’re participating in an effort larger than ourselves. Often the small gifts of many people are the only way a project can be realized. We can make a difference!

   For most people in our culture, making monetary contributions is part of life. So when we consider growth in almsgiving, it may be more helpful to reflect on some of its other forms—the sharing of time and talent, the offering of prayers and sacrifices. We can ask ourselves whether we can do more without neglecting our primary responsibilities. For some, the answer will be yes.

What’s your response?

Oratio

   Jesus, you became poor for our sakes, so that we might become rich. Teach me how to be poor in spirit and a cheerful giver. Guide me as I reflect on the various forms of giving. Inspire me to choose those ways of contributing to the works of the Church and/or helping my sisters and brothers that are best suited to my possibilities. Inspire me to offer what I can and when I can. If my giving ought to remain focused on my own household or community, please help me to understand that and act accordingly.

Contemplatio

   “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35).

__

ORDINARY GRACE Weeks 18–34: Daily Gospel Reflections (By the Daughters of St. Paul)

Monday of the Twenty-Eighth Week of Ordinary Time

Lectio

   Luke 11:29–32

Meditatio

“… no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah.”

   As I read the Gospel of Luke, I see that in this section Jesus is speaking to various groups of people. In fact, “still more people” are gathering to hear him, so I join the crowd and listen to what he has to say. It seems that this crowd seeks signs too, just like the people where I come from. Besides that, Jesus is saying that the pagan city of Nineveh was more receptive to God’s prophet than this generation is now. Even more, “there is something greater than Jonah here.” Jonah walked through Nineveh and preached repentance. He who is “greater than Jonah” lived, preached, died, and rose from the dead. Am I listening? The conversion of pagan Nineveh is one reality. The victory won for us in God’s Son is quite another. A whole new reality has dawned upon the world in Christ.

   God has sent his Son, and this marks the beginning of a new age that cannot be conquered, dimmed, or dismissed. It’s a new reality with a capital R. God is the measure of everything. All of us have our origin in him. All of us will return to him, to render an account of our lives. In this new era, however, we need not go alone. We have the Beloved Son with us. We are to be marked by his sign: his passion, death, and resurrection. That is how the Father will recognize Christ in us. We are to be a people who, in a very real way, are his own, a people of hope. We follow one “greater than Jonah”; one who walked through death into life. We are to be a people of hope because we know that earthly life, goods, and signs are not the final end. More, much more, awaits us. The “much more” is the sign of Jonah given today. We are Christ’s body, to be his hands and feet today, offering hope to each person and circumstance we encounter.

Oratio

   Father, in giving us Christ, you have given us everything. Saint Paul tells us that in your Son every “spiritual blessing” is ours. Help me understand the depth of what you have done for all generations in giving us your Son. I seek so many things, chasing after bubbles, but in Christ I have more than enough. Thank you for giving us your Beloved Son, teaching us all we need for real fulfillment through him. Thank you for Jesus, who is “greater than Jonah” and calls me to be a sign with him.

Contemplatio

   Make me a sign of life and hope to those with whom I work today.

__

ORDINARY GRACE Weeks 18–34: Daily Gospel Reflections (By the Daughters of St. Paul)

Twenty-eighth Sunday

First reading: Naaman the Syrian (2 Kings 5:14–17)

This little excerpt is the stub end of one of the most delightful stories in the Bible (read it!). It pairs with the gospel reading. In his opening proclamation in the synagogue at Nazareth, Jesus declares that he has come to save the gentiles too, just as Elisha did, citing Naaman as an example. Today we read just the cure itself. The odd bit about ‘two mule-loads of earth’ is the result of the belief, still persistent at that time, that the God of Israel could be worshipped only on the soil of Israel—so take some soil with you! Naaman wants to express his gratitude at home, too. At that time the Lord was accepted as God of Israel, the Sovereign and Protector of Israel, but this implied nothing about other nations. It was not until the Babylonian Exile, when Israel was confronted the multiple gods of Babylon, that Israel advanced a step and saw that the Lord was the God of the whole earth, the whole universe, and that all the other deities, such as sun and moon and stars, were simply timing devices plugged into the vault of heaven by the Lord himself. God reveals himself to Israel, and to us, gradually.

Question: How has your faith deepened or developed in the last years?

Second reading: The Grounds for Hope (2 Timothy 2:8–13)

if Paul is chained as a criminal, at least he gives the ground for his hope and his security: ‘The saying is sure.’ The kernel of the Good News is the Resurrection, and that is enough. If Christ is risen from the dead, no more is required; this in itself is the fulfilment of the promises to David. Paul then quotes a little symmetrical hymn that was no doubt sung by the early Christian congregations. The earliest external evidence to the Christian liturgy is a letter from Pliny, governor of a province in what is now northern Turkey, in the early second century, only a few decades after Second Timothy. He has examined Christians under torture and sends his findings to the Emperor: they meet on a set day (presumably Sunday), make oaths of loyalty to one other, sing a hymn ‘to Christ as to a God’, and then have a meal (presumably the Eucharist). The last lines of this reading could be part of just such a hymn, under the pressures of persecution, celebrating the union of Christ with his followers, and Christ’s fidelity to his own people, whatever they do to him.

Reflection: If we are faithless, he remains faithful.

Gospel: The Samaritan Leper (Luke 17:11–19)

Now we see why the story of the cure of Naaman the leper formed the first reading: in the gospel reading, we find another cure of a foreigner, and not an ordinary foreigner, but a hated foreigner. There was a cordial hatred between Jews and Samaritans—a wretched hybrid race, who accepted only part of the Jewish Bible, and had their own ideas about the coming Messiah. Yet we have already had the story of the Good Samaritan, who succours the wounded traveller, neglected by Jewish priest and Levite. Now only a Samaritan comes back to thank Jesus for the cure from leprosy. Samaritans are the foreigners geographically nearest to Jesus, but hated by the Jews. If the Samaritans can set an example to the Jews, so can many other foreigners. In his initial proclamation, Jesus promises salvation to the gentiles, and Luke misses no opportunity to show us gentiles ripe for salvation, the centurion of Capernaum who built the synagogue and whose son is cured, the guests for the banquet, called in from highways and byways. He is preparing for the second volume, the Acts of the Apostles, where the Good News will spread to the ends of the earth, to Rome itself.

Question: Is any race superior to any other? Why or why not?

__

The Sunday Word: A Commentary on the Sunday Readings (Wansbrough, Henry)

Twenty-Eighth Sunday of Ordinary Time—Year C

Lectio

   Luke 17:11–19

Meditatio

“… realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice.…”

   In Jesus’ day, having leprosy, a highly contagious disease of the skin, meant virtual exile. Separated from family, shunned by the community, the leper could hope to be reintegrated with society and his or her family only by being healed. So when these ten lepers spot Jesus from a distance, they all call out to him, begging for his merciful and miraculous healing. Jesus complies, healing them physically and restoring them to their families and communities.

   Sin does in an inward way what leprosy does externally. The effects of sin touch not only the person who commits the sin, but also everyone in the community. This raises a barrier separating the sinner from the community. An act of selfishness on our part begets other sins. My sin toward one person can affect how that person will react later. In other words, my sin doesn’t harm only me. It harms the whole community, almost like invisible tentacles clutching at others’ hearts.

   In the Gospel account, Jesus heals all ten victims of leprosy. I am sure that all of them are happy to be healed, but only one returns to give thanks. He recognizes Jesus as the source of his healing and restoration. The Gospel text even suggests that the man approaches Jesus shouting his joyful praise to God. God offers us the same healing and restoration through the sacrament of Reconciliation. In it God tells us, “I forgive you and I want to heal you. Please don’t separate yourself from me—I love you.” The words of absolution are words of restoration and love. As someone reminded me recently, God is not waiting for me so that he can wag his finger at me in disappointment. Whether we receive the sacrament or simply examine our conscience, God opens his arms wide to embrace us and bring us back to communion and community.

Oratio

   With what joy, Lord, I should run to a reconciliatory encounter with you as your pure love washes over me. Afterward I fall to my knees in total, unashamed gratitude for the love you pour out. I pray today for the grace to turn to you in sincerity with all that I have done, both the good and the not so good. May I give them all to you, so as to praise you for the good and receive your forgiveness for what is not so good. Help me to avoid the sins I am most prone to commit again—I want to be wholly yours today and always.

Contemplatio

   “In the shadow of your wings I shout for joy” (Ps 63:8).

__

ORDINARY GRACE Weeks 18–34: Daily Gospel Reflections (By the Daughters of St. Paul)

SS. Denis, Bishop and Martyr, and His Companions, Martyrs

St. Denis is today regarded as the patron of France and is said to have been the first bishop of Paris. Whatever is known of his life is had from what St. Gregory of Tours (538–93) wrote in his History of the Franks. About 250, Denis and six other bishops were sent by Pope Fabian (see January 20) as missionaries to evangelize Gaul (modern France). Denis established himself in the area now known as Paris. Because of his success in making converts to Christianity, Denis and his companions—Rusticus, a priest, and Eleutherius, a deacon—were arrested, imprisoned for a time, and finally beheaded. Their martyrdom took place in 258 on the outskirts of modern Paris, now known as Montmartre (Mountain of Martyrs), during the persecution of Valerian (emperor 253–59). In 475 or thereabouts, St. Genevieve built a basilica over St. Denis’s tomb, and later (624) the Abbey of St. Denis was founded next to the basilica. St. Denis’s relics were transferred to the abbey on October 9. Legend has it that after his martyrdom he picked up his head and walked with it for two miles, indicating where he wanted to be buried.