Hope Springs Eternal

                            3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

                           B cycle

 

         

The month of November is sometimes called the month of the dead. As we look around we see the leaves falling from the trees, the sun riding lower in the sky and setting earlier and earlier. Animals are preparing for the long cold winter. 

 

The Church year also follows the cycle of nature. We began this month with the great feast of All Saints, and then remembered all the departed on All Souls day. Throughout the month we will remember our beloved departed and next week we will celebrate the feast of Christ the King where we will come face to face with the end of the world and the Last Judgment.

 

Although we are confronted with the end of the world in today’s readings, we should also understand that they also deal with the end of our own little personal world, and how we should face it. 

 

As a senior citizen I make it a regular practice to look through the newspaper obituaries every day. I like to joke that I do so just to make sure I am not listed. Actually, it is a practice both edifying and sad. It is good to read about those who had productive lives and left so many well-wishers behind. It is really sad to come across names of those who have passed away at a relatively young age. Finally, reading the obituaries makes me wonder why I am still living while others have been taken away.  

 

Today’s readings, however, contain a promise and a hope of eternal life. The first reading from the Book of prophet Daniel speaks of the end of time when all the dead rise.

 

Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake; 

Some shall live forever,

Others shall be an everlasting horror and disgrace. 

 

 

 

The Old Testament Book of Daniel was written only a few hundred years before the time of Jesus. It is clear that our Lord was familiar with it for in today’s reading from Mark’s gospel, He speaks of the end of time. It is a powerful image.

 

The sun will be darkened,

And the moon will not give its light,

And the stars will be falling from the sky,

And the powers in the heavens will be shaken.

 

No one knows when the end of the world will come, but we all know that our own life will come to an end, and that we will no longer see the sun, and the moon, and the stars. What can we do about it? How should we prepare.

 

It is easy to say that we might look back over our lives and wish that we could have done better, or that we should take steps to mend our ways before it is too late. However, instead of fear and trembling, I think it better to face the end with hope.

 

We all know about the three great virtues: faith, hope, and charity. By definition, a virtue is a habit, something that if we do it often enough, it becomes easy and natural. We all know that the greatest athletes practice more than anyone to develop their skills. How many shots does a great basketball player take in practice so that when the game is on the line, he can make the crucial shot?

 

It is easy to practice faith and charity. For faith, we just have to do our duty. The Marine Corps motto is Semper Fidelis or Always Faithful. The little acts of charity we perform even as children should lay a foundation that will last for all our lives. But what about hope?

 

As the old saying goes, “Hope springs eternal in the human breast.” It would appear that hope is even part of our genetic makeup. In spiritual terms it is a gift from God, Nevertheless, things can happen in our lives that can make us reject the gift and turn to despair.

 

 We see signs of despair all around us today. The suicide rate, especially among teenagers and college students, is rising. Millions of people in this country are taking anti-depressant medications to deal with their worries. Should we be surprised at such statistics when so many in our society are urging us to abandon God and reject his great spiritual gifts.

 

For the past few Sundays the second reading has been taken from the Letter to the Hebrews. The basic message of that letter is that Jesus has died for our sins and that we do not have to despair. He has risen and we too can rise and hope again. 

 

 Jesus told us that all we have to do is love one another. In practical terms loving and caring for others is the best way to take our mind off ourselves and our troubles. From the very beginning Christians have realized that faith, love and hope are inseparable.

 

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Reading 1.  1 Daniel 12: 1-3

Reading II. Hebrews 10: 11-14, 18

Gospel. Mark 13: 24-32 (My words will not pass away)

The Widow's Mite

                            32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

                           B cycle

 

 

        

Today’s first reading from the Book of Kings tells the well-known story of Elijah, the greatest of the Hebrew prophets, and a poor widow and her son who are about to die of starvation.  A drought has caused famine in the widow’s city and she and her son have lost all hope. 

 

Nevertheless, Elijah asks her for food and drink and promises that the Lord will not let her and her son starve.  She bakes her last bread and gives it to Elijah, and sure enough her jar of flour does not go empty. 

 

In today’s gospel Jesus notices another poor widow near the Temple treasury. Although wealthy citizens are obviously putting large sums into the treasury, Jesus points out that though the impoverished widow has deposited only two small coins, she has contributed more than all the others. She had made the ultimate sacrifice. She had given all she had, “her whole livelihood” while the rich had only given from their surplus.

 

This story reminds me of the days I used to help count the Sunday collection proceeds in my own parish. We would separate the cash from the envelopes and then open each envelope and record the contributions. Every Sunday one woman would just put a couple of small coins in her envelope. It could be that she was just thumbing her nose at the pastor, but I like to think that what she gave meant a lot to the woman. It always reminded me of the widow in today’s gospel. 

 

Today, in reflecting on the gospel, it seems to me that the Temple treasurer should have returned the widow’s contribution, and given the poor woman much more in return for her great gift.  Unfortunately, in those times and in ours, officials seem to be much better at taking in money than giving it out. In the first part of the reading Jesus tells his listeners to beware of the scribes, the temple officials who lord it over others. 

 

Beware of the scribes, who like to go about in long robes

and accept greetings in the marketplace,

seats of honor in synagogues,

and places of honor at banquets.

They devour the houses of widows and, as a pretext

recite lengthy prayers.

 

In another place Jesus told his new hierarchy of disciples not to become like the leaders of the Gentiles who lord it over their subjects. Their mission was to serve. Unfortunately, today many leaders in all denominations are little different from secular officials who live high on the hog, and seek to be served rather than to serve the people they have pledged to serve. They are public servants in name only.

 

A few years ago I visited the Cathedral in San Francisco, a huge architectural masterpiece that must have cost a fortune to build. Unlike the cathedrals of old, there were no crowds of pilgrims streaming in and out of this gleaming modernistic structure. It was virtually empty. The early cathedrals were signs of humility since they were built by the sweat and labor and contributions of ordinary people. The new cathedral in San Francisco seemed built by arrogance and pride.

 

In today’s second reading from the Letter to the Hebrews, we are told that “Christ did not enter into a sanctuary made by hands.” All of our churches today contain sanctuaries made by human hands but we must realize that the real sanctuaries in the church are the ordinary people in the church who have given themselves in the same way as the poor widow in today’s gospel. 

 

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Reading 1.  1 Kings 17:10-16

Reading II. Hebrews 9: 24-28

Gospel. Mark 12: 38-44 (The Widow’s Mite)

Love of Neighbor

            

Today’s first reading from the book of Deuteronomy contains the famous saying that every Jew would have known by heart during the time of Jesus. 

Hear O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone!

Therefore, you shall love the Lord, your God, 

with all your heart,

and with all your soul,

and with all your strength.

How were the Jews to love God, the God who had delivered them from their captivity in Egypt? Moses told them to keep the statutes and commandments which the Lord had given them. We know that after the time of Moses the original Ten Commandments had grown to more than 600, an incredible array of do’s and don’ts that put a great burden on the people.

However, in today’s gospel passage a Jewish scholar asked Jesus  “Which is the first of all the commandments?” As usual, Jesus chose to simplify and get right to the true spirit of the Law. In his reply Jesus combined two verses from the Hebrew Scriptures, the first that we heard above from Deuteronomy, and the second from Leviticus, 19: 18. 

You shall love the Lord your God,

With all your heart,

With all your soul,

And with all your mind.

This is the greatest and first commandment.

The second is like it:

You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

He combined them because his life and mission showed that the love of God and the love of neighbor went hand in hand. One is not possible without the other.

How do we love a God who we cannot see or hear? Jesus insisted over and over again that we love God in loving our neighbor. Perhaps mystics and great saints can see more directly but for ordinary people the more we love our neighbor, the more we love God.

But who is our neighbor? Please notice that Jesus did not tell us to love everyone willy- nilly. I once heard a story of a man who loved mankind in general but despised every individual he ever met. A feeling of love for humanity in general is not what Jesus talked about. On the contrary, Jesus always directed his love at individuals directly in front of him. He really meant it when he said love your neighbor.

Our closest neighbors are those entrusted to our care: our parents, our spouses, our children, our sisters and brothers. If we can’t love them, who can we love? It is really sad sometimes to see people neglect their own families for the sake of some seemingly noble cause. 

Loving those closest to us means helping to lift  the burdens that life has placed on them. As children we often thought that our parents were placing unnecessary burdens on us, but we rarely thought about the burden we placed on their shoulders. How often did we neglect to pitch in and help? Why do husbands and wives often make each other’s life harder when it is so much easier to share the load? Even Seniors, who should know better, often place unnecessary burdens on their grown children.

What are friends for, if not to help us share the burdens of life? What kind of love is it that constantly makes demands on others without lifting a finger to help? Actually, the more we love those closest to us, the more will we be able to love others. 

We know that Jesus extended the very meaning of neighbor. In the famous parable of the Good Samaritan, he asked, “who was neighbor to the man”? It was the Samaritan who cared for the Jewish man who had been beaten and robbed despite the animosity between Jews and Samaritans. It is hard to imagine the Samaritan stopping on the road to help a stranger in distress without believing that he had experienced real love and caring in his own family and neighborhood.

Jesus showed us that the way to love God is through the love of our neighbor. All that we do for those entrusted to our care and protection, we do for Him. 

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Reading 1.  Deuteronomy 6: 2-6

Reading II. Hebrews 7: 23-28

Gospel. Mark 12: 28-34 (The Great Commandments) 

Healing the Blind Man

                       30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

                      B cycle

 

Today’s first reading from the book of the Prophet Jeremiah is about the Lord’s deliverance of his people from slavery. He speaks of an immense crowd finally able to return to their native land. 

 

Behold, I will bring them back

From the land of the north;

I will gather them from the ends of the world,

With the blind and the lame in their midst…

 

In today’s gospel reading from Mark we can see that the cure of one blind man by Jesus is a fulfillment of the prophecy. Bartimaeus was the blind man’s name. Actually “bar” means “son of” and so the poor beggar is only identified as the son of his father, Timaeus. Bartimaeus is begging at the entrance to Jericho when he hears that Jesus is passing by followed by a large crowd.  He raises his voice and says, “Jesus, son of David, have pity on me.” 

 

We are told that people tried to stop his shouting but he persisted until Jesus stopped and called for him. Immediately, the man jumped up and approached Jesus who simply asks, “What do you want me to do for you?” His reply is simply, “Master, I want to see.” Mark does not bother with any details but only indicates that a few words from Jesus were enough to enable Bartimaeus to see. “Go your way, your faith has saved you.” 

 

Jesus said that it was the faith of Bartimaeus that saved him and allowed him to see. But Bartimaeus could not see until he encountered Jesus on the road to Jericho. How do we encounter Jesus today in our ordinary lives? If we have faith, we will encounter Jesus at every Mass. Our faith tells us that Jesus is really presence in the sacrament of the Eucharist. Moreover, we also believe that at the Consecration of the Mass, the actual priest is Jesus himself who offers Himself for us in the same way that he offered Himself on Calvary. 

 

If we think about it, we can also encounter Jesus throughout the Mass. So many prayers are directed to him, and we have his own words and deeds in the gospel reading. After the Second Vatican Council the Church revived the Kiss of Peace, an ancient practice that had largely gone out of use. In past times the priest would bow and kiss the altar. The altar represented Jesus and it was understood that the priest was actually being kissed by Jesus. The priest would then turn to a deacon and pass the kiss of Jesus to him while saying, “Peace be with you.” The deacon would then go into the congregation and ask them to pass the kiss of Jesus on to their neighbor. 

 

If we could only see today that when someone offers us the Kiss of Peace or even a handshake, it is actually Jesus offering his hand to us. The Kiss of Peace is a blessing and we are being asked to bless our neighbor. For all we know, that neighbor could be a real saint, or at least someone doing the Lord’s work in their own little way. On the other hand, we might be passing the blessing to someone who needs the healing of Jesus as much as Bartimaeus did

 

Today, many people like to think of Jesus as a good man and a fine teacher. Despite the accounts of miracles like the one above, they find it hard to see that Jesus is something else. Such was not the case with the people who witnessed these miraculous healings as well as with the early followers of Jesus. In our second reading today, the author of the Letter to the Hebrews calls Jesus a High Priest, a priest who by offering Himself enabled us all to be healed. 

 

Whether we realize it or not, we are all at Mass for a reason. We all have problems and need help. Jesus asked Bartimaeus, “what do you want me to do for you?” He wanted to see. We are told that on receiving his sight, Bartimaeus followed Jesus on the way. We can encounter Jesus in the Mass but we can also follow on his way by caring for those entrusted to our care. 

 

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Note: Image of a stained glass window in St. Joseph's Basilica, Alameda, CA. is by Richard DeMarco.

Reading 1.  Jeremiah 31: 7-9

Reading II. Hebrews 5: 1-6

Gospel. Mark 1Mark 10: 46-52 (Bartimaeus, a blind man)